November 21, 2008  Arguably the most dominant female golfer of all time, Annika Sorenstam has transcended her sport to become a prominent mainstream athlete and celebrity. Throughout her career, she has rewritten the LPGA and Ladies European Tour record books, won countless awards and events and brought unprecedented attention to women’s golf.  Along the way, she has inspired millions of young women worldwide.

And today, Sorenstam’s storied LPGA Tour career is coming to an end.

From ESPN:

The 72-time tour winner shot a 3-over par 75 on Friday at the ADT Championship, making her 5 over through two rounds of the LPGA’s season-ending event. The projected cut was 1 over, meaning it was virtually certain Sorenstam’s week — and career — was done.

“I know it’s over,” Sorenstam said.

She announced six months ago she was leaving the tour at year’s end to pursue business interests, get married and start a family. Sorenstam is still is No. 2 in the world rankings, but at 38 she says it’s time for new challenges.

Annika’s legacy is undeniable.  Often called the female Tiger Woods,  Sorenstam locked up 72 LPGA titles, made more than $20 million in earnings on the LPGA, and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2003.

A win this week would have been the perfect ending to her career, but alas…the legend departs before our eyes.  She is, and has always been, a class act who will be sorely missed on the LPGA. 

After her LPGA Tour swansong this week Sorenstam will play in the Lexus Cup in Singapore later this month before bringing down the curtain on her competitive career at the Dec. 11-14 Dubai Ladies Masters.

Sorenstam won’t be out of the limelight for long however.  Surely she’ll be back for a random tournament here and there and she’s launching a signature fragrance called ANNIKA for Mother’s Day 2009.  The fragrance is said to evoke the essence of Annika -  confident, casually elegant and naturally beautiful.  Won’t be nearly as good as watching her play but hey….it’s something.

Annika Sorenstam website

Filed under: General, Golf, News Bytes, Profiles by jane
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November 13, 2008 - You don’t get to be the No. 1 women’s golfer in the world by backing down from challenges.  Lorena Ochoa is a perfect example. And it’s the mental as well as the physical challenge that she enjoys.

Since she joined the LPGA in 2003, Lorena Ochoa’s 24 tournament victories are second only to Annika Sorenstam. Last year she became the first woman to earn more than $2.9 million in a single season, topping $4.3 million in prize money.

Ochoa, who turns 27 on Saturday, takes another big step in her career today when she plays host to the Lorena Ochoa Invitational at her home course in Guadalajara, becoming the 15th woman in history to have her own LPGA tournament.

The LA Times reports that while Ochoa has come to define women’s golf, the sport is a long way from defining her.

“Who wins a golf tournament or leaves with that beautiful trophy is only a memory for a while,” Ochoa says in a second-floor ballroom overlooking the Guadalajara Country Club course, where she learned to play the game while in kindergarten. “And it’s only satisfaction mostly for you and the people around you. It sounds a bit selfish. I prefer to be remembered for other things. Being a good person. Giving back to the community and help[ing] others.”

Ochoa’s humility is evident in all aspects of her daily life. While others on the LPGA tour travel in private jets or at least fly first class, Ochoa insists on going coach. And as many as a dozen times each year she sets aside a morning to meet or make breakfast for the groundskeepers at tour stops.

The world’s No. 1 women’s golfer also has a foundation that helps with education in her native Mexico. She helped save an elementary school in one of Guadalajara’s poorest neighborhoods and now La Barranca has 245 students and a waiting list of dozens. Ground is about to be broken on a high school complex next door, a $650,000 project funded by Ochoa’s foundation.

For Ochoa, challenges come in a variety of shapes and sizes and she tackles all of them with a stroke of genius.

Filed under: Charity/Cause, Golf, Profiles by jane
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November 13, 2008 - How does one sport or event get voted into the Olympics while another doesn’t?

BMX made it’s debut in Beijing and the International Cycling Federation wants to include a freestyle event for the London games.

But last year, attempts to introduce skateboarding to the London Olympics failed.

The sports for London 2012 have already been decided but there are currently seven sports short-listed for consideration 2016 Summer Games. Only two will be added.

Leaders of baseball and softball, along with five other sports seeking inclusion in the Olympics, will present their cases to the International Olympic Committee in Geneva this week.

Golf, karate, roller sports, rugby and squash officials will also meet the 16-member commission, which will deliver a report to the IOC before the  members vote in October.

Baseball and softball were dropped after the Beijing Games because they didn’t receive enough votes in 2005 to remain on the 2012 program.

(more…)

Filed under: General, Golf, London Summer Games 2012, Martial Arts, Olympics, Rugby, Softball, Squash by jane
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October 5, 2008 - We don’t write this news; we just link to it. Here’s a round-up of results from this weekend.

Golf: Paula Creamer calmly won her biggest LPGA Tour title yet, holding off a large pack to win the Samsung World Championship on Sunday near where she grew up in the Bay area.

Snowboarding: U.S. rider Jamie Anderson claimed the final Slopestyle Title of the Southern Hemisphere portion of the Swatch TTR World Tour  and finished the southern hemisphere season as tour leader.  

Surfing: Silvana Lima has claimed the Billabong Ladies Pro in Costão do Santinho against fellow Brazilian Tita Tavares along with ASP South American title.

T&F: Yelena Isinbayeva, often called the Queen of Pole Vaulting, has capped another tremendous year by being voted the female Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year 2008.
 

Filed under: Athletics, Golf, Pole Vault, Snowboard, Surfing, Track & Field by jane
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September 12, 2008 - The Ladies Professional Golf Association recently announced a new policy. The new rule stated that players had to pass an English language efficiency exam by next year or face suspension.

Understandably, players, fans, sponsors, civil rights advocates and a lot of other people freaked out. Most saw the policy as offensive and directed at the large segment of Asian players on the tour.

To many, the policy came off as harsh and xenophobic (look it up) but the LPGA claimed it was a business decision meant to grow the audience for women’s golf.

Not that surprisingly the LPGA announced last week that they were going to rethink their new policy. From the LPGA website:

The LPGA has received valuable feedback from a variety of constituents regarding the recently announced penalties attached to our effective communications policy. We have decided to rescind those penalty provisions.

Obviously, the LPGA got a lot of hate mail and had to restore their reputation. Hopefully they can find a way to work something out that is less offensive, and more inclusive. Maybe they can find some college students who would be willing to go on tour as English tutors?. Whatever the solution, we hope that no permanent damage has been done to one of the more successful endeavors in women’s sports.

Filed under: Golf, News Bytes by jane
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August 27, 2008 - The women’s professional golf tour, which in recent years has been dominated by foreign-born players, has warned its members that they must become conversant in English by 2009, according to the New York Times.

Deputy Commissioner of the tour, Libba Galloway, said: “We live in a sports-entertainment environment. For an athlete to be successful today in the sports entertainment world we live in, they need to be great performers on and off the course, and being able to communicate effectively with sponsors and fans is a big part of this.

“Being a US-based tour, and with the majority of our fan base, pro-am contestants, sponsors and participants being English speaking, we think it is important for our players to effectively communicate in English.”

Although Galloway insisted that ‘the vast majority’ of the 120 international players on the LPGA circuit already spoke enough English to get by, she declined to say how many did not. There are 26 countries represented on the LPGA Tour - South Korea, with 45 golfers, has the largest contingent.

In order for the circuit to be successful, golfers must entertain as well as shoot under par. They have to satisfy their sponsors and charm pro-am partners. Obviously, this is a business decision. Many of the foreign golfers who are members say they have no problem with it. But does the policy violate civil rights?  What do you think?

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July 22, 2008 - If you’re looking for a career that pays big bucks, learn to swing a racquet (or a golf club). For women, the highest-paid athletes come almost exclusively from tennis and golf, where prize money and endorsement dollars flow overwhelmingly to the brightest stars.

According to Forbes, the four highest-paid female athletes in the world are from the tennis circuit: Maria Sharapova (Russia), Serena and Venus Williams (U.S.) and the newly retired Justine Henin (Belgium).

Maria Sharapova leads the list of the highest earning female sports figures with endorsements from such big names such as Pepsi, Nike, Canon and Motorola. Her total earnings are estimated at $26 million per year.

Serena Williams, who was top earner before Sharapova became a teen sensation,  still brings home $14 million a year. 2008 Wimbledon champion Venus Williams is just behind her younger sister with $13 million. Coming in at fourth place on the top earning list is Justine Henin who just recently stopped playing professionally. Forbes estimates Henin’s yearly worth at $12.5 million—$5 million of which she earned by winning titles in 2007.

Golfers Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie and Lorena Ochoa have also broken into eight-figure earnings territory (that’s over $10 million for those who are counting).

Sorenstam has racked up more career prize money than any female golfer in history–some $22 million. The eight-time player of the year has 72 LPGA tournament wins to her credit, including 10 majors. She recently announced she’ll retire from the tour after the ADT Championship in November, just after she turns 38.

Teen sensation Wie has deals with Nike and Sony that contribute to her $12 million paycheck. Ochoa has netted $1.8 million in prize money this year to go along with major endorsement deals with Audi and Lacoste that bring her annual payday to $10 million.

The top 10 list is rounded out by IndyCar driver Danica Patrick and tennis player Ana Ivanovic who earn $7 million and 6.5 million respectively.

What about team-sport athletes? Will women’s team players ever catch up to men? Olympians and WNBA stars like Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi and Lisa Leslie don’t get nearly the same money from corporate sponsors that LeBron or Kobe command.  Who will be the one to break through? You?

Filed under: General, Golf, Tennis by jane
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July 3, 2008 -  Looking for something to do this holiday weekend? Jump from the runway to the fairway.  Barbie recently teamed up with Cougar Golf (Sports Source) to launch a line of golf equipment aimed at gals ages 4 + .  The Barbie Golf Set incorporates shorter shafts and “girl-favorite features and detailing” including lots of pink, flowers, hearts and butterfly graphics. The set also includes a driver, iron, putter, carrying bag and USGA-approved golf ball, as well as a visor, six wooden tees and three ball markers.

Finding a way to get girls involved in golf at early age is a good thing. Yeah - the pink may be overkill but in 10 years when we’re interviewing the next girl golf superstar she may well say, “my passion for golf started when my parents bought me Barbie golf clubs for my birthday.”

According to the National Golf Foundation, there are approximately 4.8 million junior golfers in the U.S. ages 6 to 17 and, of those, nearly two million are young females.  So there are plenty of young Annika wanna-bees out there that might be willing to trade up from a Barbie doll, to a Barbie driver.

It seems, however, that Paula Creamer may be a more appropriate role model for aspiring girl golfers than Barbie.  She does loves pink and all.  Now if Paula had HER name on a set of clubs, we’d be sure to buy them. Until then, it’s Barbie taking pink to the green.

Along the same lines, there are a number of organizations using golf to teach life skills to youngsters is the aim of many groups, among them:

The First Tee:  In 47 states and five international sites and largely for children 8-18, it has 1.5 million participants ( www.thefirsttee.org).

The First Tee National School Program: Designed to introduce elementary school students to golf in physical education classes, it’s operating in 1,600 schools ( www.thefirstteensp.org).

LPGA-USGA Girls Golf: Golf pros work with community leaders to introduce the sport to girls 7-17. The nationwide program is available at nearly 200 locations( girlsgolfonline.org).

Filed under: Entertainment, Fun Stuff, Golf by jane
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June 30, 2008 - Nineteen-year-old Inbee Park won the U.S. Women’s Open in Edina, Minn., by four strokes Sunday — her first professional title.

Park, the youngest player to win the 63-year-old championship, exhibited crucial putting and resolve beyond her years to close with a 2-under-par 71 for a total of 9-under 283.

Park was the only player in the final nine groups to break par. Her sparkling day included two key birdies on the back nine, and a final one on the 18th to seal the deal and earn the $585,000 prize. Not bad for a teenager. 

“Really, I can’t believe I just did this, especially with all these big names on the trophy that have been very, very successful with the golf,” Park said.

On the other end of the leaderboard, legend Annika Sorenstam finished 24th in her final Women’s Open before retirement at the end of the season. “Leaving with another great memory, that’s for sure,” Sorenstam said after the tournament.

Filed under: Golf, News Bytes by jane
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June 17, 2008 - Annika Sorenstam will play in her final U.S. Women’s Open next week at Interlachen, but her involvement with the U.S. Golf Association won’t end there. The three-time champion will become a USGA ambassador.”Annika has earned a rare place in golf’s history, and we are very privileged to bring her aboard the USGA,” president Jim Vernon said.

Sorenstam made a brief appearance at Torrey Pines, coming to the U.S. Open for corporate work with Lexus. She will be hard to miss at Interlachen, even for those who don’t attend the U.S. Women’s Open.

Her first round will be streamed live on the tournament’s web site (www.uswomensopen.com), the first time that has happened in women’s golf. Fans on the Internet will be able to see every shot from Sorenstam and her two other playing partners (Paula Creamer is expected to be one of them) during the first round.

Live streaming in the second round will focus on the traditional pairing of defending champion Cristie Kerr, Women’s British Open champion Lorena Ochoa and U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Maria Uribe.

Sorenstam’s first LPGA Tour victory came in the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor, and she added titles in 1996 at Pine Needles and 2006 at Newport Country Club. A victory next week would allow Sorenstam to join Mickey Wright and Betsy Rawls as the only four-time champions.

The 37-year-old Swede is retiring after this year and looking forward to her work with the USGA.

“It is the opportunity to help grow the game, especially among junior golfers, that I think is most exciting for me,” Sorenstam said. “Golf has always been a very important part of my life, and I see this as a great opportunity to give something back to the game that has given me so much.”

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