Well, crap.
It appears that what was shaping up to be the most compelling rivalry in golf will be short-lived. Today, the most recognizable face of women's golf for the past decade, Annika Sörenstam, announced that she will retire at the end of the 2008 season. I am bummed.
As I was watching the fourth round at Kingsmill last weekend, all I could think every time they showed Annika was "what a perfectly beautiful swing." It was effortless, like the swings of Annika's PGA peers Ernie Els and Freddie Couples. At Kingsmill, Annika dominated the field like Lorena Ochoa, 11 years Annika's junior, had done earlier this year. It was apparent to anyone paying attention that Annika's return from a serious neck injury was complete and that the long-awaited, and surely epic, battle between former world number one, Sörenstam, and current number one Lorena Ochoa had begun. Except that it hadn't.
Recently married, 37 years old (38 by the time the 2008 season concludes), one has to think that the announcement was motivated in large part by the desire to start a family. After battling back from ruptured and bulging discs in her neck, perhaps the thought of having to return from the "down-time" associated with the birth of a child was simply too much for a fierce competitor like Annika, who is used to being at the top of the leaderboard. Or perhaps a woman as focused as Annika wants to focus on family, and family only. Or maybe, after winning at Kingsmill, she realized that the desire just isn't there or the satisfaction of winning isn't the same anymore (although I think either of those is unlikely.)
Recently married, 37 years old (38 by the time the 2008 season concludes), one has to think that the announcement was motivated in large part by the desire to start a family. After battling back from ruptured and bulging discs in her neck, perhaps the thought of having to return from the "down-time" associated with the birth of a child was simply too much for a fierce competitor like Annika, who is used to being at the top of the leaderboard. Or perhaps a woman as focused as Annika wants to focus on family, and family only. Or maybe, after winning at Kingsmill, she realized that the desire just isn't there or the satisfaction of winning isn't the same anymore (although I think either of those is unlikely.)
Whatever the reason, Sörenstam is one of the nicest, most prolific, most talented, hard-working, and important people in women's golf, and she will be sorely missed when she leaves the competitive golf arena. I, for one, hope she changes her mind - even if the odds of a woman as calculating and thoughtful as Annika changing her mind are astronomically weighted against my hopes. So, if the next few months find us watching the end of an era in women's golf, I hope that Annika leaves on her own terms, and on top of her game. Because when she leaves, Annika Sörenstam will have left the game significantly better than she found it. And all of us who play and love golf are the beneficiaries of that gift.
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