The LPGA Tour announced that the 50-year-old Swede has committed to play the Gainbridge LPGA in Orlando, Florida, scheduled for February 25-28 on her home course of Lake Nona.
It will be her first official event since she missed the cut in the season-ending ADT Championship at Trump International in 2008, her final season of a Hall of Fame career that included 72 wins on the LPGA Tour and 10 majors.
Her last victory was the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill in 2008, and a month later she announced she was retiring.
Sorenstam played the PNC Challenge family event in December with her father, Tom, and said then her son was starting to play and motivating her to get back on the golf course.
Sorenstam, who was part of the celebrity field at the season-opening Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions last month, had said she was interested in a few senior events but did not hint at playing an official LPGA event.
She’s kept busy since retirement, with two children at home and a foundation that includes a focus on junior golf.
She was also appointed president of the International Golf Federation, which oversees the Olympics.
Sorenstam received heavy criticism for accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Donald Trump on January 7, one day after a deadly riot at the US Capitol as Congress was certifying the election victory of President Joe Biden.
Sorenstam and Gary Player accepted the medals from Trump and were supposed to receive the award in March 2020 until it was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sorenstam later told Golf Channel that “I’m not one to second-guess” and while she referred to the insurrection as a dark day in American history, she did not say she regretted receiving the medal.
“I like to look forward, not spend energy on what could have been,” Sorenstam said.
“It’s all about opening doors. That’s one thing I’ve learned. I’ve heard from a lot of people – you can imagine, a lot of opinions, a lot of comments.
“I hear clearly what those people say. I know they see it differently. But I listen and I embrace them all.”
– Doug Ferguson, Associated Press
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