She Putts for Dough!A Swedish professional golfer, Annika Sorenstam is at the top of the LPGA career money list, with earnings of over $20 million.
Sorenstam was born near Stockholm, Sweden, and as a child she played competitive tennis and skied. She started playing golf at the age of 12 and had a very successful amateur career. She was a member of the Swedish national golf team from 1987 to 1992 and played at the 1990 and 1992 World Amateur Golf Team Championships, becoming World Amateur champion in 1992.
Sorenstam moved to the United States to attend college at the University of Arizona, where she played on the women's golf team. She won seven collegiate titles including the 1991 individual NCAA National Championship.
Upon becoming a professional golfer in 1993, Sorenstam played on the WPGET (now Ladies European Tour) tour. She was invited to play in three LPGA tournaments early in 1993, and that year she was also named WPGET Rookie of the Year. She qualified for the LPGA Tour by tying for 28th at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament to earn non-exempt status for the 1994 season.
Sorenstam was named LPGA Rookie of the Year in 1994, when she had three top-10 finishes. She won her first LPGA Tour title in 1995 at the U.S. Women's Open. She also led the 1995 WPGET Order of Merit and won the Jerringpriset award in Sweden, the country’s most prestigious award in sports.
In 1996, Sorenstam won the U.S. Women's Open again, along with three other tournaments, passing the $1 million mark in LPGA career earnings. In 1997 she did even better, winning 6 LPGA titles, one JLPGA title plus her home WPGET tournament, the Compaq Open in Sweden, and passed $2 million LPGA career earnings. In 1998 Sorenstam became the first player in LPGA history to finish a season with a sub-70 scoring average (69.99). During 1999 she recorded her first LPGA career hole-in-one and crossed the $4 million mark in LPGA career earnings.
Sorenstam won 11 LPGA tournaments in 2002, becoming only the second woman (along with Mickey Wright) to do so. She was awarded her fifth Player of the Year title and fifth Vare Trophy, and set or tied a total of 20 LPGA records. Her 11-stroke victory at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic tied the LPGA record for largest margin of victory in a 54-hole event. In all, she had 13 wins in 25 starts worldwide in 2002.
In 2003, Sorenstam won the LPGA Championship and the Women's British Open to become only the sixth player in LPGA history to complete the LPGA Career Grand Slam. She had 5 other victories worldwide and set or tied a total of 22 LPGA records. She competed against Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson and Mark O'Meara in the Skins Game, finishing second with five skins worth $225,000. In 2003 she was also awarded her second Jerringpriset award in Sweden.
In May 2003, Sorenstam was invited to play in The Colonial golf tournament in Fort Worth, Texas in May of 2003, making her the first woman to play in a PGA event since Babe Zaharias, who qualified for the 1945 Los Angeles Open. She shot a +5, tying for 96th out of the 111 who finished the first two rounds, and missed the cut.
In 2006, Sorenstam suffered through a slump, going winless in eight starts. But she again won the U.S. Women's Open for her 10th major championship title, tying her for third among women with the most major championship wins of all time.
Sorenstam qualified for the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000, but was not eligible for induction until finishing her tenth year on the LPGA tour, which she did in October 2003.
In 2004, Sorenstam wrote Golf Annika's Way, a combination autobiography and golf instructional book.
Sorenstam stands 5'6" tall. Her hobbies include sports, music and cooking. She lives in Incline Village, Nevada USA, which is in the Lake Tahoe area.
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