Golf Talk

Annika tries to save her round.

In the quirky format that was the ADT Championship this week, history was made as Annika Sorenstam finished the year without a win, the first since her rookie year way back in 1994. Once the most dominant female golfer in the world, Sorenstam suffered a neck and back injury earlier in the year and just never recovered. In fact, she never even really came close to winning all year, and was well back in all four of the LPGA’s major tournaments.

It certainly has been a strange year for Sorenstam, much can be attributed to her injury which forced her to miss most of the season and competing in just nine tournaments all year. But there are a couple of other factors which have distracted her from golf. One of them was the engagement to her boyfriend Mike McGee just a few months ago.

But even months after the injury, Sorenstam has just been off on her game. Her usual steady iron play has been widely inconsistent all year and her putting has been way off. If there is one thing that you always expect from Sorenstam has been her ability to make fairways, hit greens, and two-putt. Prior to this year, she led or was in the top five in most of the categories of fairways, greens in regulation and total putts.

So the big question comes, whether Sorenstam has lost it for good, or is 2007 just a blimp on the radar screen. It’s tough to tell, but it certainly appears that that her best golf is behind her. With her wedding coming up next year, and following marriage usually comes motherhood. With only a few years left on her biological clock, Annika will probably have kids earlier rather than later.

And if you factor in the upcoming young talent that has seized the LPGA over the past year, it would appear that Annika’s best days are behind her. Players like Lorena Ochoa, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Suzann Pettersen look a lot hungrier at this time and their talent and athleticism will be tough for a 35-plus mother-to-be to compete against. Then again, the ageless Julie Inkster would prove otherwise.

Perhaps the greatest sign that time is passing her by was Sorenstam’s loss at the Solheim Cup. Pressel beat Sorenstam on her home soil.

Annika Sorenstam