When I first saw the announcement, I thought it was a joke. But it’s true: Annika Sorenstam is retiring from tournament golf at the end of this year. The New York Times reports:

At a news conference at the Upper Montclair Country Club, where she will play Thursday through Sunday in the L.P.G.A.’s Sybase Classic, she calmly revealed her plans. There were no tears, no deep breaths and, she said, no regrets.

“I have other priorities in my life,” she said, and she listed them: a golf academy, a foundation, golf-course design projects (she is working on her fifth course, with two more planned), corporate relationships, clothing lines and hosting golf tournaments. She said there were more, including starting a family.

“I enjoy playing golf at the top level,” she said. “I made this decision far back. I know what it’s like to be at the top.”

As of this writing, Sorenstam has won 72 tournaments, including ten majors. She ranks third on the career list. Only Kathy Whitworth, with 88 victories and Mickey Wright with 82 are ahead of her.

Sorenstam has clocked 8 L.P.G.A. Player of the Year awards, 8 money-winning titles and 6 Vare Trophies for lowest scoring average.

For years, she was the Tiger Woods of the LPGA. She’ll be missed.

PS Mrs. GolfBlogger, the labor and delivery nurse says she wouldn’t be surprised if Annika’s pregnant. I pointed out that Laura Diaz and others had played through similar conditions, but she’s sticking to her prediction ...

Now here’s something few saw coming: the LPGA’s Lorena Ochoa is dominating with her POWER GAME.

Just five six and 135 pounds, Ochoa is driving the ball an average of 277.5 yards.

That would be good for 131st on the PGA Tour list—not impressive by comparison, but still so very, very long. The average male amateur drives the ball 192 yards—eighty yards short of Lorena’s average.

The Sun-Sentinel has more.

Golf fans still have a chance to witness a Grand Slam this year.

But it’ll be won by Lorena Ochoa.

Beginning in June, the LPGA will play two majors in a span of three weeks. If she stays hot, she’ll be three quarters of the way there at the end of that span.

For all the media hype about Tiger, Ochoa has been relatively forgotten. She’s won nine of her last fourteen, including two majors, and recently became the second youngest ever to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. Ochoa has won four of five this year.

Now THAT’S dominance.

I hope the golf media starts to give Ochoa the coverage she deserves.

After her victory this past weekend at the Kraft Nabisco—one of the LPGA’s majors—the golf media is asking whether Lorena Ochoa is the LPGA’s answer to Tiger Woods.

She is.

Ochoa is 8 for her last 13, with two majors.

Tiger is 8 for 13, including a major, with a chance at a second coming this weekend.

Legend says that the modern concept of the golf Majors was conceived by Arnold Palmer on a plane flight to the (British) Open Championship in 1960. Palmer, who had won the Masters and the US Open was asked by Pittsburgh sports writer Bob Drum about Bobby Jones’ accomplishment in winning the US Amateur, the US Open, the British Open Championship and the British Amateur. Palmer agreed that feat would never be duplicated but suggested that a “modern” equivalent could be found in winning the Masters, the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.

The King had spoken. The Majors were born.

It’s interesting to speculate however, about what might have been if Palmer had named another quartet. The Masters, US and British Opens were obvious accomplishments. I don’t think the PGA was. He could easily have named the Western Open, a tournament with a very long and prestigious history. Or perhaps the Los Angeles Open, which has been played since 1923 and had always attracted a stellar cast.

If he had chosen the Western, or LA Open (now the Northern Open), the PGA Tour would have been much more happy. As it is, the PGA Tour—the richest and arguably the best professional golf tour—“owns” none of the Majors. Augusta National owns the Masters, the US Open is administered by the USGA, the British Open by the Royal and Ancient, and the PGA Championship by the PGA Of America (which is NOT the same thing as the PGA Tour) That’s why the PGA Tour is so desperately trying to get the Players designated as the “Fifth Major,” in spite of its total lack of history (it was created in 1974).

The Majors for the men’s professionals are well known. But what about the other tours? The PGA European Tour recognizes the four men’s majors, but it could be argued that—in terms of its importance—they actually have a fifth: the Volvo Masters. As for the other major tours, they’re listed below:

LPGA
Kraft Nabisco Championship (formerly the Dinah Shore)
LPGA Championship
Women’s British Open
US Women’s Open

Champions Tour
US Senior Open
Senior PGA Championship
Senior Players Championship
The Tradition
Senior British Open Championship

European Seniors Tour
Senior PGA Championshipo
US Senior Open
British Senior Open

European LPGA
Evian Masters
LPGA Championship
Womens British Open