The Lake Nona neighborhood is buzzing about Annika Sorenstam’s return to the LPGA. Parties are planned. A UPS driver recently waved down Sorenstam to ask if he could stick around and watch, should there be a package to deliver next week. A principal at her son Will’s school opened the car door in the drop-off lane to express her excitement.
“I’m already invited to mimosa parties,” said Sorenstam. “I said you know what, I can’t have too many mimosas. I’m not going to make it!”
To say it’s going to be a little different this time around is an understatement. Sorenstam’s first LPGA event in 13 years won’t be like any of the others. For starters, she’s playing in her literal backyard. Her office desk is a long putt from the 16th hole at Lake Nona. The mother of two has lived in the community for 20 years in three different houses.
“This is just an appearance,” she said. “It’s not a comeback.”
Of course, when you’re one of the greatest to ever play the game – male or female – there’s nothing “just” about it. The majority of the players in the field at the Gainbridge LPGA have never competed in an event alongside Sorenstam.
To many, she’s the legend who hosted the junior events they competed in, whose name is etched on the trophies they strive for and whose records they still can’t quite comprehend.
There will be 38 players in the field this week who have teed it up in one of Sorenstam’s events. Maria Fassi, Celine Boutier, Patty Tavatanakit, Angel Yin and Linnea Strom are among those who have won her events. Leona Maguire, Bronte Law and Fassi are recipients of the ANNIKA Award presented by Stifel, given annually to the best Division I player in women’s college golf.
“I feel like now I can be a little bit more relevant,” said Sorenstam, who will captain Europe in at this year’s Junior Solheim Cup. “Not just this is how I did it. Now it’s more like this is how I do it.”
Her kids, Will and Ava, get to skip school for the occasion. (“Daddy said that they should,” she explained.) Her parents will be there. Unfortunately, the event isn’t open to fans.
The 10-time major winner has so many practice rounds slated that she joked she might be too exhausted by the time Thursday comes around.
Last month, Sorenstam competed in the celebrity division of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions and was quickly reminded that it’s not like getting “back on the bike.”
In addition to nerves, Sorenstam noticed how tough it was to stay focused for 18 holes. She’s usually good for about 14, she said, and then her mind begins to wander to the kids’ lunches and after-school sports.
“I used to literally just push automatic and shots would just go where I visualized,” she said, “and now it’s not so automatic anymore. It’s the scoring part. It’s very up and down.
“It’s funny, I’ve had conversations with friends and they’re like, ‘Well that’s what golf is all about.’ I said it’s never been like that for me!”
One of the main reasons Sorenstam decided to compete this week – the LPGA has a Hall of Fame category – is to get another tournament under her belt before this summer’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open. Sorenstam turned 50 last October.
The Senior Women’s Open dates (July 29-Aug. 1) overlap with the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and Sorenstam is the newly-elected president of the International Golf Federation. Sorenstam’s husband and business manager Mike McGee, however, said that doing both seems to be possible, noting that IGF Executive Director Antony Scanlon has been supportive of the idea of Sorenstam competing.
Laura Davies, winner of the inaugural Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club, said she can think of nothing better than going down the stretch on Sunday against the likes of another newly-turned 50-year-old Catriona Matthew and Sorenstam. Juli Inkster has twice finished second. Helen Alfredsson won the 2019 edition.
“Annika doesn’t do anything by halves,” said 57-year-old Davies, who will begin her 34th season on the LPGA at the Gainbridge.
As for this coming week Sorenstam, a 72-time winner on the LPGA, said she can’t control the cutline and that anything around 1 under would be terrific.
“I’m in a different time in my life,” she said.
Winning these days doesn’t always come with a trophy.