Sorenstam, Annika

Sorenstam, Annika, 1970–, Swedish golfer. Acclaimed by many as golf's greatest female player, she dominated the game in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She played for the Swedish national team (1987–92) and the Univ. of Arizona (1990–92), becoming world amateur champion in 1992. Turning professional in 1993 in Europe, she became a full-time LPGA player in 1994; she was named rookie of the year both seasons. In a meteoric rise, she became golf's number one female player in 1995 and subsequently captured that crown seven more times. In 2003 Sorenstam became the second woman in history to play in a men's PGA event (the first was Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945). When she retired in 2008, she had set a record for career earnings by a woman golfer and won ten major titles.

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