Annika Sorenstam said a Swedish newspaper took out of context
her plans to quit golf and have children.
"I am not announcing my retirement and I am not announcing
the start of a family," Sorenstam said Friday. "I am very
much looking forward to the start of the 2007 season and the
various business ventures that I've become involved
in."
She issued a statement through her agent, Mark Steinberg of IMG,
because both were inundated with calls about a story in the
Aftonbladet that quoted the Swedish star as saying, "I'm
pretty tired of golf. I want to have kids, and if we decide to do
that, the time is now and I probably can't combine that with a
golf career."
The 36-year-old Sorenstam is dating Mike McGee, a golf agent and
son of former PGA Tour player Jerry McGee. She divorced David Esch
two years ago.
She won three times last year on the LPGA Tour, including the
U.S. Women's Open for her 10th career major, and remains No. 1
in the women's world ranking. But it was her least productive
season since 1999, and 24-year-old Lorena Ochoa ended
Sorenstam's five-year run as the LPGA player of the year.
Sorenstam first dropped retirement hints at the end of the 2002
season, saying she had other interest and one day wanted to start a
family. She played in the Colonial the next year, becoming the
first woman in 58 years to compete on the PGA Tour, completed the
career Grand Slam and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of
Fame.
Her primary goal the last three years has been winning all four
majors in one year. The closest she came was in 2005, when she won
the first two majors before finishing out of the top 10 in the U.S.
Women's Open.
Sorenstam makes her '07 debut on March 9 in Mexico at the
MasterCard Classic, where she is the defending champion.
"As always, I will assess my season at year's end and
decide what the future holds at that time," she said.
"That is no different from how I handled 2006, 2005 and all
previous years."
Sorenstam is the tournament host at two events _ one on the LPGA
Tour, one in Sweden _ is designing golf courses and is about to
open a golf academy near Orlando, Fla. She also is producing a
fitness DVD and has been working toward developing
"Annika" as a brand.
In an interview earlier this week, she said her outside
interests were distractions last year and she wanted to be more
focused when she showed up at tournaments.
"I know if I dedicate myself again, I'll be back there
and give everyone a run for the money," she said. "I have
to schedule things better. I've got some people helping now to
take the responsibility off my shoulder, rather than me keeping an
eye on things. I have a tendency to micromanage. I'm a very
hands-on person."
Sorenstam told the Aftonbladet that she barely practiced last
year and still won six times around the world, but "being
sloppy like that doesn't hold up in the long run."
"The question is whether I'm willing to make the
effort, because it requires me to give all I've got," she
told the newspaper.
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