Nicklaus once told Arnold Palmer in the early 1970s that he couldn't imagine playing golf much past age 40, but then he did. Nicklaus chased the game into his 60s, taking a farewell spin at the Old Course at St. Andrews in 2005 that wasn't much different from the farewell spin he took there in 2000. Annika? She won't be falling down tracking fly balls in centerfield. "I'm very content with what I've achieved," she says. "It just feels right."
Certainly, Sorenstam's resume needs no further burnishing. She shot a 59, stalked the specter of Bobby Jones and his Grand Slam, and turned the fickle feat of driving a golf ball straight into standard operating procedure. She forged a fit and athletic body by rising before dawn and doing exercises such as pull-ups with a weight plate attached to a belt. (Legend has it that she didn't miss a scheduled workout for more than four years.) And, yes, she won tournaments by the barrelful, a record-tying five in a row between 2004 and '05, 11 overall in '02 and 10 major championships.
"Annika has always been someone who knows exactly where she wants to be," says LPGA veteran Meg Mallon. "Just like Tiger, she raised the bar on our tour. She showed how fitness and preparation are two huge factors in being successful in this game. She took it to the ultimate. It's how long she lasted in that top spot that is most impressive from a player's perspective."
On a bright Saturday at the Sybase, playing in the group behind Ochoa, Sorenstam hit shots in front of galleries that were three and four deep. Many of the fans begged Sorenstam not to retire.
"Look at all the people here this week," Mallon said after Saturday's play. "It's as if they all realize, Hey, this may be the last time I see Annika play."
Even with all her wins, it was a week in Fort Worth five years ago that may have cemented her legend. Against a backdrop of cheers, but also to chauvinistic snickers, she became the first woman since 1945 to compete on the PGA Tour, placing herself squarely in a sociological and cultural cross fire.
"I remember looking at her on the range 25 minutes before we were going to tee off," McNamara says. "She was actually pale. I said, 'Are you all right?' She said, 'What have I got myself into?' "
Says Dean Wilson, one of her playing partners that week, "That was a lot of pressure, a bigger circus than anyone could've imagined, and I think she proved her point, whether she made the cut or not."
Sorenstam went on to showcase her ball striking over two days, hitting the same fairways and greens that Ben Hogan once did. While her short game lacked precision, causing her to shoot 71-74 and miss the cut by four strokes, that only gave her something to work on. She went back out on the LPGA and continued trouncing the competition, hammering fairways and leaving dents on greens around the globe. She was so intent on improving that she became a constant practice partner with Woods at Isleworth Golf and Country Club, where he lives. He gave her a wedge with which to practice short-game shots. They compared workout routines. She ribbed him about her superior accuracy off the tee.
Annika Sorenstam could always drive her golf ball. That much was clear, even way back when she was a little-known player from Sweden, when it looked for all the world as if she might be toppled by the softest breeze.
