Annika Sorenstam On Finding Success, On and Off the Green

Annika Sorenstam sits atop the LPGA’s Career Money list, having earned more than $22 million throughout her time as a professional golfer — more than any other woman on the course. 

Initially, though, she struggled. Sorenstam, like many, started out with very little money. “I’ve never really been money-driven,” Sorenstam says. “I had what I needed, which was just enough. Then when I started to make my first checks as a professional, I realized that I needed to take responsibility. I needed to be accountable.” Did she turn around and like many pro athletes buy a Porsche or a place on the beach in Florida? She didn’t. Instead, she hunkered down and listened to advice from her family and colleagues on the golf course.

As she started to earn money (in her case, quite a bit at a young age), she turned first to how to budget it and then how to invest it. Now that she’s retired, Sorenstam is working to pass on some of what she’s learned through her decades as a professional golfer to young women. She’s also working hard to help close what’s known as the “golf gap,” or in other words, the inequalities that exist between male and female golfers. 

TEEING UP A FIRST BUDGET

When Sorenstam started playing golf professionally and her first big check rolled in she realized it was time to start being accountable with her money. “My first check came in and I made pretty much exactly what my budget was for the whole year,” Sorenstam remembers. “I was thrilled!” 

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Her father was also thrilled for her — but also more pragmatic.  He sat her down and told her to get specific by making a budget for everything she needed that year for her professional career (travel, flights, hotels, food, and caddy fees, for example). “I attacked my budget in a very similar way to my approach in life,” Sorenstam says. “It’s big picture and I think it’s worked out quite well because I’m very interested in finances now. It’s a big part of who I am.”

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As she earned more, having and sticking to a financial plan and investing her earnings became more important. When Sorenstam was 25, she called her financial advisor and said, “I don’t think all of my money should just be sitting here. I think my money needs to work for me.” To which they replied, “Well, Annika, you never told us that.”

In response to that unacceptable answer, Sorenstam immediately fired that financial advisor, drove right to her local bookstore, and started teaching herself to invest beginning with an “Economics 101” book and quickly moving onto the wisdom of Warren Buffett. Following the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ led her to start investing in a diversified portfolio — large caps, mid caps, and small caps.  She added to her holdings over time and held on in down markets. “Investing is like golf,” Sorenstam says. “You have some birdies, you have some bogies, but at the end of the day, you have to trust that 18 holes is going to be good. You have to have some ice in your belly and not panic when the market is down or people are selling.”

CLOSING THE GOLF GAP

Thanks to her incredible success as a professional golfer and her smart investments, Sorenstam’s total net worth now sits at around $40 million. Her best investment? Buying a house at the right time and in the right place. “I bought in places where land is scarce, and if you buy in the right places, it will go up with time and I’ve been fortunate to do that,” Sorenstam says. 

Since retiring from playing professionally, she’s focusing her efforts on giving back to the younger generation and being an advocate for leveling the playing field for female golfers. One way she’s doing so is through The ANNIKA Foundation, an organization that seeks to develop, empower, and advance young women around the world through golf and in life. “I think a lot of women settle,” she says. “We feel like we can’t ask questions. We also feel like we have to over-deliver all the time. Our tagline is ‘more than golf’ so it’s not just about competition. We want it to be a lot more than that.”

Hitting the links has become more popular in recent years, especially for women. The National Golf Foundation now says there are 6.5 million female golfers, up from 5.5 million just a few years back in 2019. That said, there’s still a long way to go to reach equality. For example, this year, the men’s PGA Championship purse totaled $18,500,000. On the other hand, the purse for the women’s PGA Championship was $10.4 million. 

One of The ANNIKA Foundation’s flagship events is the upcoming “The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.” The LPGA golf tournament, taking place at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, aims to bring together the best female professional golfers in the world with a goal of changing the face of golf by making the sport more accessible and inclusive. “Now, about a third of all juniors playing golf are women. It’s fun to see the growth, but we’re obviously not stopping at this point,” Sorenstam says. “It’s a game you can play forever.”

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