What Is Annika Sörenstam's Net Worth?
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish retired professional golfer and author who has a net worth of $40 million. Annika Sörenstam is one of the most successful female golfers in history. Prior to leaving the world of competitive golf in late 2008, her winning streak earned her the recognition of being the female golfer with the most wins to her name. Sörenstam has had 72 LPGA wins (over 90 professional wins total), and her tally for major championships alone is 10 (between 1995 and 2006, when her world ranking was at #1).
After she turned 50, Annika came out of retirement to win the 2021 U.S. Senior Women's Open. Sörenstam published the book "Golf Annika's Way" in 2004, and in the later years of her golf career, she got involved in golf course design. She opened The ANNIKA Academy in Florida in 2007, and she established The ANNIKA Foundation, which is dedicated to "developing women's golf around the world and encouraging children to lead healthy, active lifestyles." Sörenstam was named LPGA Tour Player of the Year eight times, she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003, and she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2021.
Early Life
Annika Sörenstam was born Annika Charlotta Sörenstam on October 9, 1970, in Bro, Stockholm County, Sweden. She is the daughter of Gunilla and Tom Sörenstam, and she has a younger sister named Charlotta. Gunilla was a bank employee, Tom was an executive at IBM, and Charlotta, a fellow LPGA Tour winner, coached at The Annika Academy. Annika and Charlotta were the first sisters to win $1 million while competing on the LPGA Tour. During her youth, Sörenstam excelled in soccer and skiing, and she was nationally ranked as a junior tennis player. Her family played golf at the Viksjö Golf Club and Bro-Bålsta Golf Club, and when she was 12 years old, Annika received her first set of golf clubs, which she shared with Charlotta. Sörenstam was shy as a junior, and she often would deliberately three-putt at a tournament's end in order to avoid having to give a victory speech. After the coaches noticed, they decided that both the winner and runner-up would give a speech at the next tournament, so Annika stopped deliberately losing. During her amateur career, Sörenstam won the St Rule Trophy tournament in Scotland in 1990, and Annika and Gunilla finished in second place in Sweden's mother-daughter golf tournament.
From 1987 to 1992, Sörenstam played on the Swedish National Team, and she won the individual competition at the 1992 Espirito Santo Trophy. Before starting college, she was a personal assistant at the Swedish PGA, and she competed on the Swedish Golf Tour and won three tournaments from 1990 to 1991. After she was spotted by a coach at a collegiate event in Tokyo, Annika moved to the U.S. to attend the University of Arizona in Tucson. There, Sörenstam won seven collegiate titles, and in 1991, she became both the first freshman and the first non-American to win the individual NCAA Division I Championship. Annika and Kelly Robbins were named NCAA Co-Players of the Year in 1991, and in 1992, Sörenstam was the runner-up in the NCAA championship and Pac-10 champion. She was also a 1991–92 NCAA All-American. Annika tied for 63rd place at the 1992 U.S. Women's Open, and she was the runner-up at the U.S. Women's Amateur a few weeks later.
Career
Sörenstam went pro in 1992 and made her professional debut on the Ladies European Tour (LET). She was named the Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year in 1993, and in 1994, she won the 1994 Holden Women's Australian Open and was named LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year. In 1995, she won her first-ever LPGA Tour title after a victory at the U.S. Women's Open, was the first non-American golfer to win the Vare Trophy, and won more money than any other LPGA player.
Annika would go on to top the Money List seven more times, winning more than $2.5 million in 2002, 2004, and 2005. In 1996, she won the U.S. Women's Open and the Vare Trophy, and the following year she won six tour events. In 2001, Sörenstam became the first player in the LPGA to earn more than $2 million in a single season.
In 2002, she was named both the LPGA Tour Player of the Year and the Ladies European Tour Player of the Year, and in 2003, she won the Women's PGA Championship and the Women's British Open. She also won the Women's PGA Championship in 2004 and 2005, followed by a victory at the U.S. Women's Open in 2006. In February 2006, Women's World Golf Rankings were released for the first time, and Annika was ranked #1.
In 2007, she was diagnosed with bulging and ruptured discs in her neck and had to take a two month break to recover. Sörenstam's final LPGA Tour win took place in May 2008 at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, where she set a tournament scoring record. In May 2008, she announced that she would retire at the end of the year, and the Dubai Ladies Masters was her last professional tournament. In 2021, Annika returned to golf and won the U.S. Senior Women's Open.
Career Earnings & Endorsements
Annika Sörenstam is one of the most successful female golfers of all time, and her earnings reflect her dominance on the LPGA Tour. She retired in 2008 with over $22 million in career prize money, which is the most of any female golfer in history. She also had a lucrative endorsement portfolio, which included deals with Callaway Golf, Cutter & Buck, Mercedes, Kraft, Rolex, Oakley, and ADT. In total, her endorsements were worth an estimated $4.65 million in 2004 alone.
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Personal Life
Annika met David Esch on a Phoenix driving range in 1994, and they became engaged at the 1995 Evian Masters. They married on January 4, 1997, in Lake Tahoe. After Sörenstam and Esch divorced in 2005, Annika wed Mike McGee on January 10, 2009, at Orlando's Lake Nona Golf & Country Club. McGee is the son of former pro golfer Jerry McGee, and he became the Managing Director of the ANNIKA brand in late 2006. The couple welcomed daughter Ava on September 1, 2009, and son William on March 21, 2011. William was born thirteen weeks premature. Sörenstam became an American citizen in 2006, and she holds dual citizenship between Sweden and the U.S.
Awards and Honors
Between 1998 and 2006, Sörenstam earned six ESPY Awards, winning Best Golf Player – Female in 1998, Best Golfer – Female in 2003 and 2004, and Best Athlete – Female in 2005 and 2006. She also received a Best Athlete – Female nomination in 2004. Annika has been named LET Rookie of the Year (1993), LPGA Rookie of the Year (1994), the Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year (seven times), LPGA Tour Player of the Year (eight times), Swedish Golfer of the Year (nine times), AP Female Athlete of the Year (three times), LET Players' Player of the Year (1995, 2002), and Jerringpriset Swedish Athlete of the Year (1995). She was the LPGA Tour Money Winner eight times and won the LPGA Vare Trophy five times. Sörenstam has also won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal (1995), LPGA Crowne Plaza Achievement Award (2001, 2002), Patty Berg Award (2003), Association of European Golf Writers Golf Writers' Trophy (2003, 2005), H. M. The King's Medal (2009), Francis Ouimet Award for Lifelong Contributions to Golf (2010), Bob Jones Award (2012), and Old Tom Morris Award (2014). In 2015, she became one of the first women to receive an honorary membership in the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
Real Estate
In 2009, Sörenstam and McGee paid $7 million for a 9,237 square foot home near Orlando, Florida. Located in the Lake Nona community, the home was built in 1996 and includes six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The property features a swimming pool and a boat dock.
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