Sorenstam Looks To Spring 2009 Wedding

HALMSTAD, Sweden--Healthy again and hitting the ball better than at any time since before she was diagnosed last April with a ruptured disc in her neck, Annika Sorenstam returned home to Sweden this week with an engagement ring and her sights set on a wedding day--but not before making one more run at trying to reclaim the No. 1 spot among women golfers she held for more than five years. Sorenstam and her finance, Mike McGee, are looking toward April 2009 as the big day, and that can mean only one thing: Sorenstam will throw all her effort into making 2008 a special season.

"It was really a special surprise," Sorenstam said Wednesday at Halmstad Golfklubb, where the Solheim Cup begins Friday, speaking about McGee's proposal last month. "There is just so much wonderful stuff happening in my life right now." Sorenstam, who turns 37 next month, opened her golf academy at the Reunion Resort this past spring, launched a website, annikasorenstam.com, and is involved in some golf course design projects. And at the State Farm Classic in Illinois two weeks ago she played her best post-injury golf, finishing T-3 at 14 under par, including rounds of 65 and 67. For the week she hit 46 of 54 fairways and 58 of 72 greens.

"I'm probably as good as I've been in a year and a half," Sorenstam said. "I had a really good showing at Springfield. I'd like to say I'm 100 percent. But I can say I have a lot to smile about off the golf course."

--Ron Sirak