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CN CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 13, 2008

Annika Sorenstam

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Annika, thanks for coming in and joining us today. Great season so far. Like you said earlier, your last season on the LPGA Tour. If you could, just talk about your season and then playing here in Canada this week.
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Absolutely. Yeah, first of all, I'm happy to be here in Canada. It's been a while since I played in this competition. It's always been the same week as the tournament that I host in Sweden, so unfortunately I haven't been able to come.
But this year they were back to back, so I'm very happy to be here. This season in general has been, you know, quite good. I got off to a really good start. Won a few tournaments early on, and then now the last month or so it's been a little bit up and down.
I feel good about my game, but haven't been able to perform as well. I'm excited to be here, and hopefully we'll play better here.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Questions for Annika.

Q. With the tournament being in Sweden, last time you were here you won in 2001. I remember you had to withdraw from one tournament that you were feeling ill at. Do you come into this tournament thinking that you're kind of a quasi-defending champion?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, it's always nice to be at defending champion. But, I mean, it's always -- this tournament moves venues and so forth and sponsors. I'm happy to be here. I've always enjoyed Canada in many ways. I've done a few outings in Toronto the last few years. I've always been well-received. The fans are very golf knowledgeable, so it's great to be here.
Having said that, this tournament has a good feel, and I'm glad to be here participating.

Q. Back in 2000 the tournament was held at Royal Ottawa, and I believe you were a runner-up in that tournament. Do you have any recollections from that particular tournament?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Not other than I finished second. Did Brandie win? Meg Mallon won there. I think one year Brandie won. Maybe I was second then. I guess I don't remember.

Q. You're saying this is your last year on the LPGA Tour. Is that firm? Can you see yourself coming back at some point? You have won tournaments this year, is there a chance you might regret retiring?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: No. I mean, I am -- I feel good about my decision. This is a decision that I've thought about for quite sometime. It's not something that I just decided over a cup of coffee. This has been coming on for quite a while.
You know, I've had 15 great years on tour, and I've enjoyed I would say 99% of it. You know, I have so many wonderful memories. I've achieved what I wanted to achieve and more.
You know, I've started to -- what I've realized is I have other priorities in my life and other business ventures that I want to pursue. The timing is good for me.
If I will come back in the future I guess time will tell. In my announcement at Sybase I said I'm stepping away. I never use the "R" word. That gives me an opening.
But I don't have a time frame. I'm not really sure. I'm getting married in January. I want to start a family. I'm spending a lot of time at the Annika Academy, and the foundation that I created is really taking off, building golf courses and hosting golf tournaments.
You know, I have a lot on my plate, and I'm excited about the next chapter, you know, to spend more time and really pursuing those interests.

Q. Now that you're retiring, I'm just wondering what you thought about the new golfers, the changing of the guard? What do you see in the future?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I think the future is very, very bright for the LPGA. As you know, there's a lot of new players upcoming, but also some that have been established the last few years. Seems like a younger generation, but a lot of talent and personalities.
Lorena is leading the charge right now, and she's a fantastic person and a great golfer, so I feel like the tour is in great hands.

Q. With the up and comers, one is arguably Michelle Wie. She draws a lot of criticism. Do you have advice for her? I know you weren't happy when she pulled out of the British Open. What's it going to take for her to make that adjustment to become full time on the LPGA Tour?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: You know, I don't know Michelle at all. I don't know her family or her plans or nothing. I'm not involved. I'm not just going to give advice to somebody. She's taking a different route. That's her decision. There's no doubt that she has talent, but it takes a lot more than talent to be successful out here.
There is a lot of other great players out here that have patience that have, you know, respect for the game, and that's what it takes.

Q. Just maybe one more question about your retirement. Seems to me you're not retiring. It's a process to get there. I know people who have retired before they retired. What are you doing to sort of maintain that focus and excellence in your game at this point so that you don't retire before the actual retire date?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm doing the best I can to stay focused on the game. That's one of the reasons why I made my announcement later in the year, because I wanted to focus on my game and the tournaments.
It's never been about a farewell tour or never been about really saying goodbye, other than I'm here and I want to support each tournament.
But I also want to win. I'm a competitor. That's the way I keep focused. But having said that, I have not performed as well since I made my announcement. Maybe there's something unconsciously telling me that it's okay.
But when you have the mind of a very competitive person, you know, I want to try and play the best I can. That's the goal the next I think almost eight tournaments I have left.

Q. You touched on this earlier. When it's all over, and whether you retire full time or not, when you reflect back on your career, what aspect of tour play will you miss the most, and what part will you not miss the most?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: Well, I would say that I would -- I'm going to miss the competition. I'm going to his the adrenaline pumping when you walk down the last few holes having a chance to win. You know, I love the game and I love the challenges. Every day it seems like it changes.
I am going to miss the people out here. And of course I'm been lucky to travel around the world. Golf has been tremendous to me, and that's one of the reasons I want to stay within the game, because I still really love it.
But what I'm not going to miss and one of the reasons I'm stepping away is it's really hard work to grind every day. It's tough to travel every week. You know, I've dedicated my life to golf for, well, since I pretty much picked up a club.
It's over twenty years. It's been living, breathing, eating, and sleeping golf. So it's time to -- golf is part of life, but it's not life. I want to see other parts of life; therefore, golf will take a little more of a minor role than a major role in my life.

Q. Have you heard from Daniel Alverson at all this week, or if you expect to see him out here?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I don't know him. Obviously I've heard of him. He's a big Swedish hero, but I don't know him. I'm not expecting to hear from him, but if he shows up here I would love to say hi.

Q. Just a question about your tournament. Were you surprised by the Ginn announcement? Did you see that coming at all that they were pulling out?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I was very surprised. I've been with the Ginn company for several years, and they're very committed to the game in different ways.
You know, economy is tough, and in the last few months I think rumors have been circulating about Bobby Ginn and the difficulty. He's very involved. He's had two major tournaments on the LPGA, so, you know, obviously it was a bummer.
I felt like we did everything we could to make it a great tournament. Personally I dedicated a lot of time to the event, and I wish it would have continued. I really did.
Maybe down the road it'll come back. I'm not sure, but I think we were all a little surprised.

Q. You spoke about perhaps not playing up to your own expectations since you made your announcement. Is it a distraction of having to do more sessions like this or having more people ask for autographs or having more outside or non-golf activities? Is that partly what's behind this?
ANNIKA SORENSTAM: I'm not really sure. I mean, if I knew then I would change it. I would think that it's maybe something more deeper than that, just knowing that I made the decision. There's just a part of me that's just -- you know, I'm just very satisfied with my career. That's why I'm moving on.
Maybe just, like I said when I kind of shared it with the world, maybe there's a part of me that's a little more -- I'm not really sure. I wouldn't say the word focus. Maybe the motivation or the hunger. There's something that's not the same. I just can't pinpoint exactly the reason.

End of FastScripts

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