72x LPGA winner Annika Sorenstram becomes the first female golfer to join Augusta National as a club member

Annika Sorenstram has become the first-ever LPGA golfer to become a member of one of the most prestigious golf clubs in the United States of America, the Augusta National Golf Club. The 72-time LPGA Tour title winner will join other female members such as Heidi Ueberroth, co-chairman of Pebble Beach Co., former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, former USGA president Diana Murphy, and Ana Botin, Executive Chairman of the Santander Group.

The Golfweek reported that multiple sources confirmed the admission of the 10-time major champion at the venue of the Masters Tournament. However, the names of sources were not revealed as they asked for anonymity.

Neither Annika Sorenstram's husband, who is also her manager, Mike McGee nor anyone from the Augusta National Golf Club has confirmed the news.

The prestigious golf club which was established in 1932 has been hosting the Masters Tournament since 1924. They were initially a men-only club but started to accept female members around a decade ago.

It is worth noting that Augusta National Golf Club has always kept a low profile when it comes to publishing the names of its members. They try everything possible to keep the names of their members hidden, and it is assumed that the club is affiliated with some of the wealthiest and most powerful businessmen.

Back in 2019, the prestigious golf club started to host the Augusta Women's National Amateur. They invited Annika Sorenstram, alongside Se Ri Pak, Lorena Ochoa, and Nancy Lopez, as honorary starters of the first tee.

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Exploring the journey of Annika Sorenstram's golfing journey

The 53-year-old golfer from Sweden has established herself as one of the most dominant forces in female golf. Her professional golf career started in 1992 and since then she has won 97 tournaments. Interestingly, 90 of them are international wins, which makes her the most successful female golfer.

Annika Sorenstram's most of the career wins came on the LPGA Tour. She recorded 72 wins from 1995 to 2008 on the Tour. Her first victory on the leading American women's Tour came in the 1995 U.S. Women's Open where she defeated Meg Mallon by one stroke.

Before parting ways from the game of golf in 2008, she won the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill in the same year. She had to defeat the likes of Allison Fouch, Karen Stupples, Jeong Jang, and Christina Kim to win her 72nd title on the LPGA Tour.

Annika Sorenstram competed on the Ladies European Tour between 1995 and 2008. She won 17 times on the Tour, with her first coming at the 1995 OVB Damen Open Austria.

Back in 2003, when only four out of modern-day five major tournaments were officially recognized, Sorenstram completed her career grand slam. She won both the LPGA Championship and British Open in the same year.

Annika Sorenstram was part of the European team in nine Solheim Cups. She won the prestigious biennial event in 2000 and 2003 as a player and in 2017 as a captain.