Pro golfer checks off bucket-list item at Augusta thanks to Annika Sorenstam
Pro golfer checks off bucket-list item at Augusta thanks to Annika Sorenstam
CHANDLER, Ariz. — If you talk golf long enough with someone, it seems like eventually the conversation gets around to the Masters and Augusta National Golf Club.
That was the case this week at Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass — the host venue for the LPGA's 2025 visit to Arizona, the Ford Championship — where Madelene Sagstrom was the special guest at a kickoff event at the course located on the Gila River Indian Community. It was during a Q&A that she revealed she recently checked off a true bucket list item.
"I was invited to go play Augusta last week," she said. "I was very fortunate to play with Annika [Sorenstam] two rounds out there and it was one of those experiences where, if you're a golfer … that's the place to be. It was a pinch-me moment. I am super grateful to experience that, to play with her. She was my childhood idol growing up and I consider her a close friend."
Sorenstam and Sagstrom are fellow Swedes, and Sagstrom's Solheim Cup debut in 2017 came after being named to the team by Sorenstam.
So how'd she play?
"I nailed the fairway on the first hole, made birdie on the first hole, and I'm like, 'I'm done. I'm going home. I don't need to do anything else today. I'm done,'" she said, laughing. "I went out and shot a solid 80. The greens just killed me that day."
The trip down Magnolia Lane included more than just the one round.
"I was lucky enough to get a second round and I shot 1 under," she said, noting that she didn't play from the tips. "I played the members tees, so that was a big advantage but it was just so incredible."
Sorenstam is a member of the club, which cleared the way for Sagstrom to access.
"Being a professional golfer, I thought maybe I'd have the chance, possibly, but it's one of those things, when you get the phone call it's like I will drop anything.
"It was one of those things you dream about but don't expect to do. It's on the bucket list but it's like, a lot of bucket-list items are things that you expect to do, right? But this is like 'I would love to go,' but you don't really expect to do it."
The LPGA is in the midst of its spring Asian swing. The Ford, March 27-30, will be the first event back in the U.S. since the Founders Cup in early February. It will also mark tournament defending champion Nelly Korda's next appearance.
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