Rarely does an athlete come along that dominates their sport so completely that there is no doubt that they are the best to ever play. Annika Sorenstam is such an athlete. Being a woman, a lot of what she has accomplished hasn’t been heralded like Tiger or Jack but make no mistake she has been every bit as dominating. Just to give you a little feel for what she has done, here is a short (and I mean short) list of her accomplishments. 72 LPGA victories, that is one less than Jack Nicklaus and 10 more wins than Arnold Palmer, 10 majors, 8 time player of the year award, and the only woman to shoot a 59 in a LPGA tournament. The closest active LPGA player in wins is Karrie Webb with 35. That isn’t even fair. She won 5 tournaments in a row twice and dominated tournaments year in and year out. While Annika only ranks third in total LPGA career wins, the two ahead of her are from an era when amateurs still won tour events. Undoubtedly, the LPGA fields are much deeper than in years past. Annika has left no doubt who is the greatest woman golfer of all time. This week Annika decided to announce that she is retiring at the end of this year at the ripe old age of 37. She made this announcement after doing what she does best, winning a tournament. Given another 5 or 10 years she would most likely own every record in woman’s golf. Annika has been a graceful champion and has given back to the game in many ways. One such way is her golf academy that she hopes will help others improve their skills but more importantly fall in love with the game she has totally dominated. With her retirement, women’s golf will lose a great competitor, the ultimate ambassador for woman’s golf, and maybe even some of its luster. She has decided to focus her attention to marriage, children, promoting golf, and cooking and I am pretty sure no one can fault her for that.
