Annika is the greatest female golfer of our generation, and often regarded as the best of all-time. During her 16-year, Hall-of-Fame career, she rewrote the record books, won countless awards, and changed the way women’s golf was played, viewed and covered. Her global, on-course success and knowledge of business helped her become the first and only female golfer to create a successful brand of businesses. From 1993 to 2008, Annika amassed 89 victories worldwide. They included 72 on the LPGA and 10 Major Championships. Annika holds a record number of Rolex Player of the Year awards (eight) and Vare Trophies for the lowest season scoring average (six). In 2001, she became the first – and still only – female to break 60 in an official event, earning her the nickname “Ms. 59.” Annika received worldwide media attention in 2003 when she became the first woman since 1945 to play in a PGA TOUR event (The Colonial in Ft. Worth, Texas). She remains the LPGA’s all-time money leader. After representing Team Europe in eight Solheim Cups as a player and three as a vice-captain, she served as captain in 2017.
In 2008 she would retire from competition to equally successfully focus on the design of her own line of golf clothing, golf courses and to set up Annika Foundation. The latter being the reason why Annika Sorenstam has become supportive of La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational, the first of the three tournaments held this year in Spain by the Ladies European Tour.

How was the tournament, have you enjoyed and how do you feel about this… Are you happy?
I´m very happy, I think it´s a good tournament. They´ve only asked me maybe four, six weeks ago, so it was last minute, but I think really the story behind it It´s three things: I care about women´s golf, about the Ladies European Tour. As a past player how can I help to elevate the game? hopefully bring some exposure to the tournament, but number two is that this tournaments make a lot of sense, I used to come here a lot: Sotogrande, Marbella, Costa del Sol… As an amateur to play, because in Sweden we have tough winters. I spent a lot of weeks, months down here, so it´s almost like a kind of a full circle: before I turn into a professional and when I´m done competing. I also talked about junior golf. I said it was very important, I wanted to do something because we have the Annika Foundation, we have seven initiatives around the world it´s all about girls and playing oportunities, I said I wanted to tie it in and they said yes, this is a family community, lots of activities for kids and so forth and I said “perfect, let´s do it!”

So are you thinking on carrying on next years?
I hope so, yeah! Hopefully this is just the beginning of many years to come. This is the first year, I came very quickly so we are going to work out or work what didn´t work we´re going to do it better, we want to have a bigger field, we want to have better players, we want a bigger purse. You know, there is a lot of things to make this tournament that all the players wanna come and participate in.

What is the difference between the golf you used to play and the current female golf?
I feel like women´s golf is in a good place, you know the European Tour unfortunately has had a few hiccups but I´m hoping that it´s gonna turn around and there are good players, they´re good people, they work very had, they have big dreams and if they wanna play professional, they can play. Just haven´t had many opportunities to play. So, you know, Spain now has three tournaments an elite, which is fantastic. So, hopefully, we can build on that and just get more and more tournaments and then hopefully you know, the European LPGA can come back and support the event and grow the Tour up again.

About Annika Foundation, how did the idea came to you and what´s the history of the foundation?
So when I stopped playing I wanted to give back to the game. I wanted to do something to say thank you. I thought, you know, obviously competition is important to me, girl´s golf is important to me, how can we put them together? Junior tournaments grow the game of golf. So we started with a tournament in the US in 2008-9 and it went well. We said we should do this concept in other places, so we did in China, Europe, in Sweden, we did Argentina and New Zealand. So those five tournaments and then we have a college tournament and then we have something called the Handicap Cup which is in Sweden, which is smaller, and then we do something different, we call “Day” it´s a three hour issue called “Share my passion”. Share my passion is for younger girls 6 to 12, and it´s more an introduction to the game and yeah, we´ve done this is the 11th year and it´s going well. So the goal is to be in every corner of the world, we are looking at Middle East somewhere, after that we have everywhere: North america, Southamerica, Europe, Asia.

And what is the thing that makes you happier about your foundation?
I like to interact with the kids, you know, but then also I like to share my knowledge, and talk to them “this is what I did… and didn´t work, this works, try this…” helping and also being accesible and to be around the kids and also be as natural as possible,I mean, did a make a mistake? Yeah! I can´t be good everytime. So just be more authentic if you know what I mean: Be who you are and kind of share the journey.

And how is Europe compared to the rest of the countries in female golf? Do we have to improve?
Yeah, well, if you look at the World ranking there is a lot of female Korean players so we have to learn from them. But you know, it´s a global game thanks to golf in the olimpics I feel like there are lots of countries coming into the game, slowly but surely, for example in South America when our tournament came up in 2015, we were the only girls event invitational. Normally they start with the boys event and then, after five years they´re like “oh, let´s have a girl´s”. This one is only girls, first one in the whole South America. To me, I said, “this is a must” how can we get girls to play if we don´t think about girls. So that´s what we are hoping, that some of these events will help grow participation at golf clubs. And then move up and then play.

What do you think is the most difficult thing for women in golf?
Well, I think here it´s just they need playing opportunities. They need to play. To get better you can practice but you also have to play. And I think it´s been really difficult not to have regular tournaments because sometimes you have three weeks off, five weeks, two weeks… and that´s been very choppy, I think it´s really important for them to continue to play in different parts of the world. I think the countries in Europe have the responsibility to have tournaments. Like I said, Spain has three, but still France needs to have tournaments, Sweden needs to have tournaments, I think they all need to help out their local girls to play. We have 26 here.

Why don´t Sweden have any?
I know, they don´t have any. And I know it´s… I´m embarrased, I´ve told them that, we need to take part, you know, one tournament. We can´t send 20 girls here and expect to send, sometimes you have to give back.

And you know it´s difficult to match family and career…
Well, people are different. Sometimes players can handle golf and family, I didn´t wanna play and do it, even though I work quite a bit now, but I don´t play. For me I think it would have been hard because you know after 10 hours a day “practice, practice, play play play”. I didn´t want that, but some players are very good at that.

So you think it´s possible.
I mean, many of them do it, in the LPGA because they care, you can drop your kids off there and they take care of them there and then… so that works out but you know in Europe we don´t have that.

What is necessary to become a great golf player?
Obviously the basic of a golf game: Passion for the game. You need to be phisically strong so that part is important. Eat right, work out, finding the balance of life. There´s a lot of pieces, It´s like a puzzle, one piece, two and then you fill it.

You also have other successful bussiness
Yes, It´s good, so my foundation takes most of my time, but I do a little golf course design and I do the clothing with Cutter&Buck, and I still have my partners and I do charity events and tournaments like this.

Is there something you may want to achieve, any dream you want to turn true?
I think it has kind of evolved over time, I knew when I started to play golf seriously at 16, serious golf, I said I wanted to be a professional, I wanted all that. And then after a while I realized that you can only keep at this level up for so long. I started to look at course design, “what else can I do that has to do with golf?”. So I think I didn´t have that vision at the beginning but I think life took me there and I see things differently and that´s why when people ask me “do you want to play?” I say “No, I´m having fun, I do this, I´m still very involved and I care about the game, so I just don´t have to hit any golf shots”.

And what can you say to the readers of Ladies in Golf?
Well I think women in golf is a really important segment, and that golf is a game certainly for women. Don´t be intimidated by people hitting in a long way and bring your friends to the game and have some fun. It´s a great game for health: you´re moving, you´re using your mind, It´s cardiovascular, It´s good for your heart… And it´s very social. And I think a lot of people get intimidated by the eighteen holes, I tell them play three holes, six holes, nine holes, and come back here, have a glass of wine and you know, make it more of a social than competitive 18 holes.