Annika Sorenstam has entered this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles in North Carolina.
The USGA said Thursday that Sorenstam filed her entry to compete in the June event, which will mark her first time playing in the Open since 2008.
The 51-year-old Sorenstam ended a 13-year retirement last year when she played in the Gainbridge LPGA, making the cut. She followed that up by winning the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, which earned her a spot in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open in Southern Pines.
Sorenstam is a three-time Open champion, with her 1996 triumph coming at Pine Needles.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to play in a U.S. Women’s Open again, especially with it being held at Pine Needles,” Sorenstam said. “I really never thought I would play in another one, but everything just sort of fell into place. Teeing it up in the greatest championship in women’s golf, at a venue that has so many incredible memories for me, and to be able to do so with my family means a lot to us. I’m sure Peggy Kirk Bell (World Golf Hall of Fame inductee and longtime Pine Needles owner) is looking down and smiling at how this all came together.”
Sorenstam has 72 wins on the LPGA Tour and 10 major titles over the course of her Hall of Fame career.