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Annika Sörenstam (; ; born 9 October 1970) is a retired Swedish professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer with the most wins to her name. She has won 72 official LPGA tournaments including ten majors and 18 other tournaments internationally, and she tops the LPGA's career money list with earnings of over $22 million—over $3 million ahead of her nearest rival. Since 2006, Sörenstam has held dual American and Swedish citizenship.〔 〕 The winner of a record eight Player of the Year awards, and six Vare Trophies given to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average, she is the only female golfer to shoot a 59 in competition. She holds various all-time scoring records including the lowest season scoring average: 68.6969 in 2004. Representing Europe in the Solheim Cup on eight occasions between 1994 and 2007, Sörenstam was the event's all-time leading points earner until her record was surpassed by England's Laura Davies during the 2011 Solheim Cup. In 2003, Sörenstam made history at the Bank of America Colonial tournament as the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945. ==Childhood and amateur career== Sörenstam was born in Bro near Stockholm, Sweden.〔Annika Sörenstam with the editors of Golf Magazine: ''Golf Annika's Way'', Gotham Books, 2004, ISBN 1-59240-076-0〕 Her father Tom is a retired IBM executive, her mother Gunilla worked in a bank and her younger sister Charlotta is a professional golfer who coaches at her sister's academy.〔 〕 Annika and Charlotta Sörenstam are the only two sisters to have both won $1 million on the LPGA. As a child, Sörenstam was a talented all-round sportsgirl. She was a nationally ranked junior tennis player, played football (soccer) in her hometown team Bro IK and was such a good skier that the coach of the Swedish national ski team suggested the family move to Northern Sweden to improve her skiing year round.〔〔Claes Lind with Annika Sörenstam, ''Våga bli bäst'' or ''Dare to be the Best'', Sportförlaget i Europa AB, 2003, ISBN 91-88541-56-8〕 At the age of 12, she switched to golf, sharing her first set of golf clubs with her sister—Annika got the odd numbered clubs and Charlotta the even—and earned her first handicap of 54.〔 She was so shy as a junior she used to deliberately three putt at the end of a tournament to avoid giving the victory speech.〔 〕 The coaches noticed and at the next tournament both the winner and the runner-up had to give a speech. Sörenstam decided that if she were going to have to face the crowd anyway she might as well win and the deliberate misses stopped.〔 Her successful amateur career included a win in the St. Rule Trophy played at St. Andrews and a runner-up finish in the Swedish national mother/daughter golf tournament. As a member of the Swedish National Team from 1987 to 1992, she played in the 1990 and 1992 Espirito Santo Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships, becoming World Amateur champion in 1992.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 publisher=International Golf Federation )〕 While waiting to start college in Sweden, Sörenstam worked as a personal assistant at the Swedish PGA and played on the Swedish Ladies Telia Tour, winning three tournaments during 1990/1991.〔 〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher=Golfdata Sweden )〕〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 publisher=Golfdata Sweden )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher=Golfdata Sweden )〕 After a coach spotted Sörenstam playing in a collegiate event in Tokyo, she moved to the United States to attend college at the University of Arizona, where she played for the Arizona Wildcats women's golf team.〔 She won seven collegiate titles and in 1991, became the first non-American and first freshman to win the individual NCAA Division I Championship.〔〔 〕 She was 1991 NCAA Co-Player of the Year with Kelly Robbins, runner-up in the 1992 NCAA National Championship, 1992 Pac-10 champion and a 1991–92 NCAA All-American.〔〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 publisher=PAC10 )〕〔 〕 At the 1992 U.S. Women's Amateur, she was the runner-up to Vicki Goetze and thus received an invitation to play in the 1992 U.S. Women's Open, where she finished tied for 63rd.〔 〕 Having turned professional in 1992 and missing her LPGA Tour card at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament by one shot, she began her professional career on the Ladies European Tour or LET, formerly known as the WPGET.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Annika Sörenstam」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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