Sorenstam to retire

The official announcement supposedly is coming this afternoon (Tuesday).

 

Here's the story from Golfweek.

http://www.golfweek.com/protours/lpga/story/sorenstam-retirement-051308

Seems a little surprising to me since she just seemed to be getting her game back, especially with the way she won last week.

 

Sounds like she is getting hitched to a lucky guy.

 

Pretty smart that she does it 10 miles from Manhattan where she'll get a good run in the NYC papers, who'll have staff there instead of using wire if it were anywhere else.

 

Hell of a player. I hope she uses this as motivation to cap off a great career battling Ochoa and the other young LPGA stars the rest of this season.

 

Wow. 37 years old; lots of good golf left ahead of her.

Good for her--sounds like she has some other things she wants to do in life. Probably doesn't feel like she can hang around on a part-time basis and be as competitive as she would like.

Bad for the LPGA tour, and bad for golf fans in general, as one of the more dominant athletes of the last decade steps aside.

 

Never dealt with her professionally, but she always seemed to be a class act.

 

She is. Across the board.

Here's an example. Ron Sirak, Doug Ferguson's predecessor as AP national golf writer, the current LPGA writer for Golf World and one of the best golf writers on the planet, is having dinner. Annika and her group walk past and they exchange pleasantries.

When it comes time for Sirak to pay the bill, the waiter comes over and said there is no bill, because that lady over there -- pointing to Sorenstam -- has taken care of it.

Having dealt with her on numerous occasions, I'll vouch for the fact Annika Sorenstam is on the short list of the classiest people in sports, period.

 

Covered her in a couple tournaments awhile back. Delightful to deal with...

 

Good luck to her.

And good luck to the LPGA. I just don't see people beating down the doors to get tickets for Creamer, Gulbis or Ochoa.

 

If Creamer or Gulbis go on a Sorenstam/Ochoa-like run, look out.

Or, for that matter, if Wie ever comes back to play half-respectably (not likely any time soon from all appearances).

 

Wouldn't that be a bad thing, letting a player buy your dinner?

I've already discussed this with Birdscribe in PM, but wanted to make sure I'm not certifiable (for this).