Golf legend Annika Sorenstam achieved almost every major accolade in her sport. But it’s what comes after that means the most

Sport 13 March, 2024 21:45

It’s a crisp and sunny Sunday afternoon in Orlando, Florida – a perfect day to play a round on the more than 1,000 golf courses scattered across the Sunshine State. But Annika Sorenstam, arguably the greatest female golfer of all time, is instead playing a lighthearted putting game with her husband and two children in their Lake Nona backyard.

From Sorenstam’s historic 59 – the lowest-scoring game ever during a women’s competition – to her 90 international wins, her professional legacy is unmatched. Today, she’s working just as hard to give back to the sport that has given her so much.

Since retiring in 2008, the former pro has been prioritizing family, and her foundation – which focuses on supporting young women in golf. Much like the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, Sorenstam believes investing in women will ensure their success, not just with golf, but with life.

“There’s no doubt that the girls that come through the foundation, they are great golfers, but many of them don’t go on to necessarily play professional golf, which is not really the purpose of the foundation,” Sorenstam recently told CNN during an interview at her Florida home. “It’s more to inspire them to fulfill their dreams. There’s a lot of opportunities for women in this sport.”

From humble beginnings to world champion

Before she was the golf “GOAT,” Sorenstam was just a young girl from the small town of Bro, Sweden, who played a lot of different sports, but was not exactly drawn to golf.

“Golf was really not something that was super exciting to me in the beginning,” she said. “I wanted a little bit more action, a little more speed.”

But living so close to a golf course, and being bribed to play by her parents offering ice cream to her and her sister Charlotta, she said she eventually started to enjoy the game and how it challenged her.

At 18, she won the World Amateur Championship and that’s when she realized she could pursue a career in the sport. She said she was also inspired by other women in golf at the time, like Nancy Lopez and Beth Daniel, adding how important it was to see that representation. When Liselotte Neumann, a Swedish pro golfer, won the US Open in 1988, Sorenstam said, “I was like, ‘wow, she has a similar background like I do, and so if she can do it, maybe there’s a chance I can do it.’”