Annika Sorenstam Personal Life Review

Sörenstam met her first husband David Esch in 1994 on the driving range at Moon Valley Country Club, Phoenix, Arizona, where she was an LPGA rookie practicing for a tournament and he worked for club manufacturer Ping. They were engaged at the 1995 Evian Masters, married in Lake Tahoe on 4 January 1997, and were divorced in 2005. She announced her engagement to Mike McGee, the managing director for the ANNIKA brand of businesses and son of former PGA Tour and Champions Tour player Jerry McGee, in August 2007 and they were married at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida on 10 January 2009.

On 19 March 2009, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, a girl, in the fall. Ava Madelyn McGee was born 1 September 2009. The couple announced they were expecting their second child via social media sites on 14 December 2010. On 21 March 2011, Sörenstam gave birth to a son, William Nicholas McGee, unexpectedly at 27 weeks gestation when she suffered a placental abruption.

Sörenstam began the transition from professional golfer to entrepreneur during the later years of her career attempting to combine her major passions, golf, fitness and charitable works, into various businesses under the ANNIKA brand with the brand statement "Share my Passion". They are all promoted by her website on which there is a blog to which she and her staff regularly contribute.

Sörenstam has undertaken a number of golf course design projects. Her first, the Annika Course, was completed at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzen, China, in 2003; the second was officially launched in January 2006 and opened in 2008 at Euphoria Golf Estate & Hydro in South Africa. She recently announced a new project at Mines Golf City, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Projects closer to home include a redesign of the Patriots Point Links Course near Charleston, South Carolina and a course at Red Mountain Resort, British Columbia. She and Jack Nicklaus are bidding to build the Olympic golf course in Rio.

The ANNIKA Academy at Ginn Reunion Resort in Osceola County, Florida began construction in 2006 and opened in April 2007 with Sörenstam's longtime coach Henri Reis serving as head instructor, her sister Charlotta an instructor and club fitter, her personal trainer Kai Fusser focusing on overall fitness training with the owner available for coaching on certain golfing packages. The opening ceremony included a Make-A-Wish Foundation golf clinic conducted by Sörenstam who is a United States ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and it also hosted clinics for junior golfers during The Annika Invitational, an American Junior Golf Association invitation-only event featuring the top 60 girls from around the world hosted by The ANNIKA Foundation.

Other branches of the ANNIKA business include a clothing line with Cutter & Buck, a limited label wine produced in partnership with Wente Vineyards, and a signature fragrance developed by SA Fragrances. Sörenstam also hosted the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika, an event on the LPGA Tour in 2007 and 2008, and the Scandinavian TPC hosted by Annika on the Ladies European Tour during its last four years from 2005 through 2008. She won the latter tournament in 2005 and 2006. Both tournaments had their last event in 2008.

One of Sörenstam's hobbies is cooking. She has participated in cooking demonstrations during LPGA tournaments and has talked about enrolling in cooking school. Before the 2003 season Sörenstam took the opportunity to improve her culinary skills by working eight hour shifts in the kitchens of the Lake Nona Country Club. Sörenstam has had a serious interest in investments, real estate and the stock market since she earned her first LPGA check and in August 2006 was invited to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange
Annika Sorenstam
Annika Sorenstam
Annika Sorenstam
Annika Sorenstam
Annika Sorenstam
Annika Sorenstam
Annika Sorenstam