Magazine

Text Size:: Small Text; Medium Text; Large Text

Print E-Mail Feeds Share

What They've Said: Annika

Musings, comments and quotes from other tour players on Annika and her career

Compiled By Jeff Patterson
Photos By Getty Images November 19, 2008

MEG MALLON: After Rd. 4, 1995 U.S. Open; "To Annika? Yeah, I congratulated her. Annika is on a hot streak. I think she has won twice in Europe in the last month; got a lot of confidence going; just got engaged; got a lot of good things going on in her life ... She is going to be a great champion. Really enjoy her, she is a neat kid."

PAT BRADLEY: After Rd. 3, 1996 U.S. Open; "Annika is maybe young in age, but she's very, very mature and very seasoned and very veteran in her mental approach to this game. She is very poised. And as you watch her play, she has everything very well in perspective and never gets too riled, too excited, too down and that's a perfect way to approach any golf tournament, but especially the Open."

KARRIE WEBB: After Rd. 4, 2001 Kraft Nabisco; "Obviously Annika has stepped it up a notch and I am going to have to improve my game to keep up. But no matter what she is doing, I want to improve my game anyway. I want to become a better player myself. She is obviously, you know, making me probably trying to do it a bit quicker or put more effort into it."

LAURA DIAZ: After Rd. 4, 2002 LPGA Corning Classic; "Annika is amazing. She has entered the Hall of Fame without even having enough years on tour. That's incredible."

DEAN WILSON

After Rd. 1, 2003 Bank of America Colonial

"We tied. Luckily. I had to work for it too, boy."

"I was particularly impressed with the way she hit her driver. There was one shot she hit on 3 where we're taking off a big chunk of the corner there and I've got 7, 8-iron in there and she's way back and I thought she hit a 3-wood but she hit a 7-wood. Boy, she hit it 10 feet, something like that. Right at it. Pin's tucked front left. And luckily I hit it nine feet. I was happy."

PATRICK SHEEHAN: After Rd. 1, 2003 Bank of America Colonial; "It doesn't surprise me. I kind of stayed away from guessing what she would shoot. She's the best female in the world. She probably does things better than -- I mean she does things probably better than I do, probably drives it straighter, probably putts better, probably does everything, every facet of the game probably better than I do. The only advantage I over her is length. And she's hitting her driver straight and irons straight and she putts well she could shoot under par out here. judging by today. I just saw her three putt the last hole for a bogey, but everybody's like she's even par. I'm like that's terrific. That's a good round for anybody out here. She's playing it from -- it would be like us playing a golf course that's over 8,000 yards."

PATRICIA MEUNIER-LEBOUC: After Rd. 3, 2003 British Open, about The Solheim Cup; "Annika, I remember when we played in 2000. The first dinner, we had just the captain, the players, and the caddies, and Annika stood up and spoke and really said -- we were like having tears in our eyes. That's what she could bring, and she did it. I know it's not easy for her to do that but she really did it."

NANCY LOPEZ

After Rd. 4, 2005 Kraft Nabisco

"She's won so many golf tournaments and she's just made herself even better than she even was in the last year. She looks more physically fit than even she did last year. I think she's awesome. I don't think anybody in the sports world gives her enough credit for what she has done and what she's accomplished and I think really, and truly she's better than Tiger Woods. She's a great athlete, works very hard, very dedicated. She just doesn't say what's going to happen; I'm going to work on it and she does. She knows what she wants and I admire her for that.

"Because we have a lot of great players out here and nobody is even coming close to her. I know when Tiger first came out it was like that, but she's so dominant right now, and I think she will be for a long time unless some of the players out here really step up and start working extra, extra hard on their game and their physical -- the physical part of their body, because she's just so strong. I think she will be in the winner's circle again and again and again until somebody steps up and takes her out of there. "Tiger, he was awesome, he's won and played great golf, but I just don't think he dominated the way she has."

LORENA OCHOA: After Rd. 4, 2006 Sybase Classic; "My dream and my goal is to be No. 1 in the world. Every time we are around her we always have something to learn from her. I respect her very much. And I admire her very much and I'm trying to catch her."

CRISTIE KERR: After Rd. 4, 2004 ADT Championship; "I was trying my heart out. It's disappointing but, when you're dealing with Annika Sorenstam, I mean, you can't say if she wasn't in the field, but I mean, I beat the rest of the field by five shots. I have to be pretty proud of that."