Tue May 13 12:41:43 2008

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Report: Sorenstam set to retire

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Clifton, NJ (Sports Network) - Hall of Fame golfer Annika Sorenstam has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon at the Upper Montclair Country Club in New Jersey, at which time she will reportedly announce her retirement following the 2008 season.

Golfweek.com cited multiple sources close to the situation in its Tuesday report.

Sorenstam is coming off a win at the Michelob Ultra Open last week in Virginia and is in New Jersey for this week's Sybase Classic. She has three wins in eight starts this year and is second on the 2008 money list behind Lorena Ochoa.

The 37-year-old native of Sweden has 72 career LPGA Tour victories and 88 wins worldwide. She has captured 10 major championships -- winning the U.S. Women's Open, LPGA Championship and Kraft Nabisco Championship three times each.

A back injury last year limited Sorenstam to just 13 LPGA Tour events and she failed to win a tournament for the first time since her rookie campaign of 1994. She did, however, win a Ladies European Tour event.

Sorenstam has indicated that she wants to start a family and pursue other interests. According to Golfweek.com, she is engaged to be married next April.

In 2003, Sorenstam qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame and the same year became just the sixth player in tour history to complete a career Grand Slam when she captured the Women's British Open.

Sorenstam also made history in May of 2003 when she became the first woman since 1945 to compete on the PGA Tour at the Colonial. She missed the cut, but garnered worldwide media attention in the process.

Last week's victory at Kingsmill made Sorenstam the first player in LPGA history to surpass $22 million in career earnings. She has earned a record eight Player of the Year awards, shares the LPGA mark of eight single-season money titles and has also been a part of eight Solheim Cup teams.