Annika Sorenstam

• Annika won her 13 titles in 2002 in just 25 starts. Mickey Wright needed 33—against a much thinner field—to collect her 13 victories. Annika did it on two continents, against some of the sport’s all-time greats.
• Annika is known to play a practical joke every now and then. At the 1992 World Amateur Team Championship, she and some teammates dumped itching powder in coach Pia Nilsson’s clothing.
• Annika was inducted into the University of Arizona’s Hall of Fame in 1999.
• One moment Annika might prefer to forget was ABC’s Battle at Bighorn in 2001. It matched her and Tiger Woods against David Duval and Karrie Webb in a made-for-TV event. She appeared nervous and uneasy most of the night, and none of the four played particularly well. The following year, she, Webb, and Duval were replaced by Jack Nicklaus, Sergio Garcia, and Lee Trevino.
• Annika’s sister, Charlotta, won an NCAA championship as a freshman at the University of Texas.
• Annika has a strict routine before she tees off. She begins her warm-up an hour and 15 minutes before her tee time. She starts on the practice green to get a feel for the speed of the greens. Next she chips. Then she hits the driving range, beginning with her short irons and ending with her metal woods. From there, she heads back to the practice green.
• Annika’s favorite course in the U.S. is Oakmont in Pittsburgh, PA.
• Annika has become a huge basketball fan. Whenever she can, she catches NBA games on TV, and says her favorite team is the Sacramento Kings.
• Annika is pursuing her black belt in karate. She also enjoys yoga, mostly Ashtanga.
• Annika is featured along with David Toms in Links 2003, the latest installment of the all-time best-selling PC golf franchise. They joined Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik as the most recent golfers to be immortalized by the computer game.
• Annika’s book, “Dare To Be The Best,” is a top-seller in Sweden. She says there are no plans to publish an English version in the U.S.
• Annika’s two top hobbies are cooking and snowboarding.
• Annika may be the only LPGA player who has appeared on a postage stamp.
• Annika's former husband, David, admitted on a 2003 episode of "60 Minutes" that she used to intentionally lose tournaments as a junior to avoid making victory speeches.
• As long the the Women's U.S. Open has been at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon, the tournament's been a horror show for Annika. Her most recent collapse came in 2003. On the 72nd hole, with a chance to win her second Open title—or at worst clinch a spot in a playoff—she pushed her second shot right on the par-5 into the grandstand, was forced to take an awkward drop, then carded a bogey to fall out of contention.
• In November of 2003, Annika became the first woman to compete in the Skins Game. In a foursome with Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson and Mark O'Meara, she finished second, taking five skins and $225,000. Her winnings were as much as Tiger Woods earned in his first four appearances combined.
• Annika released an instructional book in 2004 entitled Golf Annika’s Way.
• Annika’s 2004 LPGA money title was her fourth straight and the seventh of her career. She was also named LPGA Player of the Year for the seventh time.
• Annika’s 38 tournament victories since 2000 are the most of any golfer, man or woman, at any level.
• Annika carries two Ben Franklin half-dollars in her pocket to mark her balls. They were given to her by a fan.