Quick Stats: Annika Sorenstam -- Golf Legend
Daily Driver: 2007 Lexus GX 470 (Annika's rating: 10 on a scale of 1 to 10)
Other cars: 2006 Lexus GX 470; 2002 Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG (rating: 9); 1999 Mercury Mountaineer (no rating)
Favorite road trip: Sweden to Spain
Car she learned to drive in: Volvo
First car bought: 1986 Ford Festiva
Driving is perhaps the great equalizer. But for a select few, such as legendary golf professional Annika Sorenstam, a car is that necessary vehicle on their metaphorical path to greatness.
Sorenstam is the most dominant name in women's golf, but in 1989, before international fame found her, she drove from Stockholm to the south of Spain to escape those harsh Swedish winters and pursue her passion. The three-day road trip was the longest one the Swede has taken, driving through Denmark, Germany, France and Spain. But it was all in the name of golf.
"I did that with my best friend so we could practice golf in the winter," she says, from her home in Florida. "We had a lot of luggage and we needed a car, so we said, 'Why don't we just drive?' The weather is like it is here in Florida."
First car bought
Sorenstam went to sunny Spain and worked on her game for a month. After that, she enrolled in the University of Arizona, where she became the first freshman and foreign player to win the individual NCAA championship. In 1991, Sorenstam bought her first car, a manual 1986 Ford Festiva for $2,000.
"I saved all my money so I could have a car, because I needed to go to the golf course," she says. "It was really tiny. I bought it from the used lot and it served the purpose. For sure."
She's not kidding. Just two years later, when she was invited to play in three LPGA events, finishing top 10 in two of them, Sorenstam earned $47,000. Sorenstam bought a sporty 1993 Toyota Celica in Arizona with her first sponsor check. The salesman must've loved her.
"I remember walking into the dealership and I saw this floor model, it had all the bells and whistles. It was teal," she chuckles. "I bought the floor model. Right there. I didn't know you negotiate. I paid full price. I'm probably the best customer they've ever had. I just paid it and I loved it. That was my big spend."
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