Nobody has dominated the women's modern-day game like Annika Sorenstam did. The Swede finished her career with 10 Majors which were part of 72 LPGA Tour victories – to give us some idea of quite how incredible that is Karrie Webb (41) is the only player from the Swede's era to record half as many wins.
Sorenstam would win the Player of the Year for five straight seasons, among eight in total, and if you wanted a stat to demonstrate quite how dominant she was then this is a good one – her 23.5% career-winning percentage (72 wins out of 307 LPGA Tour starts) is the highest of any golfer on the PGA or LPGA Tours, just ahead of Tiger Woods.
Do you remember your first pay cheque?
I remember my first sizeable one, it was in Arizona when I was fourth in the Standard Register PING event on the LPGA Tour in 1993. It was for $37,000 which was my budget for the whole year. I remember that I did my calculations and I had to tell my Dad that I needed $35,000 to pay for the year and for the travel and then I made it in one tournament. So then the pressure was off. The LET came after that as this was in March and I didn’t play in Europe until May.
What do you remember of your early days on Tour?
I didn’t get my LPGA Tour card, I missed out by one at Q School, but I got invited to three tournaments which were Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas. My goal was to be able to play the following year which was why I ended up playing in Europe, because I didn’t have a status in America. Then my aim was to get a card for the following year. I did play a lot in the first few months and then you realise that it is exhausting. I remember playing seven tournaments in a row and I never did that again, up to the end of my career two or three was the max. You put so much energy into it, but I think those are the learning curves. You don’t know what it is like and you think you can just do it.
What was the secret to your swing?
It was very easy for me to repeat. I had very few moving parts so, when you play under pressure or you don’t feel right, the fewer moving parts you have, the easier it is to have good timing. My timing was easier to repeat under pressure. But for me I always said the same type of thing, that I moved a little sideways and then obviously I had to move sideways coming back and then I didn’t hit it as solid, so the key for me was rotating around and that would help me a lot of times.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I’m not one of those people who looks back but of course I have learned a lot of lessons. Maybe it would be to enjoy the journey a little bit more. I was so, and still am, super competitive, and super result oriented, and kept moving and moving instead of enjoying the roses and relaxing a little bit. I didn’t really do that because I kept moving and pushing and thinking what’s next?
Were you good at switching off away from tournaments?
I was, I always took Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday off. So a lot of times it was laundry and catching up. I was tired and I took breaks from golf but it wasn’t always that I would splurge. I am not a splurger. A lot of people celebrate and party, I never really liked that. You know I’m super proud and I liked to stay focused and keep moving forward and not take things for granted.
If you were starting out now would you focus more on length?
I worked out quite a bit and I was the longest on tour for a little bit. I was always in the top 10 for distance and I peaked in 2003. But distance wasn’t my thing and I would rather spend time on my short game. Ball striking has always been my thing. I grew up and I hit balls all day long and then I’d putt for 10 minutes. I didn’t enjoy putting.
What was it about putting?
I’m sure you can look at the statistics but I hit more greens than anyone in that period of time. That was my game, it was fairway-greens, fairway-greens but I got better with my short game a little later. Maybe you mature and you realise your strengths, and I started to spend time on the things that I didn’t like. You have to spend time on your weaknesses. When I was young I used to spend time on the things I was good at I would forget all the other things. I just didn’t like putting. I figured that if I would hit every green then I wouldn’t have to hit chip shots. I would say to my coach we should work on bunkers but I would hit one bunker each tournament so why spending hours hitting bunker shots? Then of course the one time I needed it I didn’t make it up and down and I realised where is the nearest bunker? When you’re young you are probably more stubborn.
Which Major did you particularly fancy yourself in?
The US Open. I grew up playing tennis and there is a US Open in tennis and it felt like the biggest tournament that you could play in. You had the US Open for the men and, for all these years it was the oldest championship and I always thought that the US Open was the biggest and I managed to win three of them. But I enjoyed playing the British Open, it became a Major later for us, and then we had what is now the Chevron Championship but the US Open was always the US Open.
Did you have a favourite British Open course?
We had Woburn and Sunningdale but it is was the links courses that people love to go and play, like Birkdale, Murifield, Turnberry and Troon. That is what made it so special. I love links golf courses, I won at Lytham but I love all of them. Lorena (Ochoa) winning at St Andrews was a big stepping stone.
How important was Lorena for the women's game?
She is such a great person and I just love her personality. She is competitive but she is also fair. As golfers we were very different; she hit the ball a lot higher, was a lot more handsy, had a lot of touch around the greens and there was a lot of feel. I would say I was strategic, more of a boom, boom type. I was steady and hit the ball a little lower.
If you could play one last round on Tour who would it be with?
When I climbed to the top there was Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak and we had a fun rivalry. We all pushed each other to different levels and then Lorena came along and that was towards the end of my career. I really didn’t play that much against her because I think she came in my last few years. In my last year she was number one and I was number two so we didn’t really have as long a battle as I did with Karrie and Se Ri. So I would say maybe those three.
Did you stop at the right time?
Yes, I have never thought that I should have waited. On the contrary maybe I thought I should have done it sooner, maybe a year or so. But it was the right time and it happened naturally, I just lost my motivation and I wasn’t excited to play anymore. I listened to myself and, when you lose the excitement, then what are you doing this for?
Did you miss it?
Mike (McGee) and I got married and then I was pregnant with Ava and my foundation started. I thought that I might not have anything to do, then all of a sudden I had a ton of stuff.
Right at the start did you think you were a potential Major winner?
No, I didn’t really think so. I hoped I could win one. I had one win in the NCAA and I had won the World Championship as an amateur so I knew how to win. But then you go on the Tour and there are no age groups and you just don’t know. I thought it would be fantastic to win one maybe.
