S-19: Special exemption from the USGA

The World Golf Hall of Famer will make her 17th start in a U.S. Women's Open, thanks to a special exemption from the USGA. Sorenstam, a three-time U.S. Women's Open champion (1995, 1996, 2006) and 10-time major champion, is arguably one of the greatest female players of all-time. She owns 72 LPGA Tour victories, which ranks third all-time. The Swede also made history in 2003 when she teed it up at the PGA Tour's Colonial Invitational to become the first female to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945. In 2021, Sorenstam won the U.S. Senior Women's Open at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn., to collect her fourth USGA championship. She also was the runner-up to Vicki Goetze in the 1992 U.S. Amateur. Prior to turning professional, Sorenstam was discovered by University of Arizona coaches at an event in Tokyo, Japan, and later signed with the then-Pacific-10 Conference school, where she won seven titles, including the 1991 NCAA individual crown. She and sister, Charlotta, are one of three sibling tandems to win on the LPGA Tour, joining Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, and Jessica and Nelly Korda. Sorenstam represented Sweden in pair of Women's World Amateur Team Championships (1990, 1992), taking individual honors in the latter. She is an eight-time European Solheim Cup competitor, and captained the side in 2017. Off the course, the Annika Award is given annually to the country's top female collegiate golfer.