Annika Sorenstam - Part 1 (The Early Years)

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

Welcome to another edition of FORE the Good of the Game and Bruce Devlin. You know, I just got off the phone with Kathy Whitworth because uh I wanted her to know about this guest we've got this morning. She's quoted as saying that Mickey Wright was our Ben Hogan and Nancy Lopez for the LPGA was our Arnold Palmer, and I wanted to ask her, then who is this guest?

Bruce Devlin 0:41

Well, I've got an idea of who this guest is. She would be the Tiger Woods of the LPGA, a lady that has won ten majors, played in fifty-eight majors, made the cut in fifty-three of them, has 94 victories around the world, 72 on the LPGA, and what a pleasure to have Annika Sorenstam with us today. Annika, welcome.

Annika Sorenstam 1:08

Thank you very much. Great to be here with you.

Mike Gonzalez 1:12

Annika, it's a pleasure having you. We've looked forward to this for a long time. And uh, as we mentioned earlier, we're here to tell your story. And uh we're just gonna try to imagine that it's fifty years from now, and we've still got little girls and boys that are just learning the game, listening to this, because the World Golf Hall of Fame and the USGA have agreed to archive these episodes for future generations of listeners and golfers. So we like to start at the beginning. So let's just take you back to uh your days of growing up in the Stockholm area and uh what it was like uh living there and learning the game of golf as a young girl.

Annika Sorenstam 1:49

Yeah, you're right. I'm from Stockholm, Sweden. Uh just born outside the city. Uh my parents were very um sport enthusiasts, I think it's a good word. My dad played, we did a lot of track and field, and then played handball, and my mom was also, you know, quite the athlete in different ways. Uh, they stopped playing golf when just before I was born, there was a new golf club, and they wanted, they thought this would be a fun thing to do together, so they joined the club, and and then my mom was pregnant with me, so I start to feel the golf swings early in my career. Um, I um, like I said, growing up in a sporty family, I um I myself decided to play lots of sports. I played soccer, I played a lot of tennis, I competed for eight years, but I tried everything volleyball. Um, of course, as a Swede, you have to do downhill skiing and cross-country. So I did all of those types of winter sports, and golf was really not really my first love, um, but obviously was introduced to it early. And then um, when I got bored with all the other sports, I decided to stop playing golf. But, you know, pretty much a basic upbringing in a suburb outside Stockholm. You know, just went to school around the corner, had some friends, and and pretty shy of nature. But um, you know, I like to study, uh, like a lot of math, like a lot of chemistry and physics, and wanted to be a chemical engineer, but then obviously my path took me to anywhere else.

Mike Gonzalez 3:20

So, Annika, one thing that sort of piqued my interest, uh uh you talked about your folks, your father Tom, your mother Ganella. Your dad worked at IBM. I started my career at IBM. He must have started back in the 60s, uh, I would guess.

Annika Sorenstam 3:33

I think so. Yeah, that sounds about right. Yeah, he's um, you know, he's an IBM'er, and I wasn't a kid with an IBMer, so I went to actually computer classes, computer camps in the summer, learn how to write programs and and the software. Actually, when software really didn't exist, we had to write them. So yeah, it's um we are big uh IBM fans.

Mike Gonzalez 3:57

Yeah, how many years did he spend with IBM? Do you remember?

Annika Sorenstam 4:00

Um, all his years. So he retired from IBM. I mean, he didn't, as far as I remember, he really didn't have any other jobs. He was a product manager and and um he enjoyed it. I just yeah, he retired early. I'm not really sure when, but um, yeah, we like I said, we go way back with IBM.

Mike Gonzalez 4:20

Yeah, it would be interesting comparing notes with him. Well, anyway, you talked about uh a little bit on uh getting introduced to golf. I know there are at least a couple of clubs just northwest of Stockholm that uh you had a chance to to play at. Uh one must have been located right between the little towns of Brough and and Balsta called Brough Balsta Golf Club. Just tell us a little bit about uh that early exposure to golf and how your game developed.

Annika Sorenstam 4:44

Yeah, you're right. Uh you know, it was like I said, I was, you know, our parents played golf, and that's kind of how our interest, you know, started. They would go out there and, you know, my sister and and um, you know, maybe we would just kind of be there and hang out. We would get ice cream, we would paddle a bit, and if my parents played, we would kind of sit on their golf bags or pull carts and they would pull like it was ponies, and and then, you know, after a few holes, we get a little bored. They would say, Well, why don't you guys go hang out over there? And, you know, point to some trees, and and they said, We'll be back in 30 minutes, because that's kind of, you know, the next tour was coming back. So we'll climb trees, we'll pick berries, we'll just kind of hang out. And then they came back and then we ride some more on the golf bags, and then there was the turn, and then we'll get a little snack, and then we'll hang out there. And you know, it was just really kind of a slow start. I I really didn't enjoy the game early on. I thought it was I actually was slow. I mean, I was tennis, you chase the ball, soccer, you chase the ball, and I just wanted a little bit more action. And but again, I mean, I learned the game, I learned the vocabulary, I learned the rules and everything. I just really didn't play much. And it wasn't until the age of 12 where uh my sister and I we um we attended a camp, um, like a summer camp or golf camp, or and that's can that's kind of where the interest started. There were other kids there and some other girls, and we would play, and and I thought, you know, this is kind of fun. Um actually at that time I got my handicap. It started out with 63, so I got a lot of shots early on, but the end of that summer I got it down to um 35. So that was, you know, then there was more legit golf.

Bruce Devlin 6:24

Yeah, I'll bet. So that I understand too, Annika, that you and your sister at one point in time, the early days, that you guys used to share um a set of golf clubs.

Annika Sorenstam 6:36

Yeah, that's right. Um when my parents saw that we were, you know, somewhat interested in the game, they bought a set of clubs and they split it up. So I got the odds and she got the evens, and then they bought you know another putters and then a few other woods. But yeah, no, so I I grew up playing with half a set. I had a five-iron, seven iron, nine iron, and and just kind of made it work. I really didn't think of it. It was that's just kind of how I learned. If I needed, you know, a six-iron, I would either hit a really hard seven or I would open up the club and trying to hit a soft five or do something. So, you know, it made me think a little bit about the shots. It made me be a little bit more creative, uh, because I just didn't have all the tools.

Bruce Devlin 7:19

Well, it might have been a reason why you become such a wonderful player that you learned very early how to manipulate the ball and and hit a golf club different lengths. So in some respects it might have been a blessing.

Annika Sorenstam 7:33

I think so. I mean, I as you know, our life's journeys are not the same. We always they're always different. Sometimes they take different turns, and I just learned to adapt and adjust to whatever. And in my case, I just didn't really didn't think about it. I was just excited to have, you know, eight clubs or something like that, and and just be able to play. And it really didn't um I really didn't think of anything differently. It was just fun to go out there and play and and uh just kind of making the most out of it.

Mike Gonzalez 8:04

So what happened, Annika, to to to kind of change your perception of the game from a little boring, a little slow, to this is kind of fun. Was it the social aspect of it? Was it the the challenge aspect of it? What was it?

Annika Sorenstam 8:16

I think it was the challenge aspect of it. I um I just felt like every shot was just so different and every day was different. You know, in tennis, you know, I I was a decent tennis player, but I my backhand wasn't very good. So every time I played in competition, they would always hit it on my backhand, and it got frustrating because I was a really good forehand player and I could serve well and I had good wally, but I never got to really showcase that. And but in golf, I always felt like I could play to my strength. And you know, early on in my game, I would, you know, I hit the ball a little lower, I hit a draw, and I could play with that all day long. It was just my strength. You know, nobody told me to hit high cuts or anything. I just kind of played it the way I, you know, the way that suited my my game and my swing. So I just I think I enjoyed that. And also in tennis, when you practice, you need a partner, you know, somebody to hit the ball against, or and you always want that partner to be a little better, so you get a challenge. And and in golf, I realized I can just go out at any time, anywhere, and just work on my game, whether it was putting or chipping or hitting balls. And so I, you know, I would say I'm more of a grinder. I will, you know, I hit a lot of balls growing up. I'd be on the range most of the day, and even at night, I go home and I would have dinner, and then the pro would call us and say, Hey, you know, we need uh, you know, that trust. Can you come and pick him up? And and we would negotiate, and then eventually we'll get the job. And my sister and I, we would cycle back to the club and and we'll pick up balls for two hours, and that's how we made our money. Um, so I've done a lot of handpicking, driving ranges, but that's just kind of how we grew up, and that's how we learned the game and appreciated. And I think the more I played, the more I realized that this is really fun and it just suited me a little bit more. I'd love to be out there and just work on different shots and and just you know get better and better.

Mike Gonzalez 10:11

So, Annika, Bruce and I certainly have picked up from our other stories that we've been telling with the men and the women about how important it's been for most of these folks to be multi-sport athletes. And I know this this has got to be something you probably emphasize with the the young ladies that uh you're able to influence through your foundation. But looking back, how important was that to develop your full body team, individual sport, as opposed to just playing golf all the time?

Annika Sorenstam 10:38

Yeah, I mean, I um I mean I love sports. I mean, that as I mentioned, uh growing up playing all kinds of sports, I think it's taught me a lot of different things. And, you know, whether it's team aspect or it's just, you know, other muscles, or just but overall, I mean, it's about focusing, it's about discipline, it's about practice, it's about patience. And I think all those things are important for for anybody, whether you become a professional golfer or not. Um, I think sports just in general teaches you so much about life. I think there's a lot of synergy between um between the two. So, you know, I'm obviously a believer of trying different things. I mean, as a young girl or young boy, I it's it's hard to know what you're gonna like. And so I'm not a fan of specializing, uh, maybe because you know, I just didn't do it, and I think other sports can help you in other sports. So, and but then again, you know, every every path is very different, every individual is very different. But, you know, I I see a lot of kids that just specialize early and and um you know they get burned out, and I mean obviously that's you know, that's sad.

Bruce Devlin 11:43

So Annika, when when you s when you sort of made up your mind uh that golf was where you wanted to go from a sporting standpoint, was there a golf professional close by that sort of helped you in your early days and and was significantly strong in making you the player that you became?

Annika Sorenstam 12:03

You know, I would say that you know, I'm lucky I have a good um team around me, you know, my parents, um, definitely early on, you know, it's not so much being, you know, golf instructors or anything like that, but just being supportive and being you know, being there, you know, being loving and and being giving us the resources that we needed to play this game and or whatever it was, I think it's really important. I had, you know, there was a pro at the club early on, but you know, I think overall it's just been, you know, mostly Henry Rice, which has been my coach since the very beginning. Um, I would say it's been you know the the biggest influencer into my into my game, um, just more from a technical standpoint. But you know, my parents were there and then obviously friends within the game. So I think you know, throughout the journey, there's been different people at different phases of my life that have kind of guided me through and led me to the next chapter, and from there kind of taking that chapter on to the next one.

Mike Gonzalez 13:03

So, Annika, you you brought up uh a little earlier about uh being shy as a child. Of course, uh a lot of people know that story. What I found fascinating, having heard you talk about it, uh and uh how it impacted you early on. Two other of our players who you know quite well, Sherry Steinhauer, who we just had on a few uh two or three weeks ago, and and earlier Martha Nowsey, also a major championship winner, both said the same sort of things that you said about uh growing up. And and Sherry to uh as a matter of fact, uh shared with us. She said, I'm not sure we've I really shared this too much. But you know, when she was in school, as I think I've heard you say, she doesn't remember raising her hand one time.

Annika Sorenstam 13:56

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 13:58

Yeah, I mean tell us about kind of how that impacted your play early on, and then and then maybe as as you know, as you matured and developed, how you kind of worked your way through that.

Annika Sorenstam 14:09

Yeah, I mean, I just didn't want to, you know, I was shy by nature, just didn't really want to make a lot of fuss or a lot of noise or be seen and heard, really. So yeah, I didn't raise my hand in school to answer any questions, just in case I would say something wrong that you know all the other kids would, you know, laugh at me. So um, but you know, in golf, I mean, early on in my amateur career, you know, I would um in Sweden you have to, well, they expect you to give a little if you win a golf tournament to give some winning remarks. And I just, you know, that terrified me. So I would miss on purpose coming down the stretch in my junior golf tournaments because I just didn't want to say anything. And so yeah, there was a lot of times I finished second or third, I still got a price, but I, you know, didn't have to say anything. But of course, that would, you know, that would eat me up because you know, driving away from the tournament, my parents would always, you know, ask, you know, are you okay and what's happening? And and I just, you know, I was a little shy. I just didn't want to admit to that I would miss on purpose. So but my parents kind of figured that out. And so the the following tournament that I played in, uh, they asked me to uh give some remarks, and I remember saying, Well, I didn't win, so I don't need to say anything. And they were like, Well, we would love to hear what you have to say, and you can imagine I just didn't really enjoy that. But, you know, my dad told me then just you know, bring a seven iron up there to this little podium and hold on to it and just say something like, you know, I like my golf clubs to do the talking, and and after that I realized that, you know, it's not as bad. I mean, I put so much time into practicing and and you know, one and and being such a competitor, you can imagine that you know it would eat me up. But that's when I realized I could this is it was worth handling and that pressure.

Mike Gonzalez 15:51

Yeah. Very interesting. So I guess in comparing a couple of male greats, I'd say you're a bit more like Jack Nicholas than Arnold Palmer in terms of uh probably more trend toward more the introvert side than the extrovert side.

Annika Sorenstam 16:04

Yeah, maybe so. Um I think this game, you know, has taught me so many things and I've certainly changed uh as far as just being comfortable in who I am and what I do and able to just you know speak my mind when it comes to the game of golf and helping others and sharing the story. Um, but mostly giving confidence that you know I'm I'm pretty decent at what I do, and and that has translated into everything else I do, whether it's you know being a mother, being a wife, being a business entrepreneur or you know, philanthropical um pursuer. I think that that's just giving me the confidence that you know if you work hard, you can achieve you know your dreams, and I feel like I'm doing that.

Bruce Devlin 16:48

Yeah, that's wonderful.

Mike Gonzalez 16:49

So your game continues to develop. Uh you know, you're obviously playing probably local and junior tournaments at some point. Uh your world starts expanding. Just take us back to those days in terms of how your game was developing as a young lady uh uh up through starting to uh enter some pretty serious amateur competitions.

Annika Sorenstam 17:09

Yeah, I mean I was um, you know, just I was just a basic amateur playing, enjoy playing some journal events again, you know, just quite shy. But you know, I had um, you know, quite I could focus quite well. I was disciplined as far as practicing goes. Um, I always asked a lot of questions why. Um my coach, anyway, said that because I was always asked why this and why that and why not. And so that's really how I learned, you know, just like to analyze uh things and you know, kept a lot of statistics early on and thinking back at my IBM summer camps, learning how to keep tracks and creating spreadsheets. I've done spreadsheets since oh since 1987 when really didn't Excel didn't really exist. I created my own. And so I've been you know analyzing my game, trying to figure out what you know what are my weaknesses, what are my strengths, where should I spend time on. So, you know, I really wasn't the longest hitter. I, you know, I really probably didn't stand out in a lot of ways, but I was very consistent and and I was improved every summer. I practiced a little bit more, got a little better, my handicap went down. And eventually I made the you know the national team um for Sweden when I was, you know, 16 years old. So I was on the junior team and started to get invited to you know more European events, you know, whether it was this British um British girls, or you know, we would play the you know, they call it the Spanish Open or something like that in this in the winter just to kind of keep the the game going for 12 months and not just six months of the year.

Mike Gonzalez 18:41

Yeah. And that's the other amazing thing is living up in a in the northern uh part of the world as you did, um, you don't have a 12-month golf season, so you had to kind of figure out what to do when things were cold outside.

Annika Sorenstam 18:55

Yeah, luckily, you know, my parents uh they have a big house and they had a big basement, and my dad turned the basement into a big um hitting area, so we had a hitting mat and a net, and I would just tip balls all day long after school. You know, it wasn't very far, but it was, you know, it was a big size basement. Um, and I just tip shot after shot after shot and really worked on my swing, my technique during the winter. And then when the spring came, it was then I can go out and just kind of play the game and not have to focus on you know my grip or my alignment. I'd already done that for several months, so it's just you know, obviously the short game is where I had to spend more time. But yeah, I would hit a lot of balls after school. I mean, I was in the basement for hours.

Mike Gonzalez 19:39

Did were you ever surprised when you got out for the first time in the spring and discovered that your ball flight wasn't what you thought it was down the basement?

Annika Sorenstam 19:46

Well, yeah, I mean, I grew up, you know, playing from mats and you know, hitting shots from a mat is quite forgiving. So you can imagine the first few times just start hitting from grass. It was a little difficult, but you know, I adjusted quickly. And you know, again, I mean, I I never really got um rusty because I was keeping my game alive, you know, during the cold cold months.

Mike Gonzalez 20:09

So let's talk about uh some of your accomplishments in your amateur career, and and I don't know if this all goes chronologically. You you did mention win uh uh joining the Swedish national team as a young lady. You won the uh the St. Rule trophy, uh, and that was uh was that probably your first visit to St. Andrews?

Annika Sorenstam 20:30

Um I believe it was from a yeah, I'd we had been there in a as a Swedish team to practice, but I've never competed. So yeah, that was my first one. The part was 75 for the women. Oh yeah, it was very nice. And um, but yeah, that was my first, you know, international win in a sense, because we had, you know, that on the boys' side, it was a guy from Australia winning. So, you know, there was quite the international field from both sides, and uh so that was you know, obviously a tournament that gave me some confidence. And I mean, I still have the photos where I'm standing in front of you know the the clubhouse, and yeah, it was just brings back some great memories.

Mike Gonzalez 21:11

Yeah, and that uh that was in a playoff with Jennifer Allmark, who you must have known pretty well.

Annika Sorenstam 21:17

Yeah, no, another um Swedish player from the national team, and you know, we really had some good amateur players at that time. We still do. We have, you know, we've got a good program over there, but we it was a good um generation of players, and so we were very competitive.

Mike Gonzalez 21:32

Yeah, well, it's an appropriate name for the event, the St. Rule Trophy uh winner, uh uh as St. Rule uh is the name of the women's club that's in St. Andrews that was established in 1896. Uh uh I'm gonna ask my podcast partner, Bruce Devlin, do you know who St. Rule was, Bruce? No, I don't.

Bruce Devlin 21:51

I did not know who St. Rule was.

Mike Gonzalez 21:53

Probably does.

Bruce Devlin 21:54

I'll bet she does. No, I don't. Oh, okay. So you tell us. Come on. I'll give you a

Mike Gonzalez 22:00

History tidbit for this from your amateur career. So Saint Rule was uh uh either rumored or or the the legend goes he's either a bishop or monk from Greece and back in 345 uh he is the fella that uh allegedly transported the relics or the bones of St. Andrews to Scotland.

Bruce Devlin 22:23

That's a history lesson, Annika, isn't it, for us?

Mike Gonzalez 22:25

Yeah, yeah. And so when you're in St. Andrews and here's St. Rule or St. Regulus Golf Club, that's named after St. Rule, and he was the guy that brought St. Andrews' bones to uh to Scotland. Anyway, little uh little history lesson. Yeah, a little history lesson. So you were also second in the Swedish National Mother-daughter championship.

Annika Sorenstam 22:46

Yeah, we were talking about that the other day, actually. Uh my husband, he thinks we have Swedish championships for everything. We do have a lot of Swedish championships, and mother and daughter is one of the things growing up that you really look forward to playing. My mom was quite the golfer in her early days, she was a club champion, and so when when I became good enough to kind of compete, we we um played together and um yeah, it was a great experience. I mean, obviously they introduced me to the game and then to be able to play together on a national stage was it was a big deal for us.

Mike Gonzalez 23:21

Yeah. So where did the team play t all take you? You must have traveled a little bit then, it sounds like uh Yeah, yeah, no, I was lucky.

Annika Sorenstam 23:28

Yeah, I was lucky um to be able to get that experience, and I think that's really what it just increased my appetite of wanting to do this a little bit more, you know, having a chance to go to many different countries in Europe and um even overseas. Um as far as you know, Asia. I went in Australia, I played the World Championship in New Zealand, uh, I went to Japan. So yeah, I mean, really broadened my horizon thanks to the game of golf.

Mike Gonzalez 23:54

Oh, yeah. I guess uh you you played in the the Espirito Santo uh trophy event, which is a an amateur team event for women in 1990 and 1992. I think you were the individual winner in in 1992. That was always contested where, outside of Paris.

Annika Sorenstam 24:11

We played, I want to say in 1992, we played in Vancouver. Um that's where we played. So, yes, I won the well, I mean, it's pretty much the world championship. So that was probably my you know my biggest accomplishment uh as an amateur um from a world perspective. Uh, but yeah, I was lucky to represent Sweden in many of those events, and you know, it's most of them were team events, not many of them had like an individual division, so that was a special tournament.

Mike Gonzalez 24:41

Yeah, so that was the the the sort of the amateur team championship for women. Uh the corresponding event for the men uh over these years has been the Eisenhower Trophy. Do you know who played in the inaugural Eisenhower trophy in 1958? I don't know.

Annika Sorenstam 24:56

That goes way back, I'm sure. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 24:58

Well yours truly, Bruce Devlin played in the inaugural Eisenhower Trophy at St. Andrews in 1958.

Bruce Devlin 25:06

That's right. What a what a thrill. Yeah. I I rem the one thing I remember about it more than anything else, Annika, was coming from Australia and trying to get to St. Andrews. It took me 52 hours. Because we weren't flying around in jets in those days, so it was quite a trick, but what what a what a way to start an international career and do it at St Andrews. That was a that was a thrill.

Annika Sorenstam 25:32

Yeah, congratulations, as well.

Mike Gonzalez 25:34

Yeah, that was his first big trip from home. Australia won the team championship, the first one, and Bruce Dublin won the individual. That was you guys have that in common. So uh so uh you're going along, you've you've got uh quite a bit of success as an amateur, and now you start thinking about uh going to university. Tell us a little bit about how that decision process went.

Annika Sorenstam 26:01

Yeah, so I was part of a the Stockholm University, and they and there was a golf tournament in Japan for collegiate golfers. So I was entered through the Swedish national team, and when I got over there, I was paired with some players from the University of Arizona, and um after the round, they said you should come and play for us. And I just thought, well, this sounds great. Yeah, it's a lot of fun, and so yeah, I mean, I came home and my parents said, How did it go? I said, Great, I'm going to the US to study. And you know, maybe nine months later I was on a plane to Tucson. So yeah, it was uh that was a big changing moment for me.

Mike Gonzalez 26:37

Yeah, so uh August of uh of what uh maybe uh 89 or so. Uh you land in Tucson, Arizona. How hot was it?

Annika Sorenstam 26:48

Yeah, you're right. It was 1990, it was August of all the and uh yeah, I've never experienced anything like it. It was almost like a Swedish sauna because it's dry. You know, they always say dry heat, and it really was. I mean, it was probably 90, 100 degrees, and I landed and it was I'll never forget, it had lightning, but it had no rain, and I thought that was very strange.

Mike Gonzalez 27:08

Yeah. Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 27:11

Electric storm.

Mike Gonzalez 27:12

I've landed in Vegas before. I landed in Vegas one time, it was 117 degrees. And as you know, Annika, being out there in that dry heat, you don't even want the wind bolt to blow when it's that hot, do you?

Annika Sorenstam 27:23

Yeah, no, I didn't grow up with that. It was quite an adjustment. But you know, if you can you think of what Tucson had to offer, I mean, the golf was great. You know, I liked the school, I liked my teammates and everything, so I was really glad I was there.

Mike Gonzalez 27:35

Yeah, so you spent a couple of years at the University of Arizona. I I failed to mention that uh in those uh Espiritu Santo events, I think the U.S. won the first one in 1990, uh, Spain won the second one team-wise, but I mentioned uh Annika winning the individual. Uh Vicky Goetz was on that team uh uh in 1990, and you were gonna come up uh against her uh a little bit later in your career, weren't you?

Annika Sorenstam 28:01

Yeah, I um I made it to the final in the in U.S. amateur and um got to and you know I believe Vicky was number one amateur ranked at that time, and so I knew it would be tough competition and had a lot of respect for Vicky, and we came down to the last hole and remember hitting in the water and lost by one.

Mike Gonzalez 28:21

Yeah, she was uh she she won the U.S. amateur in 89 and in this 92 one that Annika talks about. Uh the first one she won was I think she was only 16 years old over Brandy Burton, and she was quite the junior player. Uh didn't uh have the kind of career I guess she probably would have hoped to have had as a professional, but uh in college you had a lot of success. Uh seven college titles, if my numbers are correct, and uh uh did okay in the in the D1 championships, too, didn't you?

Annika Sorenstam 28:50

I did. Yeah, I think your numbers are right. I did, you know, I really um I think the biggest thing is I got to play some great golf courses, and then I um you know got to play golf all year round. So, you know, that just obviously helped my game uh tremendously and really felt like I took the game to a different level and and played well really from the start. And so yeah, it was I mean, it's um obviously set up for for my professional career, but also you know, just from a confidence standpoint, knowing that you know that was a good decision to come to the US and and and also just you know dream start to dream about what life would be as a professional.

Bruce Devlin 29:30

And that was gonna be my next question is when you were playing college golf, uh at what point did you say, you know, maybe I should take a shot at playing professionally?

Annika Sorenstam 29:42

I would say, you know, they they hosted, I think it was called the Circle K Tucson LPJ or something like that.

Mike Gonzalez 29:49

Yes, that's right.

Annika Sorenstam 29:50

And um they were playing at Randolph, which was where we practiced as a team, and I remember going out there after school just to watch them, you know, get ready for the tournament. And I watched them on the range. I'd get my nice all those, you know, Hall of Famers, you know, Pat Bradley, you know, Patty Sheehan, Bessie King, Nazi Lopez, and Beth Daniel, they were all hitting balls, and and I was just like, I was mesmerized. I just thought this is this is really what I want to do. You know, I'd been introduced to professional golf, you know, on not as you know, more from you know, from a fartherway level, you know, not because I've been either the magazines and we really didn't have women's golf on TV in Sweden. So, but to stand right there and literally feel you know the divots coming my way, I just and watching them, I just said, you know what, I would love to do this one day.

Bruce Devlin 30:41

So were you trying at that time to compare the way you hit the ball to them? Were did you think at that time that me, you know, that they're good players and I can hit those sort of shots as well?

Annika Sorenstam 30:54

You know, I don't really know if I compared myself. It was more just maybe one day I could do it if I continued to work hard. You know, I was you know just a freshman and and uh so I had a long ways to go, but just to kind of see, and then and then during the weekend I would go out and watch them compete, and it just looked like they had a lot of fun, and and you know, I knew the golf course, so to see them play a course that that I would play every day, it was you know, I was like, well, you know, maybe I can do this one day.

Bruce Devlin 31:24

Well, that's great.

Mike Gonzalez 31:26

I guess in 1991, you were the Division I champion, NCAA women, uh first international player to ever do this, which sort of amazing for for listeners today to think about that, but there weren't uh that many international players on the scene back then, were there?

Annika Sorenstam 31:41

No, no, the college scene has changed um quite a bit since then, well, almost 30 years ago. So um, you know, I had a few Swedish friends or, you know, more maybe associates that went to college and um it was not very popular at that time. Uh, but you know, they started to see some success over there, and I know a lot of college coaches wanted to have more international players and given the opportunity, and and I just kind of changed the mindset of players thinking that now I can play golf, but I can also get an education at the same time and learn a language. And I mean, so for me, I mean, this was kind of like the lottery, you know, to be able to get a chance to run and do all of that.

Mike Gonzalez 32:26

Of course, you know, we've had a chance to talk to a lot of the the uh the greats that came before you, and uh, you know, as you as you look at the careers of Kathy Whitworth and Sandra Haney and and and even to some extent Nancy Lopez and and uh Mary Mills and so forth, uh Susie Maxwell Burning, most didn't have the benefit of Title IX. At least when you came on the scene, that was pretty much entrenched and equality was getting uh better. Uh but you know, they didn't I I think a lot of them had to compete on the men's team in college if they were gonna compete at all.

Annika Sorenstam 32:58

Yeah, I mean, we still hear about those a few schools, you know, small schools around the country. You still hear about girls playing on the boys' team. So, you know, I grew up playing with the boys. I think it just it made me stronger, and you know, it wasn't about trying to, you know, give us any favors. It was more like, well, you gotta keep up if you're gonna hang out with us, and that's I think the toughness is a good thing. So yeah, very familiar. But yeah, I mean, like you said, I was lucky to be part of that generation that had, you know, a little bit more of those benefits.

Mike Gonzalez 33:29

Yeah, so uh NCAA Division I champion in in in 91, runner up in 92. You were the NCAA co-player of the year with Kelly Robbins, another fine player back in 1991, all American both years. Uh, in 92, you had uh qualified for the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Tell us a little bit about that experience in those greens.

Annika Sorenstam 33:50

Yeah, I did. Um, it was a great experience. I did did qualify, and um, it was at Oakmont, and you know, one of those classic, probably bucketless courses for many. And um, yeah, so I was super excited to make it to there and just again kind of be around the professionals and and see what a week would look like on the road. And um, I ended up making the cut. Um, but that was about it. But I experienced a lot of rain delays, I experienced a lot of time in the locker room, I experienced you know, playoff to watch another. I mean, it was just a great experience, and it's certainly just again that was, you know, I was more determined now than ever that this is what I wanted to try down the road.

Bruce Devlin 34:31

So were they the fastest greens you've ever putted on?

Annika Sorenstam 34:36

Well, we had rain delays the first day. I remember I was supposed to tee off maybe around one or two. I ended up teeing off at 7.20 p.m.

Bruce Devlin 34:44

Oh boy.

Annika Sorenstam 34:45

I've been all day all day long, and it rained buckets. So the greens, which you just mentioned, Bruce, I mean, they were Oakman is known for really fast greens. So um they were still fast, but there was nothing like you know, like you would say.

Bruce Devlin 34:59

Like they could be, yeah.

Annika Sorenstam 35:00

Yeah, and then I remember the members were not so happy, but what can you do if you have inches of rain? Yeah, there's nothing we could do. At least we were able to play the golf course. But I did have, I believe, um, I was nine over, and I believe uh all those uh nine bogus were three putts. So most likely had to do something with the speed.

Bruce Devlin 35:20

Yeah, yeah, that's interesting.

Mike Gonzalez 35:22

How important of a barometer was that particular experience for you in assessing where your game was mentally and physically to what you'd compete with on the tour?

Annika Sorenstam 35:31

I think it was um I mean it was a big experience. I mean, first of all, just to make it, you know, to qualify when you qualify. I mean, I played against uh other professionals. This was not an invite by you know, by winning NCAA or anything like that. I mean, I had to go play 18 holes qualification. I believe I played um it was in Colorado, Castle Pines, I believe, the course, and I shot 66 or something like that. So I really, you know, really proved to myself that you know I had the game to do it. Um but then just I think just kind of being part of it and see how things work, you know, everything from you know, arriving at the tournament site, locker room, and you know, the physio, the driving range, caddies, food. I mean, everything that you know today I probably take for granted because I've you know done it in my so many times. Yeah, but at the time, and I was just I was just fascinated. I'm like, this is so this is so fun. And and but I think the biggest thing was that you know I I was there and I was competing, but in my mind, you know, I had so much more to work on in my game. I mean, I I was far, far from my peak, you know. I'd uh I knew I could get better literally in every aspect of the game, whether it was driving, putting, chipping, bunker, I mean everything. I was just I was maybe a seven out of a ten. So, you know, that that just made me think, you know, if I can get to an eight in that part, and you know, so I felt like that you know, there was there was a lot of room for improvement, of course, but if I could improve, then you know, maybe I can be a contender.

Mike Gonzalez 37:03

So were you waiting for this particular event before you decided or before you turned professional? I assume you had already decided before you played.

Annika Sorenstam 37:11

I think I've already decided, yeah, because I had this was in the summer of of '92, and I think I've already told the coach at U of A that I was done, that I was sent because I think I after that I headed to, you know, I was going to tour school, and the rules for tour school has changed now because nowadays you can be still in college and you can still make a decision what to do. But at that time it was like you gotta pick one or the other. So I had decided to go to tour school later that year.

Mike Gonzalez 37:39

And uh tell us a little bit about that experience.

Annika Sorenstam 37:41

Yeah, that was tough. It was really hard, I thought. I think a lot of pressure on every single player. I mean, they say tour school is the hardest thing out there, and um, so I ended up um I think I missed my my tour card by one and was in a playoff and ended up what they call at that time the fourth conditional, which meant that was literally fourth alternate in every event. Um, and so I felt at the time that that was you know a setback. I felt like that was, you know, disappointment and did I really make the right decision? You know, maybe I shouldn't have left school. And so, but what I did is I went back to Europe and I played a little bit uh on the European tour and uh got you know got my feet wet on that tour, and then I was invited to play three tournaments on the West Coast close to University of Arizona. I was Tucson, it was Phoenix, it was Las Vegas, and uh I did quite well there and and actually ended up um earning a tour card for the following year because then at that time it was uh based on you know money list. Money, yeah. Yeah, and I earned enough money to to have a you know to get a card for the following year. And I at that time I felt now the pressure was off. It's like so I went to qualify Monday qualify and made a few of those as well. And that's that made me just feel comfortable for the following year.

Mike Gonzalez 39:00

Then it started to thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Outro Music 39:25

It went smack down the fairway. It had it for two but it fight off.