ORLANDO, Fla. — Fifteen years ago little did anyone know Annika Sorenstam was set to embark on her final season.
Over the time since her decision shook the world of women’s golf, Sorenstam became a wife, a mother of two and a multifaceted businesswoman. She began a foundation, started a golf academy and in 2022 became host of an LPGA Tour event.
While competitive golf remained on the back burner for more than a decade, Sorenstam’s competitive fire never faded, a fact impossible to hide at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
The 52-year-old Swede and longtime Lake Nona resident was grinding Saturday as she looked to bounce back from a disappointing second round Friday and enter the mix of the celebrity division.
Instead, a closing double-bogey 6 likely dashed her hopes of catching former tennis professional Mardy Fish, a three-time event winner who holds a 14-point lead over Jeremy Roenick and Chad Pfeifer and 15 over Sorenstam playing the Modified Stableford scoring system.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Brooke Henderson carries a 3-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round over Nelly Korda and Nasa Hataoka and 26 other LPGA pros.
“I was hoping for moving day, but I moved in the wrong direction,” Sorenstam said.
After she missed a short bogey putt on No. 18, Sorenstam quickly stepped over the hole and frustratingly slapped the short come-backer between her feet and into the cup.
The potentially costly move was perhaps the only thing hinting the Sorenstam is now an amateur golfer.
The LPGA season opener at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club mixes Tour winners from the past two seasons with former professionals in a variety of sports. A woman many consider the GOAT is a bit of a shark in a pool of former football, basketball, baseball and hockey stars and playing on her home course.
“Anytime Annika is in a tournament, you’re looking at the leaderboard just seeing where she’s at,” Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, also a three-time event winner, said Friday. “She just doesn’t miss shots, and she loves this course.”
Sorenstam is a main, if not the main, attraction for fans and fellow competitors.
Seven-time All-Star catcher Brian McCann called it “an honor” to play with Sorenstam during Thursday’s opening round.
McCann, 38, was a bit starstruck but also sure to pick the brain of the 72-time winner whose driving accuracy and distance control with her irons was something to behold on a day Sorenstam amassed 39 points to stake a 2-point lead.
“All the great athletes I’ve been around had a similar mindset — routine, work ethic, determination,” McCann said.
Sorenstam did not match her stellar play the ensuing two rounds, but her approach made an impression on Henderson. The two golfers were grouped with Fish for 36 holes.
“We all grew up watching her and loved seeing her dominate out there,” Henderson said. “Even now, she’s so competitive and so tough but yet really kind. We all continue to look up to her.
“If we can add little pieces of her game to our game, we’ll be in good shape.”
Sorenstam’s game remains solid, but not close to the standard she set as the best player of the heyday in the women’s game.
After a 13-year absence, she returned for the 2021 Gainbridge played at Lake Nona. In 2022, she missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Teeing it up at her home course motivates Sorenstam, who sees neighbors outside the ropes she might see next week in the aisles at Publix.
“I do feel the connection here,” she said. “I’ve been here since 2000, so it’s an extended family.”
Inside the ropes, Sorenstam feels a familiar connection, too. Her golf game no longer consumes Sorenstam or serves as her identity, but it can be hard to let go of the past.
“I’m still so competitive,” she said. “Fifteen years might sound like a long time, but for me it’s not that long ago. Sometimes it’s hard because I still have expectations. I don’t know that anybody likes making bogeys.
“It’s a fine line, but my approach is a lot more casual and I’m not as serious out there. But by the end of the day ... I’ve got my family and I’ve got my kids and all of a sudden the golf really doesn’t matter. I quickly can forget about what happened here and move on.”
