When I heard Annika was retiring from golf I thought, that's really sad. Don't get me wrong, the LPGA is not on my must see tv list. I really enjoy watching the big names like Ochoa, Creamer, Pressel, and Gulbis. But my d.v.r. is never full of women's golf . With that said, for me Annika is special and I know why.

I was at Colonial when the 8-time LPGA Player of the Year took on the men, and actually beat some of them. The emotion and the energy surrounding her was incredible. We in the media are suppose to be beyond rooting for a specific player. But that day I became an Annika Sorenstam fan, and I'm still one today. I bought one of those "Go Annika" buttons for my daughter. She was 15 at the time , but the gesture sparked a conversation. I was telling her
how Annika carried herself with such poise , and grace under so much pressure. I told her how PGA players like Vijay Singh didn't think Sorenstam should be allowed to play with the men. But she took on the challenge anyway.
True enough, she didn't make the cut, but if memory serves me correctly she beat 15 of the men from the "all boys club". Her performance allowed me to say to my daughter , "see you can do anything with your life, if you're willing to put in the work and the effort. Annika's livinging proof.
Sorenstam made her retirement announcement after winning the Michelob Ultra at Kingsmill by 7 shots, her third win this year. She's not officially shutting it down untill the 2008 season is over and so far she's not having any second
thoughts. Annika is moving on to expand her business interest and to spend more time with her family.
She's only 37 years old as she says goodbye to golf, but she leaves so much more behind than her 72 LPGA wins.

In just 2 days she won over thousands of fans at Colonial. She encouraged many conversations like the one I had with my daughter. But the most important thing was she gave young women all over the world proof they can achieve their dreams. Annika provided so much motivation for so many, making it clear that the only limitations are the ones we put on ourselves .

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