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Sörenstam was born in Bro near Stockholm,
Sweden. Her younger sister Charlotta is a professional golfer who coaches
at her sister's academy. Annika and Charlotta Sörenstam are the only two
sisters to have both won $1 million on the LPGA Tour.
As a child, Sörenstam was a talented all-round sports
girl. She was a nationally ranked junior tennis player, played football in her hometown
team Bro IK and was such a good skier that the coach of the Swedish national
ski team suggested the family move to Northern Sweden to improve her skiing
year round. At the age of 12, she switched to golf, sharing her first set of clubs
with her sister.
Her successful amateur career included a win in the St.
Rule Trophy played at St. Andrews. As a member of the Swedish
National Team from 1987 to 1992, she played in the 1990 and 1992 World Amateur Golf Team Championships,
becoming World Amateur champion in 1992. While waiting to start college in
Sweden, Sörenstam worked as a personal assistant at the Swedish PGA and played
on the Swedish Ladies Telia Tour, winning three tournaments during 1990/1991.
After a coach spotted Sörenstam playing in a collegiate
event in Tokyo, she moved to the United States to attend college at the University of Arizona. She won seven
collegiate titles and in 1991, became the first non-American and first freshman
to win the individual NCAA
National Championship. She was 1991 NCAA Co-Player of the Year, runner-up in
the 1992 NCAA National Championship, 1992 Pac-10 champion
and a 1991-92 NCAA All-American.
At the 1992 United States Women's
Amateur Golf Championship, she was the runner-up and thus received
an invitation to play in the 1992 U.S. Women's Open, where she finished tied
for 63rd. Having turned professional in 1992 and missing her LPGA Tour card at
the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by one shot, she began her professional
career on the Ladies European Tour or LET.
Before stepping away from golf in 2008 she amassed a staggering 90 international tournament wins inclunding 10 Major wins. she tops the leading tournament listing and also the leading money list with a total of $22 million, nearly $8 million dollar ahead of her nearest rival. One of her proudest claims is that she is the only female professional golfer to have shot a 59 in tournament play. Many consider Sorenstam to be the best female player to have played the game.
The Annika brand is growing as since stepping away from golf to start a family she has also introduced The Annika Academy, Annika Course Design, Annika Branded Products and a charitable foundation.