When Annika Sörenstam made Grand Slam history

Painfully shy as a youngster, Annika Sörenstam extracted every ounce of her unparalleled ability to blossom into one of the greatest golfers in history.

A winner of 72 LPGA titles – including 10 majors – few players have left their mark on golf in the same way as the majestic Swede.

Annika built a reputation for being a relentless winner, for smashing records (she is the only woman to shoot 59 in a professional tournament) and for taking the women’s game to new heights.

Like many schoolchildren, Annika and her younger sister Charlotta began playing a range of sports at a young age in their hometown of Bro, a few miles north-west of Stockholm.

They picked up golf when Annika was 12 and their aptitude and preference for the sport soon became apparent. The sisters initially had to share a set of clubs; Annika would use the odd-numbered clubs and Charlotta would use the even-numbered ones.

“I grew up playing with half a set,” explained Annika. “That’s how I learned. I made it work. If I needed a 6-iron, I would either hit a really hard 7 or I would open up the club and try to hit a soft 5.

“It made me think a little bit more about the shots. It made me a little bit more creative because I didn’t have all the tools.”

It is no surprise, then, that Annika believes her mid-irons were the strongest part of her game.

She quickly marked herself out as a future world-beater, sweeping her way to victory in practically every youth and university tournament she entered.

But this early wave of success brought with it unexpected pressure. After each win Annika was required to make a speech, a responsibility the fledgling superstar dreaded. So much so that, with a trophy within touching distance, Annika would miss putts down the stretch to ensure she finished second.

Indeed, Annika was so shy when she was a child that she couldn’t bring herself to put her hand up in the classroom.

Public speaking was one daunting task that she knew she would need to master if her career continued on its upward trajectory. And, just like her golf game, master it she did.

“I put so much time into practising and being a competitor, and [public speaking] would eat me up,” explained Annika. “But it was worth handling that pressure.

“After [making my first speech] I realised it wasn’t that bad."

With renewed confidence, Annika turned professional in 1992, initially joining the Ladies European Tour where she was named Rookie of the Year 12 months later. Her first professional win came at the Australian Open the following year.

Her first major – the US Women’s Open – arrived in 1995 and she became the first non-American to retain the title, in 1996.

While the victories came flooding in on the LPGA Tour, she wouldn’t win her third major until the Nabisco Championship (now the Chevron Championship) in 2001. This sparked a stunning period of dominance as Annika collected seven more majors (and another 39 LPGA titles) by 2006.

And it could be argued that 2003 was the greatest year of the lot. It was the year Annika won the AIG Women’s Open to become just the sixth woman in history to achieve the illustrious Career Grand Slam, which the LPGA recognise once you win at least four of the five majors in the women's game.

“That was the year that all the pieces fell together,” said Annika of 2003, the year in which she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“You never know how many chances you’re going to get to win a major championship, especially this particular one.

“I felt like I had achieved a lot of things in my career at that time. I had won the US Open, I had won the LPGA Championship, I had won the Kraft Nabisco … you hope you can win one and here I was with [five].

“When I look back on my career that was certainly a highlight. I only won it once – but it was very special.”

The 2003 AIG Women’s Open was staged at Royal Lytham & St Annes – the venue for this year’s Championship – for just the second time.

Annika opened with a four-under 68 but found herself four strokes adrift at the halfway stage following a 72 on the Friday.

Another 68 on Saturday hauled her closer to the leading trio of Se-Ri Pak, Wendy Ward and Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, leaving it all to play for on the Sunday.

Meunier-Lebouc faded in the final round leading to a straight shoot-out between Annika and Pak. Annika trailed for most of the front nine only to edge in front with birdies at 11 and 15. Pak responded with birdies of her own at 12 and 16.

The Championship was to be decided on the 72nd hole – in no small part thanks to what Annika calls the greatest shot of her career.

“It’s one of the tougher par-4s,” said Annika of Royal Lytham’s famous 18th hole.

“It’s really tricky. There are a lot of bunkers, especially some fairway bunkers [which] come into play. So the strategy off the tee is really important.

“Se-Ri Pak was hitting first. She took out [a] fairway wood of some kind … and ended up in one of the pot bunkers.

“So I was debating hitting an iron or hitting a driver – and my caddie said ‘hit the driver’.

“I teed the ball up and hit one of the best drives I’ve ever hit, simply because it was a major, it was the 72nd hole, and I needed to hit the fairway to have a chance to win.

“Being a European, the [AIG Women's] Open meant so much to me, so I was quite nervous on that tee shot [but] I made one of my best swings ever. [The ball] started down the right side and curved in a little bit to set me up for an easier shot into the green.

“That was a crucial shot and one of the best of my career.”

Pak would ultimately make bogey while Annika tapped home for a history-making, Grand Slam-clinching par.

As a young girl Annika worked hard to conquer her severe shyness. She went on to conquer the world.