Calling her decision one she’d “been thinking about for a while,” Sorenstam, an eight-time LPGA Player of the Year, said Tuesday she will retire after this season.
Sorenstam, a 37-year-old from Sweden, ends an LPGA Tour career in which she has won 72 tournaments and delivered a defining moment when she teed it up against the men on the PGA Tour at the Colonial in Fort Worth.
“I have made a decision to step away from competitive golf after this season,” she said at the Sybase Classic. “This was a very difficult decision for me to make because I love this game so much. But it’s the right one.”
Her final event will be the Dubai Ladies Masters.
“I’m leaving the game on my terms,” she said.
Tiger Woods called Sorenstam “the greatest female golfer of all time” and said it was sad to see her walk away from the game.
“It has been a pleasure watching Annika play for all of these years, but even more of an honor to call her a friend,” he said.
Sorenstam brought notes with her but, for the most part, did not refer to them. She drew a parallel to Brett Favre but was not overcome by emotion as the Green Bay Packers quarterback was when he announced his retirement in March.
“One of the things he said was that he loved the competition but not the daily grind,” she said. “I feel the same way.”
Sorenstam has hinted at retirement the past several seasons, saying she wanted to devote more time to her growing business and to have children. She is engaged to Mike McGee, son of former PGA Tour player Jerry McGee.
Some LPGA players who know Sorenstam well were surprised at the news.
“It really is a shock,” said Natalie Gulbis, who called Sorenstam her closest friend on the tour. “Life on the tour has always been special with her. Knowing she’s not going to be out there is going to be a little different.”
The decision came two days after Sorenstam won the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill by seven shots for her third victory of the season, and first against a field that included No. 1 Lorena Ochoa. It was a sign that Sorenstam had fully recovered from injuries and was poised to make a strong bid at recapturing her stature as the best in women’s golf.
Sorenstam dominated women’s golf like few others, especially during a five-year period when she won 43 times and finished among the top three nearly 70 percent of the time. But for all her achievements - the only woman to shoot 59, 10 majors and one of six women to complete the career Grand Slam - she became most famous for testing herself against the men.
Sorenstam became the first woman in 58 years to compete on the PGA Tour when she played at the Colonial in 2003. She missed the cut but earned worldwide respect for the way she comported herself amid massive scrutiny.
She won LPGA Tour player of the year a record eight times, including five straight seasons until Ochoa ended the streak in 2006. Sorenstam was ineffective most of 2007, the first time in 12 years she failed to win on the LPGA Tour, as she recovered from back and neck injuries.
Sorenstam still faces a large deficit to reclaim the No. 1 ranking from Ochoa.
Sorenstam’s 72 victories put her third on the tour’s career list behind Kathy Whitworth (88) and Mickey Wright (82). She is tied for fourth in career majors, five behind record-setter Patty Berg.
