Passing it down

Thirteen years had passed since her last LPGA Tour season when Annika Sorenstam returned to competition at the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship. Exactly what would make a World Golf Hall of Fame member with 90 worldwide victories, 72 LPGA wins with 11 major championships, and distinction as the only woman to record an 18-hole score of 59 in an official LPGA Tour event come out of retirement? What else did she want to achieve in competition?

“It wasn’t because I was dying to compete,” said Sorenstam, who will be in the championship field for this week’s 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Waverly Country Club in Portland, Oregon. Sorenstam played her last LPGA season in 2008, and left to start a family with husband Mike McGee. She went into that 2021 USGA championship with a completely different mindset from the days when she was singularly focused on every aspect of her game and seemingly eyeing every record in women’s golf. This time, she arrived with her family. Children Ava and Will walked the fairways with their father Mik...