Annika, The Forgotten Great One

Professional athletes are flashes in the pan. I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense, only as a reflection of their relatively short, transitory time in the limelight. Once they retire, the vast majority of them fade into the background. Most are rarely heard from again. There are a few who so highly distinguish themselves during their careers they remain icons of the games they played, often revered and continually celebrated.

So why then, does Annika Sorenstam, until very recently, get so little attention? Is it because she was a female golfer? During this time of emerging women’s professional sports, one would think she would garner greater attention. After all, in her career, which by the way she cut short at the top of her game, she won ten majors (13 if you include victories at the du Maurier and the Evian Masters, considered majors immediately before or after her wins) and amassed an incredible 97 professional tournament victories. All that by the age of 38 in only 16 seasons. Why did she quit? She wanted to have a family. How’s that for a balanced outlook on life? I realize it’s different biologically, socially and psychologically, but how many men would do that? Incredible.

I think she is without question the greatest woman golfer of all time. Yes, in 1963 Mickey Wright won an amazing 13 times in 28 LPGA tournaments, has 82 LPGA career wins, and Kathy Whitworth has the most LPGA career wins at 88. Annika has 72 LPGA career wins. Including LPGA and international tournaments, in 2002 she won 13 times in 25 starts, in 2004 10 wins 20 tournaments, in 2005 11 wins in 21 starts. I remember watching Annika in the early 2000s, marveling how she consistently looked head and shoulders above the rest of the field.

Look at her record and imagine what she would have done if she had golfed even another five years. Besides the ten majors and the 97 total wins, she was a grand slam winner, LPGA Rookie of the Year, LPGA six-time low scoring average winner (the Vare Trophy), LPGA 8-time player of the year (a record), LPGA 8-time leading tour money winner, LPGA all-time leading money winner, LPGA all-time lowest season scoring average (68.69), and the only woman to ever shoot 59 in a tournament. Add in her early career European Tour awards of Rookie of the Year, Order of Merit (leading money winner) and two-time player of the year (simultaneous to the same awards on the LPGA tour no less) and it gets all the more impressive.

She walked away from the profession while still at the height of her powers. It’s remarkable to me extremely high achievers like her still have the foresight and wisdom to recognize there is so much more to life than sport, than profession, than awards. Occasionally these days we see her in a team or family-oriented golf tournament, always having a good time casually competing and interacting with her children. Yes, she followed through on that desire to start a family, having a boy and a girl. Of course, she has various business and philanthropic interests, including the ANNIKA Golf Academy, golf course architecture, a Cutter & Buck clothing line, a wine partnership with Wente Vineyards, as well as stock, real estate and other investments.

Annika came from middle class roots, born to a family that loved sports. Those athletic genes became accomplished at soccer, tennis and naturally, as a Swede, skiing. She didn’t take up golf until the age of twelve, but she proved to be a natural. When she enrolled at the University of Arizona on a golf scholarship, Annika looked at it as a challenge filled with opportunities. When she failed to make the LPGA through qualifying school, she later said she probably felt a little sorry for herself. But Annika knew “you choose your path in life” and she always felt “things happen for a reason,” so she dedicated herself to work harder, get better.

She said, “I think it’s important to tell that story. Everyone has their ups and downs. It has to do with your attitude and how you approach it, and what you do with your situation.” At fourteen, she learned a lesson about putting in the work. One dreary, rainy day she gave up hitting balls, even though others were still out there. Her dad picked her up from the driving range and noted, “Annika, there are no short cuts to success. If you want to go somewhere in life, you have to put in the time. Nobody’s going to hit balls for you. Not every day is going to be sunny, shiny and positive.”

It was then she realized, “Here I am dreaming big about something, but I don’t want to put in the work. That doesn’t go together.” In her journey to the top, she noted she had to be “very disciplined, very organized, very consistent.” It’s a simple lesson, one some of us know but all of us should hear. Even the best are challenged and experience failure. Use those moments to your advantage. They are ultimately what drive you to your goal.

What do we make of all this? For me, it’s the story of a well-adjusted high achiever who became the best in the world, and quite probably the best ever at women’s golf. Then decided there was more to life, started a family (to me, one of the greatest of all callings), and moved on to other goals that complimented her family-oriented responsibilities.

Annika is modest, articulate, accomplished. She has nothing to prove to anyone, and appears happy and content with her life. She is someone who has a complete vision of her life who made it real with imagination, hard work and dedication. Joy and success can follow if you take the time to let it in. Joseph Campbell said, “Follow your bliss.” To that add, “Do it with purpose. The joy of the journey will enlighten you.” That’s how life should be lived.

All quotes from Annika Sorenstam are from a Graham Bensinger interview in 2021.