Will Annika Be Back?

By Jim Nettleton


The golf world was stunned earlier this year when perhaps the finest female player ever to play the game announced her retirement at the end of this year. That the announcement came at a time when she was at her career peak made it doubly stunning.

Annika Sorenstam has rapidly amassed titles and honors during her career, a span of time that saw her win 72 tournaments for third place on the all time list. Among those victories are 10 majors. But it must be said that those ahead of her on the all time list, Kathy Whitworth with 88 and Mickey Wright with 82, played at a time when competition was not remotely as intense as it is now. During the careers of Whitworth and Wright, there were only a small handful of players who actually had a chance to win each week. Today, dozens of players have a realistic chance to win. Given that assessment, Annika’s accomplishments become even more impressive, as do Tiger Woods’, judged by the same criteria.

Tiger called her “the greatest female golfer of all time” and said that it was sad to see her walk away. The 37 year-old Swedish superstar has said that she wants to devote more time to her business and to start a family. It’s a good bet that it will be a golfing family. Her fiancé is Mike McGee, the son of the former PGA Tour player Jerry McGee, so the genes are definitely there.

But it’s hard to imagine an athlete with her credentials going cold turkey from the game she dominated for so many years. Anyone who has achieved a lofty status in athletics, or any other endeavor for that matter, will find it difficult not to be drawn back to those circumstances around which their lives revolved for so long. According to Sorenstam, her last tournament will be the Dubai Ladies Masters, which takes place after the end of the regular LPGA Tour schedule. But will that really be the end?

Many of us who love the game hope not. Although her performance this year hasn’t been, in general, up to Sorenstam standards, although she has won three times to date, much of that is probably due to a division of concentration as she makes her final tour and thinks ahead to starting that family. She still strikes the ball as well as ever and still possesses the length to dominate any field she’s in.

The major loss to the LPGA Tour will be not only her stellar play but the manner in which she’s comported herself over the years and the example that conduct has set for younger players coming up the professional ladder. True leaders are always rare and we can ill afford to lose any of them.

Personally, I believe Annika will be back, if not on a full time basis, then playing select tournaments and perhaps the majors. After a year or two away from the competition and, yes, the glory, I believe the urge to experience some of that again will overcome other issues. Even if she does start her family promptly, that will not be a significant roadblock. There are many young mothers who are active on tour and who bring their families along with them.

Certainly we all wish her the very best with her new directions. But let’s hope that we haven’t seen the last of Annika Sorenstam, nor the last of the class and dignity she brought to the game. Is she does decide to return occasionally, she will be a welcome sight indeed.


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