New mother Annika Sorenstam loving life away from LPGA Tour

New mom Sorenstam loving life away from tour

NEW YORK — At 6 weeks old, Ava Madelyn McGee is already showing a stubborn streak — just like her mom.

Annika Sorenstam isn’t too surprised at the personality her daughter is developing. Her own tenacity drove the golfer to 72 LPGA Tour wins, including 10 majors.

But right now Sorenstam is loving leaving that world behind.

“The best thing is to not live out of a suitcase,” she told The Associated Press on Monday. “I never used to unpack because I was going two days later. Now things are actually hanging in the closet. Things are in the drawers. It’s kind of nice.”

The 39-year-old Swedish great left the tour at the end of last year, then married Mike McGee in January. Their daughter was born Sept. 1.

Ava took her first plane ride Monday. Sorenstam wasn’t going to miss the Women’s Sports Foundation’s annual banquet in New York, where she will be honored Tuesday. Sorenstam’s foundation is also partnering with the organization to create an award that will recognize a young female athlete who inspires others.

The trip went smoothly, but Sorenstam isn’t planning to do much traveling with her newly expanded family. She relishes getting to know her neighbors at her home in Orlando, Fla. — and it’s not as though she’s not busy. She’s involved in several business ventures.

And of course motherhood is a full-time job in itself.

“I thought leaving the tour would be hard,” Sorenstam said, “but I realized there are other things than golf.”

She practiced Sunday for the first time since her daughter was born because she’ll be playing with some of her foundation’s sponsors while she’s in New York this week. Sorenstam just did some chipping and putting; afterward, her hands and body were sore.

“It’s just very, very strange,” she said. “I took the clubs out of the garage and hadn’t really looked in the bag for months. Just making sure everything was there where it should be. Gripping the club, getting a new glove out. It’s just a feeling of holding a club that’s different.”

Sorenstam didn’t want to use the word retirement when she left the tour. She still doesn’t, but she also doesn’t sound like an athlete pining to return to competition soon.

“I didn’t want to close the doors,” she said. “You never know what can happen. I’m still young in the sense I can return to competition if I wanted to.”

And she’s never far from the game of golf. Sorenstam was involved in the sport’s successful bid to be added to the 2016 Olympics.

“I think it’s wonderful for the game of golf, maybe not in the countries where I played, in the U.S. and Sweden and the European countries,” she said. “But if you look globally it’s huge, to give other girls and boys the opportunity to play the game.”

She also serves as an adviser to the board of directors of the LPGA Tour. The tour is seeking a new commissioner after Carolyn Bivens resigned in July, bowing to pressure from players who were upset about the organization’s economic woes and her leadership.

“We’re looking for a new leader, maybe for a little bit new direction, a little bit more focus and a vision — we haven’t had that in a while,” Sorenstam said. “It’s always tough when you change, especially when the environment is like this.

“Right now we have to be in survival mode. The economy is very, very tough and we’ve lost a few more tournaments. We’ve got to really focus on relationships — build new ones and cherish the old ones.”

Sorenstam had a day Monday that any new mother could relate to. Up at 2:30 a.m. with her daughter, she later rushed to the airport on no sleep, never even getting a chance to brush her hair. In New York, she found herself changing a diaper in the hotel lobby restroom.

She looks at Ava and marvels, “Wow, this is ours.”

“Then you start thinking about (teaching) morals and values,” she said. “It’s not easy. There’s a lot of things to balance and juggle. You just get a smile once in a while that makes it all worth it.”