Annika Sorenstam lives on the 16th hole at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. She likes to look outside her office window and watch her son get in a quick hole every once in a while. It seemed like she’d also have a primetime view for the upcoming Gainbridge LPGA event. That is, until the LPGA announced Tuesday that Sorenstam has committed to play in the event, held Feb. 25-28 in Orlando.
This will be Sorenstam’s first time inside the ropes competing against LPGA players in an official event since she retired from the tour in 2008. Last month, Sorenstam made her debut in the celebrity division of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. She finished ninth in that event, which used a Modified Stableford scoring system.
She's baaack! 🐐⛳️
72x Tour winner Annika Sörenstam is committed to play in the upcoming @GainbridgeLPGA. pic.twitter.com/1nfI9VdIc9
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 9, 2021
Sorenstam, 50, had designs to make her debut in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open this year until the dates were moved and now overlap the Summer Olympics. As president of the International Golf Federation, Sorenstam will be on hand in Tokyo should the Games go on as planned.
Sorenstam’s husband and business manager, Mike McGee, said his wife only started thinking about competing in the Gainbridge after the TOC.
“She was nervous and rusty and realized she needs competitive rounds for the U.S. Senior Women’s Open,” texted McGee. “That’s the end goal, schedule permitting. There aren’t many opportunities between now and then to to that. If the event was down the street or across town she wouldn’t even have considered. The fact that it is literally in our backyard and the members have been asking her nonstop, she decided to play. Our kids are excited, which is what matters.”
The 10-time major winner and mother of two owns a total of 72 LPGA titles. She last won on the LPGA in May 2008 at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill and announced her decision to retire at the end of the season shortly after.
