Sorenstam's Divorce Might Make Catching Whitworth More Likely
Wednesday February 16, 2005
Annika Sorenstam has filed for divorce from her husband, David Esch. The couple has been separated for a couple months, and Sorenstam filed for divorce earlier this month, according to The Associated Press.
We're not interested in gossipping about Sorenstam's personal life (well, at least not publicly), so we'll just say that we wish the best for both Sorenstam and Esch. However, Sorenstam getting divorced does have golf implications. Perhaps even implications of a historic nature ...
What do we mean by that? Sorenstam has said for many years now that she'd like to start a family, and has hinted that she would retire early from the LPGA Tour to have children.
If that's what Sorenstam still wants, we certainly hope her wishes come true. But even so, her pending divorce likely means that any children in her future are a little farther off in her future. The divorce would appear to make it more likely that Sorenstam will continue playing the LPGA Tour for a longer period of time that perhaps she originally envisioned.
And that's significant because of where Sorenstam stands on the all-time LPGA victory list. What once appeared an unattainable goal - Kathy Whitworth's record of 88 tour victories - is within grasp if Sorenstam continues playing for longer than she originally planned.
Even if Sorenstam plays another 10 years, catching Whitworth won't be easy. It just seems a little easier with retirement talk now likely to be less prominent. Sorenstam's career victory total entering the 2005 season is 56. That puts her 32 wins away from tying Whitworth.
At the rate Sorenstam has been winning the past several years - starting in 2001 and counting forward, 8 wins, 11 wins, 6 wins and 8 wins - that doesn't sound so daunting a task. After all, in the past four years, Sorenstam has won 33 times - a total that is one more than the number of wins she needs to catch Whitworth.
But it seems very unlikely that even the greatest player in women's golf history can continue those win totals for another four years. Another two, not so hard to imagine. But four more years like that?
Sorenstam will turn 35 years old during the 2005 season. She's bound to start dropping off just a little sometime within the next 2-3 seasons, if not sooner. "Falling off" for Sorenstam probably means winning 4-5 times in a season rather than 7-8 times, but any slip makes catching Whitworth harder.
Remember, we're talking about winning 32 more times to tie the record. In the history of the LPGA Tour, only 14 women have won 32 events in their entire careers. We also don't know how Sorenstam will react to her pending divorce psychologically, or what effect, if any, it might have on her drive on the golf course.
But if there's one thing we've all learned about Annika Sorenstam over the past decade, it's this: Never bet against her.
• More on Annika Sorenstam
• LPGA Career Victory List
We're not interested in gossipping about Sorenstam's personal life (well, at least not publicly), so we'll just say that we wish the best for both Sorenstam and Esch. However, Sorenstam getting divorced does have golf implications. Perhaps even implications of a historic nature ...
What do we mean by that? Sorenstam has said for many years now that she'd like to start a family, and has hinted that she would retire early from the LPGA Tour to have children.
If that's what Sorenstam still wants, we certainly hope her wishes come true. But even so, her pending divorce likely means that any children in her future are a little farther off in her future. The divorce would appear to make it more likely that Sorenstam will continue playing the LPGA Tour for a longer period of time that perhaps she originally envisioned.
And that's significant because of where Sorenstam stands on the all-time LPGA victory list. What once appeared an unattainable goal - Kathy Whitworth's record of 88 tour victories - is within grasp if Sorenstam continues playing for longer than she originally planned.
Even if Sorenstam plays another 10 years, catching Whitworth won't be easy. It just seems a little easier with retirement talk now likely to be less prominent. Sorenstam's career victory total entering the 2005 season is 56. That puts her 32 wins away from tying Whitworth.
At the rate Sorenstam has been winning the past several years - starting in 2001 and counting forward, 8 wins, 11 wins, 6 wins and 8 wins - that doesn't sound so daunting a task. After all, in the past four years, Sorenstam has won 33 times - a total that is one more than the number of wins she needs to catch Whitworth.
But it seems very unlikely that even the greatest player in women's golf history can continue those win totals for another four years. Another two, not so hard to imagine. But four more years like that?
Sorenstam will turn 35 years old during the 2005 season. She's bound to start dropping off just a little sometime within the next 2-3 seasons, if not sooner. "Falling off" for Sorenstam probably means winning 4-5 times in a season rather than 7-8 times, but any slip makes catching Whitworth harder.
Remember, we're talking about winning 32 more times to tie the record. In the history of the LPGA Tour, only 14 women have won 32 events in their entire careers. We also don't know how Sorenstam will react to her pending divorce psychologically, or what effect, if any, it might have on her drive on the golf course.
But if there's one thing we've all learned about Annika Sorenstam over the past decade, it's this: Never bet against her.
• More on Annika Sorenstam
• LPGA Career Victory List
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