EP93 - *BONUS* Annika Sörenstam interview!

Welcome back to episode 93 a bonus episode for everybody listening thursday bonus treat and honestly i'm excited about this one because in this podcast i sit down with i mean there's no argument about it she is the greatest lady golfer that has ever lived i would agree. But there's no there's no argument about it i'll argue with you it is facts. And i'm super excited i get an opportunity to have an exclusive 30 minute interview with annika sorenstone her resume is absolutely outrageous i have purposely not listened to because you this is we'll record this on what is what day today.

I've completely got lost it's wednesday yes this goes out thursday you did your interview with the on monday i did. So i'm actually listening to it kind of in real time when the audience will because i don't want to know i'd almost have questions. For you now but i don't know i don't know what to ask because it's just like i can't believe how much of a legend she is you're half an hour with her did she talk about 59 we touched on it yeah we touched on her early retirement because what's crazy she retired at 38 years old to go away have kids she had to kid she had two kids. And she's come back into the game now because of one of the kids and she explains that in detail which is fascinating she's come back recently. And now she's over 50 she just turned 50. she played in the us women's open and dominated she won it which is a major a senior's major she came back out of a retirement she's been out the game. For 12 years had two kids and she's come back and dominated she shot 59 famously yes she's played golf in men's pga tour tournaments she's had 10 major victories she's had 73 lpga victories she's had 17 european tour victories she's a hall of famer she's one player of the year how many times is that eight times pretty much in a row lpga tour money winner eight years. So she is an absolute legend of the game of golf legend she originally from sweden um like i said she just turned 50. And she um now lives in orlando at late nona i've actually seen her house it's outrageous amazing um but what was really fascinating about her story once she was really really good with the time you know we really touched on a few things. And she dived really deep into the answers which not surprised me obviously she's a legend in the game it's not first podcast interview whatever she's done but i felt like she really went into depth about questions i asked her about her number one highlighting a career oh what is the one thing that stands out don't spill it now obviously. But i also talked about how emotional it was having her children walk the fairways with her when she now takes the victory how old are our children then.

Roughly i think about 12. And 13 around that old enough to know what's going on in fact probably not 12 because she retired at 38. And now she's 15 she had kids in that spell i think i think her oldest maybe 11 okay. And he's a super keen golfer wouldn't you watch the channel he could do i didn't ask. So i thought i don't i don't i don't want to have rejection she said no who are you again we also had sophie on the podcast on monday. And she asked a really good question about um and i posted it to annika about what drove her what what made her stand apart from anybody else on the planet at that time and again an amazing answer and we've said this a few times in the podcast even though you're a little couple of years older than me we literally started playing golf like in 96 97 the exact same area. So for the pear of us she is literally an absolute legend. And it feels like i might be wrong in the number if i have a quick look at when she was really winning the top majors because yeah she she was literally what's quite weird she was absolutely killing the women's game at the same time tiger was killing the men's game. So it's kind of had these two almost what they almost didn't seem human you know when tigers at his peak he wasn't almost a human was it like a robot. And she was the same like tiger was unbeatable she was unbeatable they were pioneers in their sports at about the same time. And um just phenomenal like 22 million dollars she's made and again in ladies golf in that time frame as tiger moved a decimal point in golf for men's golf anna can move the decimal point in golf. For ladies we mentioned last week at the aig women's open how the prize fund got increased it was eight hundred thousand dollars i think. For first place imagine if she was winning like that in this modern era now i also asked her about what does the future hold because she's obviously still got game yeah answer was not what i expected now this was all very nicely set up by mastercard who has sponsored this today's podcast uh we are at the aig women's open with mastercard i've done quite a bit of work with them over the last few weeks they gave us the exclusive on the victor hovland interview they've done the same with the annika soros themselves thank you. So much for mastercard um if you do want to donate it's um they're doing a a great campaign where they're planting trees around the world. And you might have seen a few weeks ago when we went to the open we sat down and had a really good chat about that as well it's a good thing that they're doing and i think if you can get involved it's one pound 50 donation i'll put a link in description below they have these fantastic water stations. Or pat the open and the ladies open obviously they've finished now um but well worth checking out well i saw you donate so you've planted a tree i have i've donated a few times have you named the trees um cyril cyril cyril and george um so that's fascinating i'm i think you'll really really enjoy the podcast now before we get to annika i also had a five-minute chat with allison from mastercard to talk about how they fund. And help you know really help these lady golfers out to achieve their dreams how do they spend their marketing budget. And their money to sponsor these amazingly talented athletes and not only on and off the golf course as well so we sit down with allison and then.

Straight after alison we're jumping in with annika i think you're going to really enjoy it i think you're going to enjoy it guy well are we coming back in after that are we done now i think we're done okay well i'll listen to it now on the next.

Podcast we've got andy carter in he's actually coming in latest what is today.

But this will be on tuesday. So i'll be in the same clothes if anyone looks at that but i'm gonna listen to that in between and i'm gonna give you some um hopefully i'll give you a five star review like you didn't rate the macaroni and cheese i will rate your intune skills i appreciate that right good roll. So ali thanks for joining us on the podcast um i'm really excited to chat about you because obviously mastercard are such great company. For sponsoring sports in general but also golf and certainly women's golf um so you know tell us a bit more about mastercard how how they really got into sponsoring women in golf absolutely um so we've been a long-standing partner with the rna and our gender strategy at the company has really come to life over the coming years and as part of that we we focused on kind of redesigning the world with women in mind because so much of the world's been coded designed from one point of view and our thought was okay how do we really expand what we're doing in our own business um. And beyond that with partnerships that we have and so it was a perfect opportunity. For us to partner with them you know kick things off and and not only focus on you know mentoring but getting other businesses excited about women in the game um. And also starting to work even more with our ambassadors like annika who's also an rna partner i mean all of that is amazing. So kind of why now yeah i mean i i'd say we've been you know playing in the space of women's sport. For probably 10 years or so um whether it be in in golf but more so in some of the other passions that were we're invested in. But with the catalyst of our own business being focused on gender equity um you know across you know bringing people into the economy um focusing on um driving solutions for small businesses for them to grow and succeed around the world it really made sense for us to look at all of our partnerships not only on the business side but across the board and you know from a sponsorship perspective with it being so uh so focused on gender equity and and really from a society perspective delivering solutions from a people perspective what we've done internally with equal pay parity for men and women with you know delivering benefits for uh you know folks who need to go to maternity or paternity and and really kind of you know broadening all of our offerings and services and you know obviously we went to the open that was an amazing event. And obviously the women opened it's just been on now i mean both events were. So good i mean they really were. And and you know sponsorship funding is. So important it really is to allow these athletes to do what they do. So what is mastercard specifically um how are they specifically supporting women's sport as such no absolutely. So obviously it starts with investment to your point um but i think it goes beyond that um it's it's really putting a showcase on the ambassadors giving them you know a further spotlight to shine. But we also try to tie back to the business and inspire young girls so um obviously we're tech company and with that we've we developed a proprietary program called girls for tech which teaches school-age girls about the world of technology we've been excited to actually create a golf-themed curriculum. And we've actually done that across all of our passions you know football rugby etc to create that connection to show girls you know wow you can play in the space you can play the sport you can also learn about technology. And actually technology is embedded in a lot of sports i've really noticed more recently that i've actually been to three ladies golf events this year. And only one gents which is really rare. For me and i don't know i found myself really getting connected to some of the characters out on the golf course and therefore. i i found myself rooting for them a lot more and i think that's. So important you talked about there the story be able to tell their stories is that how you plan to kind of elevate the fan experience as such the whole idea of priceless experiences. And those connections is at the heart of our brand. And really as you you know fans are just always looking. For more of that connection and so anything that we can do as a brand to create that connection whether it's getting them sort of an insider look walking inside the ropes um you know having a one-on-one lesson with you know with a player you know those are things that you can only dream up sometimes right as a child it really does seem like the focus is such on a very wide holistic approach on supporting women in golf. And golf in general also bringing the fan experience to events and like say being able to have the opportunities i mean i've i've been looking enough to host some of the players in your in your kind of clubhouse that you normally have at the open i mean. And it's so great and as you mentioned a minute ago about adults also being really excited about meeting their favorite player whether it's justin rose. Or ian poulter you know you see that kind of glint in their eye and they're like wow this is really special i like say i think what you're doing to help support women on off the golf course in golf. And in other sports is amazing. And you you guys should be very very proud of yourselves we really appreciate that thanks so much rick okay. So that was alison from mastercard that was a really good chat now on. For the exclusive interview with annika sorenstan so first off annika i saw on social media this weekend have you just done a triathlon yeah well it's just a little small sprint one yes is this something that's new have you been doing triathlons before uh well i haven't i haven't done many. But i've done a few in my um in my life that's amazing yeah with covert it's obviously a little difficult. So but we had one here just at the golf club so my husband and i we swam a little biked a little and ran a little and here we are wow which bit did you find the hardest uh i'm not much of a runner. So yeah i know i can swim decently i can bike. But they're running especially after getting on a bike 10 miles biking and then.

I feel like i have spaghetti lakes you know like they just kind of wobble or heavy too so you know it's a good uh took us what hour 27 so it's a good workout and kind of doing it together so it's okay oh it's really nice um my first question annika is obviously you're incredibly successful what drove you. So when you're starting your career or when you're really getting into golf what drove you to really separate yourself when you came out on tour what was the what was the catalyst what was the inspiration i would say well first of all i mean i enjoy i enjoy the game number one um i enjoy working on something i like to you know put my time into something that i enjoy doing. And i think golf was more just trying to figure out how to hit all these different shots you know it was just you know i grew up i played tennis i played all kinds of sports. But golf was like okay putting felt like one sport shipping felt like one sport there's a lot of sports within the sport. And i just wanted to you know just improve my skills and each and one of them and i enjoy being out there working on technique and feel and all those things that i need to work on so i think just a passion. For the game and getting better was really what uh you know made me stay into it. And push myself to new levels every year which part of the sport within the sport as you very nicely said did you enjoy the most i mean i've always been an iron player i would say anything from you know from 50 yards to 150 i would say mid iron sister always been my my strength i mean i do hit a lot of i practiced a lot of the wedge you know my wedges. So anything from like i said from may 520 was just i spent a lot of time there i felt like it was you know shots on par three second shots on par fours maybe in the third shots on par five. So i spent a lot of time to go was to make up. And down to do some 150. And i know what part of that's against sport within the sport did you find the most challenging which areas frustrated you most you know it's kind of gone up. And down in my career uh you know i would say in the beginning a lot of it was long bunker shots you know not fairway bunker shots. But you know 40 to actually 20 to 45 yards bunker shot you know when you're in between you know when you hit do you hit it clean do you hit sand just that you know to be. So precise i thought that was. And you know i would say you know the rough i was decent. But you know i wish i had a little bit more power i have more of a shallow swing so when you're in dick rough it's you know you have to come down a little steeper on the ball and i would say that that's probably not my strength but i try to hit more fairways so i didn't have to put myself in that position and what um when you was growing up. And you were playing what who was your biggest inspiration did you have anyone that you looked up towards whether that was a golfer. Or or another sports person was there anybody at the top of the chain that you were looking at you know i would say i had several role models throughout my life i mean i was stuck with my parents just you know growing up in a steady loving household. And my dad was uh he played lots of sports track. And field handball and then.

Also he um you know he was a golfer i mean not a professional. But a social golfer my mom was also into sports. And then.

Golf later so i saw them being very active early on so they were role models. And i think later you know just looking at other sports being bored because i competed in tennis. For many years he was somebody that i just admired very much i think the whole country did actually yeah. But uh you know obviously he's an amazing athlete and then.

When i started into golf it was you know at that time we didn't have social media. And all those things that we have today.

Certainly not the women's coverage. So you know it was very rare to see a female you know in in a golf magazine i mean forget about the cover even in the magazine um. So you know i grew up following lisa lot norman from sweden she won the us open in 88 there was laura davies um you know some of those names that you know that i was uh inspired by. And then.

I went over and played college golf and that's when i was introduced you know not personally. But just to the lpga you know nancy lopez you know pat bradley pattashian uh betsy king uh beth daniel just to name a few you know joey and connor all of them were playing on the lpga at that time they were the stars they were hall of famers you know they were the one that started the tour. And all of those things so it was that's kind of like i felt a little bit more connected because i was in the same country i was you know studying at the university. And and we had an lpj tournament in town and also and i saw them and it was just like oh that's pretty cool. And maybe one day i could you know do this. For a living amazing and you mentioned a second ago obviously when you were first starting social media wasn't a big thing at all do you do you wish it was when you were when you started your career would you would you have loved to have grown up with with obviously you you've had enough nice pictures to post anyway on your social media do you do you wish you had that certain things i do certain things on social media i think it's very valuable. But you know i'm like 100 of social media but i think. For women scoff growing up i mean i you know i i watched men's golf i mean we had a pga tournament uh catted. For for um peter terribine and he was from finland he played on the european tour you know that was when ian wussmann played you know greg norman came um i mean we had. So many you know nick faldo i mean all of those the european players i watched i mean they were the ones that i could watch. And i think it's hard to to start picking up a sport it's hard to get inspired maybe if you don't see kind of yourself you know in that in the environment i mean i didn't see myself on the european tour i saw myself on the lpga. But i just wore on the european lady store but i just never really wouldn't have a tournament until later so i think from a social standpoint like social media it's the you know the creating the awareness. And that excitement and and just you know getting it out there i think that would have helped women scoff early uh. But having said that we have that now. And and you see a lot more women and young girls picking up the game it's you know doubled in just you know 15 17 years so i think it's helpful. For that reason and i think we all know that role models is is a good thing you know whether it's in the sports. And business or you know just you know you your neighbor or your parents it's always it's good to have people to look up to and and trying to you know do the right thing yeah i mean i was at carnegie this week actually watching the aig women's open. And what's staggering we had um sophie walker on the podcast that's just been in fact she she inspired me to asking you the question what drove you when you kind of first started up um but for me i've actually been to three ladies golf events this year and only one men's and i've really become so much more invested i you know my mum got me into golf when i was growing up at 11. And when i when i first started there wasn't lots of lady golf on top on tv like you mentioned a minute ago but now it is much more accessible i mean i think the laser open was live streamed on youtube all the way through. And for me i've become really um really fond of certain characters within the ladies golf that i now follow and i and i root for and i'm passionate about and i think you need that don't you in a sport if you're really going to get behind it it's not the sport. So much it's the characters that do such a great job at promoting said sport. And obviously you were you were unbelievably influential in that um getting. So many young girls and women into golf which is such an amazing achievement um i've got two girls now. And i've got a little boy and they're starting to show signs of golf the they're seven my oldest daughter is seven my middle daughter's five my little boy's soon to be three. And with being around me i'm a golf professional and they kind of pick few things up got a little putting green in the garden stuff and they're really finding it fun you've got two kids yourself are they really getting into golf now is it i'm guessing they're seeing what mum's done they must they you know they must come in this room that you're in now. And go wow what an inspiration did they get into golf really young are they really into it i'd love to know a bit more about that yeah no i mean we introduced our kids to sports early on they're 11. And 10 now and because sports has been part of my life as you know my husband was also an athlete he played all the other sports that i didn't which was football baseball. And basketball really you've got you've got everything covered yeah. So we i just think sports is it's fun you know it's good. For you and i think it's uh you know just a great way to spend your time you know from a physical standpoint. But social standpoint and yeah in the future. So yeah they've been introduced to different sports i mean nowadays you know our son he's i mean he's become a golf nut he loves golf um you know he would love to do it 24 7. um he just played a lot of football as you say soccer as they say over here he's part of a big academy. And it you know it's quite serious at this age so it's starting to you know the overlapping on golf and soccer is difficult because it's all year round here living in florida um our daughter plays a little golf we uh not. So much i mean we played 18 holes all of us on saturday oh that's nice you know. And it was fun you know. And she's not that serious she's just more out there we have a good time together she plays a little volleyball so you know sports has been a big deal of our family from the very beginning and and uh but now jagoff is obviously more on the forefront now when i'm playing uh. And when will is. So into it he has a tournament a nine-hole tournament coming up and you know nothing serious but i mean he loves to be out there every day i go he's my practice partner. So oh that's nice man i mean yeah. So he's um you know i think he's the one that's really pushed me i would say the last year. And a half because he's so into it and then.

Yeah i'm spending time with him. And i was like well i might as well practice. And then.

When i practice and then.

It's like oh maybe it's a little fun so i give him credit for you know from my kind of a new fresh start into the game again so wow that's amazing and obviously you've come back and had phenomenal success i mean winning the u.s seniors women's open must have been an incredible you know achievement i mean it sounds silly we were you shocked did you even shock yourself. Or did you think you know i'm playing really well i'm playing really strong going into the week i mean you never know i mean i i've played a few tournaments this year just to get ready. For this event but before that it's been 13 years and you know having two children and a business and all the things i do i you know you get a little you know out of sync in competition because i have. So many other things on my mind i mean competing is not the first thing on my mind uh contrary is being a mom. And so you know how do you turn that on. And off i feel like i wear a lot of hats and yeah. And uh i wish it was really easy just to put a new hat on. And then.

You're super focused and but it's not working that easily but i have put a lot of time into it i mean the kids are in school i go work out then.

I go practice a little bit. And um and then.

I do the other duties whatever is you know with my partners. Or commitment with you know whether it's igf or or just you know being a friend in the neighborhood too so um you know of course i mean i was i felt good coming into the tournament no doubt i loved the golf course. And uh you know i felt my husband mike was on the bag. And it was just oh lovely you know felt right. But you never know i mean laura davis is playing well. And we have tris johnson i mean many of your country women uh katrina matthew yeah um. And then.

You know helen atherson who won before kovic she won both of the the women seniors so i knew the competition would be would be tough and especially not competing for so long you never know but you know things just kind of clicked that week and and uh so obviously i'm super excited about that. And is it sparked that competitive bug again potentially to to compete more what's the uh i'm not necessarily going to compete more. But i you know i'm going to continue i mean to play the kind of what i did this year because now i'm defending in the in in the us women's seniors. And i'd like to do that. And i so i need to maintain a little bit and i have a few sponsor obligations you know scandinavian mixed um i'll be playing that next.

Year again which i did this year yes um. So you know we kind of maintain a you know a schedule of whatever five six tournaments which is what once every other month. So it's not a lot but you know it's just something so it makes me keep practicing or just go out there otherwise it's very difficult to just okay what am i hitting boss. For well there's nothing to look forward to but then.

Again i i don't want to be out on tour i mean i've done that i've had that like. And so it's it's a little bit of funny situation i'm kind of in between because when you play one every other month it's hard to play to play good golf too so but you know that's kind of the choice that i've made and you know i do enjoy it when i'm out there. But i don't want to do it full time. And you know i'm i'm such a in a different time in my life and you know just played out there today.

The players that you watched i mean this is you know they're starting their careers. And so they they're hungry in a different way and also you know i know what it's like even just going away that week you know i miss the kids i'm i terribly miss the kids. And you know if you were to go out all the time again things like that you know that time you don't get back all you know you want to take him to school you want to take him to his to his soccer tournament you want to you know watch him. For his nine-hole golf tournament he's got coming up in your daughter's volleyball match and there's things you don't want to miss um i bet it was absolutely amazing with the kids stood were they were this grandstand finish on 18 ready. For you when you when you won yeah i know it was special they came up. And they watched um you know when you the seniors we don't have any ropes so they were able to walk the fairways oh yeah all the other people that the spectators. So they literally i mean i tell people they walk the fairways with me. And that's amazing it was really neat. And and like i said will has been with me on this journey. And you know he knows how much i practice he's been with me and and uh so you know you can see him on the 18th. And uh it makes me choke up because you know he started to cry knowing what we have done together and so yeah it's um it was very very special i could not have asked. For anything else and i've said this all along when. And this is a family affair uh if they don't want him to play i'm not you know that's the end of this end of it right i'm not gonna play it it's they know what it takes. And if they're if they're with me then.

I'd do it. But i'm not gonna this is not. For me anymore i've done it i've had that walk i've had that you know those memories but uh with their support and certainly my husband's support i said with us do this together. And we did. And that's what made it even more special uh because the times that i go leave and um you know my daughter knows why i'm leaving to go practice and will is with me. So this that's what made it really worth it wow and let's say tomorrow you go and practice what what would what would anika do tomorrow to practice what does it look like well it's a lot of it i'm working on my swing. And i work a lot on my feel uh you know when i stepped away in 2008 i mean the first few years obviously having children. And you know i lost a lot of touch around the greens i mean if you don't play it's you know it's the distance control it's the the ball flight. And the way you come in you know to chipping and bunker shots and all those things and and then.

It's the swing you know and also you get older you lose muscles you lose the timing and so distance control so you know i really you know i could really work on everything um i feel like i gotta work on it but i i get a good feel of my swing now so it's fine tuning a lot of it has to do with tempo um. But now i just want to maintain what i have you know i know i'm not going to hit it you know 275 anymore i know that you know just you have to know your limitations. And i'm actually okay with it now before early on it was you know you just see your game kind of go from top to this. And it's and it's no fun. And um but now i got things a little bit more in perspective you know i'm you know to be out there every every day uh or to compete you know you have to put in four five six hours a day i don't have four or five six hours a day you know i you know i have one hour maybe an hour and a half to hit some and so i have to do everything in a short period of time. And and uh it's okay you know. And i think that's why you know i'm in a different place you've got to be really efficient with your time i guess. And and then.

Do you have a swing coach. Or do you work on your own swing yourself well mostly i do my own i did go see my my old swing coach old meaning um we worked a long time yes um. So actually i took some lessons this summer when i went back to sweden because he's in sweden and so that was interesting you know literally 13 years from having no lesson you go certainly back to the basics. And you know anybody you know you start falling into bad habits or maybe old tendencies so yeah. And once i started get the hang of it you really noticed the difference and so yeah i mean i you know i i hope to take another you know. But not the way i mean i used to work with him every six weeks very consistent schedule. And you know have a plan and all this i mean that's not where i am today.

And you know i won't be and i don't want to either so but you know once in a while to get a little check up on my alignment or my grip i think it's very important. And have you really you know obviously 13 years has passed technology and golf coaching has changed enormously did you find yourself embracing that technology with launch monitors. And obviously video analysis is somewhat been around. For for a while now but it's better and force plates and you know reaction forces have you embraced that or did you go quite kind of old school well i kind of have to embrace it i mean i don't i need the latest technology i need i need help um you know. But i've never really been one you know i don't really set up trackman and track everything i i have pretty good feel for what i want to see and what i want to do. But when it comes to equipment i you know i turn to callaway and say you know just help me with clubhead speed you know making sure that you know the shaft is right the weight is right. So because i mean early on i mean i was playing my clubs that i played when i was 38. And i need a little lighter and it's just not the same so yeah it's a lot more fun if you can you know custom make your clubs to you whatever your ability is. And my ability has changed a little bit so um but you know so it's funny you mentioned as you know being a golf professional the technique has changed too the way you know we hit shots here and i mean it's like everything it evolves. And that i need to kind of stay up to date a little bit so that's you know when i take lessons my coach will say you know nowadays you know this is what they try to do. And yeah. So i try to fine tune it and make it a little easier than than maybe it was what do you what did you notice obviously obviously you've been around golf in that period of time where you did have children. And you know everything else what but what did you notice kind of from annika 15 years ago when used to practice. And train compared to now what what would you say was the biggest outside agency that you'd seen change let's say. So technology equipment is there one thing that you thought wow that's really come on leaps. And bounds in that kind of 13-year window i mean i would say certainly like you know trackman technology meaning you know they uh they analyze every single shot. And a lot of times i i feel like you know a lot of players you see them on the range they have some kind of monitor right behind them telling them you know the ball speed the launch speed uh club head speed or you know whatever it can be you know the uh angle of attack. And i think sometimes yeah. And i think you know i think that you see that in a lot of younger players too. And so that has certainly changed a lot more you know recording your swing and uh and i think the biggest thing is people now they want to launch the ball a little higher um. And so i think technology. And swings have changed and that it that's a good thing um you know but like anything you need to find a balance you know a lot of times i think these young kids to have no idea out of the numbers. And you know you need to when you're out there playing you need to see your shot feel a shot and a lot of that has kind of disappeared um so i think a good balance you know it's good to know that you're maximizing. But after that you got to work your shots and and get it understanding why is it going right why is it going left. And all those things and not just kind of turn to a monitor you know that beeps when you're not in this certain parameter that you need to be in so um i think it's good. And bad but there's no doubt these younger players are a lot more equipped um you know. And also fitness i mean fitness has become a big deal uh you can see a lot they're very athletic they're building a lot of strength. And you see it you know across the board and you were really you were a really early adopter to fitness. And working hard on your um you know physical attributes when you first came out on tour um you know it's now it's everybody pretty much everybody is hitting the gym working our hard to get themselves in metaphysical shapes um have you seen that side of things develop a lot as well in golf in that kind of window absolutely. And and you hit it you said it i mean it's everybody is a great athlete today.

And you know because it's so it's so competitive you need to be good in every area you know not just having the right equipment not just having the right technique um you know you have to be physically strong i mean the game has changed i would say a lot more on the men's tour. But you know it's about power i mean these i remember when you know i played in skins game in 2003 there was only a few that would hit over 300 yards now it's only a few that do not hit it 300 yards. So you know it's become a power game and you know they don't care so much about the fairway it's more about okay i want a wedge in my hand. And if i have a swing i can get it anywhere um. So it's power um you know there's a lot of things have changed into the game and um but yeah fitness you can tell i mean these are amazing athletes you're not just you know strength. But also endurance and you know the consistency out there so it's fun to see i think it's been good. For the game um and then.

Obviously you're heavily involved in not only now being a mum being competitive as well as you mentioned obviously your foundation is doing such great work could you tell my listeners. And viewers a little bit more about that yeah no i'm super proud of the annika foundation what we've done we started to know seven. And it's it's to provide playing opportunities for young girls we have initiatives from girls ages six to college we have a college event so uh we really try to catch the the spectrum of young players to be able to fulfill their dreams so we started out with you know colonic invitational it's tournaments uh we have seven of them were the ages 12 to 18. And and kind of the cream of the crop they play against the very best in in the area whether it's europe or south america whether it's in you know um um australasia uh or in asia and uh we're just trying to make sure that that playing opportunities you know it's amazing when we started tournament in argentina five years ago we were the only girls event uh in the whole region ever. So i'm just trying to you know grow it from the grassroots and uh able to share my knowledge and my passion for the game we have several coaches that come from america and recruit uh at our tournament so giving these young girls an opportunity to get a scholarship whether you're from south africa whether you're from you know brazil or or chile and it's been really really fun to do that you know our tagline is more than golf. So it's not just a three-day tournament we try to create some fun events as well but also we have workshops whether one year could be fitness one year could be social media you know discussions and one year could be maybe talk about you know protecting from the sun you know things that we think that it's important. For anybody to know more than just hitting seven irons and making pots and we would have a welcome dinner and i attend all of these tournaments and it's been great i mean we've had over uh 600 girls every year we have you know 150 that play professionally all around the world. And uh it's been really really fun so you know with covid slowly uh you know giving us a chance to come back and you know we just hosted a tournament in sweden we hosted a tournament in the us early in the year uh and we hope to have a tournament in south america later in the year so it's not full capacity yet but we keep in touch with them just like i'm doing with you through zooms or through teams and i'm just going to continue to inspire these uh next.

Generation of girls that's amazing. So good any plans on coming to the uk um you know we've had some players from the uk play in our tournaments and um you know she just turned uh professional um uh miss humphrey i'm trying to um she just played fantastic she played on the european tour and um a great player that i see i think wants to play in the u.s one day. So uh we certainly hope to to get more countries involved again it's been tough with um with kovid but uh you know we we just love the opportunity to be able to get a golf club and a lot of young girls hands and you know the initiatives we have for six-year-olds um it's called share my passion uh it's a three-hour so it's a lot smaller event and we introduce them to the game they learn the basics of of gripping the club or maybe just you know learning how to align uh and then.

We do a fitness station uh. And then.

We have a healthy lunch and then.

I do a clinic. For them just you know kind of share my knowledge and passion it's been a lot of fun and you know some of them have hold the club before some of them not but hopefully we can sparkle interest amazing i think my two daughters would absolutely love that yeah they're showing signs of really getting into it. And we went to a ladies event recently here in the uk and there was there had a golf foundation um kind of clinic area where there was girls giving the lady professionals giving these my girls a golf lesson. And they absolutely loved it hopefully i just think as you mentioned earlier i envision a future where i can be walking down the fairway playing golf. For my three kids and i just think there's no other sport really in the world where you can do that where dif different people from different backgrounds ages religions whatever it may be can come together. And golf just washes away anything that's that doesn't link you together and you can have such a great time on the golf course with whether it be family friends new people you've not met before that's kind of certainly why i certainly love golf. And so many people do around the world um last question then.

When you look back on your career. And i'm sure you've been asked this question a few times before is there one thing that you would rank higher than anything else as your greatest achievement that is a good question um you know i look back at my career. And of course i'm i'm super proud and humbled at the same time but um you know it's always interesting to pick something special out and it's been hard uh luckily but you know you think of your first victory you know the first victory that hopefully propelled your career most likely took you to the level that you never knew that you had. So you know winning the euros opened in 1995 in colorado springs at the broadmoor was you know that was just an incredible moment. For me a second year on tour and you know the best players in the world i thought was there anyway. And i was able to finish uh you know at the top of the leaderboard by the end of the tournament. And i just it gave me the confidence that that i needed but also knowing that i made the right decision to be a professional and and at that time i i knew that you know i have a lot more golf in me i have just i mean i have i feel like i can improve. And this and this and this and this and still be able to win the biggest tournament so i think that was just such a you know turning point in my career from a confidence standpoint. But also knowing um that you know this is something i want to do you know. For the rest of my life yeah it's validation isn't it straight away as soon as you take your first victory i mean you've done. So much so many amazing things in your career you're an inspiration you're you're a hero in the world of golf so certainly from me thank you so much for everything you've done and i know golf in general has really benefited from you being in the game and ladies golf has really benefited and it's great to see you back it's great to see you winning um and it's great to see that obviously your kids are out there having fun with you as well. And i'm looking forward to potentially following their career one day well thank you very much i appreciate your time and um chatting with me thank you so much annika all the best all the best take care good luck with your kids thank you yeah thanks thanks annika thanks. So much for that i really appreciate it all right guys hopefully you enjoyed that how amazing hey to have anagar on the podcast things that dreams are made of hopefully you guys enjoyed it make sure if you're watching on youtube you like you leave us a review on the podcast channel. And we'll be back next.

Week with another guest a friend of mine who we've never on the podcast before thanks listen everyone thanks for watching i'll see you next.

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