Out of golf, into brand-names: there is no retiring for Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is doing to branded-beer and clothing lines what she had done to the Ladies Professional Golf Association: taking it by storm.
In the early 2000s, she won the fifth Player of the Year award after a sensational 11 wins off the Ladies Professional Golf Association in one season.
The only other player to have accomplished that feat was Mickey Wright. Let us hope Karrie Webb did not eat her hat like she had said she would if Sörenstam did what she did.
Sörenstam also won the Vare Trophy the same year of the 11 Ladies Professional Golf Association tournament titles.
Alas all good things come to an end. In early May, she announced she will be retiring from the golfing scene. Her second last tournament win, thus, was captaining Team International in Singapore.
The Dubai Ladies Masters, a permanent on the Ladies European Tour circuit, was to be the last tournament of her professional career. She finished tied in the seventh place.
If a mere sports writer may have an opinion, the victory at the Lexus Cup in Singapore, however, could have been made to appropriately fit a grand finale to an illustrious career.
What is the World Golf Hall of Famer Swede up to post-retirement? Not slowing down that is for sure. She has opened a golf academy, where sister Charlotta is an instructor and coach.
An app of ANNIKA Academy came out just last week. Intended for smartphones and tablets, it has instructional packages of “45 of the best lessons I learned during my career. And it’s set up in categories: for beginners, for intermediate level players, and
for better players. Everything from grip, to playing off sloped lies, to advanced tips”.
In an interview to the New York Times, she revealed she is a whole lot busier than she had been playing golf professionally.
From clothing lines to a golf academy, from fragrance to charitable foundation, from a wine label to an international golf course design business, Annika Sörenstam is doing it all.
“I’ve got 15 employees now, and we’re all ambitious. People get e-mails from me at 2 a.m. and they say, “Why were you up then?” she said. So much for a restful retirement.
Moreover, she has a thing or two to say about Tiger Woods:
“He looks so mechanical,” she said of the former world number one, “And he’s had a lot of injuries. It’s like we’re looking at a different person than five years ago. Can this new person do what the other person did? I’m not convinced by any means”.
There is no retiring for Sörenstam. As of last month, she was awarded the Bob Jones Award. The BJA is the highest honour the United States Golf Association can bestow.
Tags: