Thierry Gromik/US Presswire
Foreign athletes
Annika Sorenstam
The Hall of Famer was a 17-year-old golf prodigy when she watched Liselotte Neumann, a fellow Swede, win the 1988 U.S. Open. From then on, Sorenstam's goal was to match Neumann's feat. But to do so, she took a different path. At the urging of her mentor, Pia Nilsson, who had attended Arizona State, Sorenstam sought out a U.S. program. She ended up at the University of Arizona, and in 1991 became the first non-American, as well as the first freshman, to win the NCAA's player of the year award. After two years and seven collegiate titles, Sorenstam was ready to go pro. And we all know where her career went from there: 72 LPGA wins, including 10 majors, among them three U.S. Open trophies. Like Neumann before her, Sorenstam inspired the next generation, most notably 22-year-old countrywoman Caroline Hedwall, who spent two years at Oklahoma State before turning pro, keeping the Swedish pipeline humming.
