Annika Sorenstam retiring--at season's end

[underpants]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/golf/20080514-9999-1s14golfcol.html

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Saw Her Interview Yesterday On This

She really has nothing left to prove. She is arguably the best woman golfer ever. Any argument against that would still include her in the discussion.

She's loaded. She's getting married in January. She's been playing competitively for more than 2 decades, and she wants to move on.

I think it's great. Good luck to her, and it was a joy watching her play.
The Professor

[Awsi Dooger]

2. I wondered about the long engagement

It was announced last year, but the wedding not until January 2009.

Makes sense now, a full year to focus on golf after the injury plagued '07, knowing she wouldn't continue beyond this year.

Annika has been phenomenal. I don't know about best ever, since her putting has often been mediocre and she didn't have longevity, at least compared to Whitworth and Berg. But her era was formidable, with Inkster and Webb and Davies, along with the end of Lopez' prime and the beginning of Ochoa's.

Last week Annika demonstrated her game is more well rounded than Ochoa's. Lorena is longer but not as precise on irons and a more limited short game.

Too bad we won't see that rivalry play out for years. I'm sure there would have been plenty of tournaments like the '77 British Open, when Watson and Nicklaus lapped the field.

[underpants]

3. I worked on the course that she won on Sunday

it used to host the men's tour but A-B was too cheap to put up the money and change the course

Still they say it is a fave on the women's tour

:shrug:

I don't know if the "Strange Navy" still sits off the 17th and gets hammered all day but I can tell you that the old tournie's spot just before the British Open was something else A-B could have changed if they wanted to. They did used to charter several 747's to immediately fly players and entourage over the pond.
Bad time of year though-you do NOT want to be in "Devil's burg" (as Thom.Jefferson called it) in July and August is out of the question.

[Awsi Dooger]

4. I made the mistake of visiting William & Mary in mid August one year

I'm walking around, aware it's a swell place, but what the hell am I doing here?

Bought a shirt in the bookstore and a week later it was worthless, wouldn't fit. No kidding. I had sweated off so many pounds I ended up buying a shirt that was far too small for me in normal conditions and bulk.

That course is always interesting with the subtle mounds and changes of elevation. Seems perfect for the length of the women pros.

And yeah, now that you mention it I remember the chartered flights to the British Open. That was a classy touch and earned plenty of positive press.