ANNIKA SORENSTAM

 

About Annika

Annika is the greatest female golfer of our generation, and often regarded as the best of all-time. During her 16-year, Hall-of-Fame career, she rewrote the record books, won countless awards, and changed the way women’s golf was played, viewed and covered. Her global, on-course success and knowledge of business helped her become the first and only female golfer to create a successful brand of businesses. The ANNIKA brand has been featured in Duane Knapp’s book Brand Strategy, Inc., as well as in non-golf media outlets like Brandweek, The New York Times, Fortune Magazine, SportsBusiness Journal, Success Magazine, USA Today and Wine Spectator.

 
 

Professional Experience

From 1993 to 2008, Annika amassed over 90 victories worldwide. They included 72 on the LPGA and 10 Major Championships. Annika holds a record number of Rolex Player of the Year awards (eight) and Vare Trophies for the lowest season scoring average (six). In 2001, she became the first – and still only – female to break 60 in an official event, earning her the nickname “Ms. 59.” Annika received worldwide media attention in 2003 when she became the first woman since 1945 to play in a PGA TOUR event (The Colonial in Ft. Worth, Texas). She remains the LPGA’s all-time money leader with over $22 million in earnings. After representing Team Europe in eight Solheim Cups as a player and three as a vice-captain, she served as captain in 2017.

POST-LPGA CAREER 

Annika stepped away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season to start a family and further establish the ANNIKA brand. As President and CEO of ANNIKA, she oversees a variety of businesses. They include the ANNIKA Collection, a line of high-end women’s golf apparel with partner Cutter & Buck. It has realized over $50 million in global sales since its 2003 inception.

ANNIKA Course Design has completed three courses globally, with three more under construction. Her first U.S. credit, Royal Golf Club in Elmo, Minn., is a partnership with Arnold Palmer Design and slated to open in 2018. The new course will be aptly named The King and The Queen. 

In 2007, Annika created the ANNIKA Foundation, which provides golf opportunities at the junior, collegiate and professional levels while teaching young people the importance of living a healthy, active lifestyle through fitness and nutrition. The Foundation hosts the ANNIKA Intercollegiate presented by 3M, an NCAA tournament featuring 12 of the top Division I schools that annually welcomes the strongest field in all of college golf.

Annika regularly appears as a television analyst for NBC’s coverage of LPGA major championships. She is a very popular motivational speaker and many corporate executives, CEOs and meeting planners use her talents to entertain important clients, reward top performing employees, and build camaraderie among teams. Annika is a driven leader with a vast network of contacts throughout the worlds of business, sports and entertainment. She continues to represent world-class companies including 3M, AHEAD, Callaway, Cutter & Buck, Diamond Resorts, Lexus, Mastercard and Rolex.​

Listen to Annika speak at the Valero Texas Open for Executive Women's Day here. 

 
 

AWARDS &  ACCOLADES​

  • Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – 2003-05

  • Golf Writers Association of America Female Athlete of the Year – 1995, 1997, 2000-05

  • World Golf Hall of Fame induction – 2003

  • Ambassador of the United States Golf Association (joining Arnold Palmer) – 2008

  • United States Golf Association’s Bob Jones Award – 2011

  • PGA of America’s First Lady of Golf – 2013

  • Rolex ANNIKA Major Award established - 2014

  • Top Swedish Female Athlete of All-Time – 2015

  • KPMG Inspire Greatness Award – 2016

  • HSBC Golf Summit Lifetime Achievement Award – 2016

  • Voted Top Female Golfer of All-Time by PGA.com - 2018

  • Ranked No. 1 Female "Most Dominant" Athlete by ESPN The Magazine - 2018

  • Elected the President of the International Golf Federation - 2020

  • Became the first female golfer and only the third female in sport to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom - 2021

EDUCATION & FAMILY

Annika journeyed from her native Sweden to attend the University of Arizona in 1990. She majored in nutrition, but left school after her sophomore year to pursue a professional golf career. To say she succeeded would be an understatement. Annika and her husband, Mike McGee, split time between residences in Orlando and Incline Village, Nev. with their two children, Ava and Will.