What Others Are Saying about Annika's Retirement

Annika Sorenstam's announcement that she'll be retiring at the end of the 2008 season came out of the blue to many of her fellow players and friends. After all, this is a golfer in the prime of her competitive life and well on her way to setting such indelible lifetime marks as most career wins.

Coming off a seven-shot win last week at the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill in Williamsburg, Va., her third of the season and 72nd in her illustrious career, the 37-year-old Sorenstam has regained her game and showed she's fully recovered after injuries waylaid her in 2007.

But obviously, there other thoughts running through her mind even as she dominated that tournament, which had world No. 1-ranked Lorena Ochoa in the field. "The win the other day was just a bonus, really," she said in Tuesday's news conference.

The Swede, already a member of golf's Hall of Fame, was especially dominant during a five year-period when she won 43 times and finished among the top three nearly 70 percent of the time. She's also the only woman to ever shoot 59 in an LPGA Tour event. Sorenstam has won 10 majors and is one of only six women to complete the career Grand Slam.

She also became the first woman in 58 years - since Babe Didrikson Zaharias - to compete on the PGA Tour when she played at the Colonial in 2003. Although Sorenstam missed the cut, she endeared herself to golf fans and gained worldwide respect for the way she played and comported herself amid the massive scrutiny.

She's engaged to marry Mike McGee, son of ex-PGA Tour player Jerry McGee, and has hinted at retirement in past seasons.

Sorenstam's final event will be the Dubai Masters for women in December, at the conclusion of this year's LPGA Tour schedule. "I made this decision because I have a number of other priorities in my life, including starting a family, that I want to be as dedicated to as I have been to playing golf, and it was always important to me to go out on my own terms," she said during her press conference. She also plans to further her business interests in golf clothing and in designing golf courses.

As expected, many golfers spoke out about her decision. Tiger Woods, now recovering from knee surgery, and Sorenstam, who lives nearby in Florida, enjoyed a spirited competition when each were winning golf tournaments left and right, often calling each other right afterwards in a light-hearted display of one-upmanship.

Woods termed Sorenstam "the greatest female golfer of all time" and said it was sad to see her walk away from the game. "It has been a pleasure watching Annika play for all of these years, but even more of an honor to call her a friend," he said.

Natalie Gulbis, one of Sorenstam's best friends on the LPGA Tour, was taken by surprise by the announcement. "It is really a shock," said Gulbis. "Life on the Tour has always been special with her. Knowing she's not going to be out there is going to be a little different."

"I respect Annika for wanting to go out on top," LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens said. "I'm surprised with the timing, but it's the way she wants to do it. In the long run, she'll have just as much of an impact outside the game of golf, if not more."

Longtime rival Cristie Kerr gave Sorenstam the ultimate salute when asked about the Swede's departure from competitive golf, saying Sorenstam is "still one of the all-time best - if not the best."