Annika Sorenstam, golf legends tee it up in U.S. Senior Women’s Open

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Annika Sorenstam, a 10-time main champion and World Golf Hall-of-Famer, headlines the sphere.

On Tuesday at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor, the temper was mild, not what you’d count on with a United States Golf Association championship proper across the nook.

Players stated the vibe felt extra like a reunion than the buildup to a significant championship.

Of course, they count on that to vary come Thursday morning.

“I also enjoy seeing everyone, seeing everybody and catching up, seeing what’s going on,” Annika Sorenstam, the World Golf Hall-of-Famer, stated Tuesday. “It’s so fun, because you’ve got 120 players here and we’re all just excited to play and compete at a different level than maybe before. But we all try, and we’re out there with our caddies reading the greens and trying to get the yardage books.

“It’s like previous instances, nevertheless it’s not likely previous instances. But it is type of enjoyable to be again and do it.

“This is certainly the biggest tournament that we have all year.

“We’ll check our abilities and go from there.”

Sorenstam, 55, who won 72 times on the LPGA, including 10 majors, is the headliner in the field at this week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open at historic Barton Hills, which is hosting its third USGA championship. The other two were the 1998 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2008 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. Four players in this week’s field have competed in all three USGA championships at Barton Hills, including Michigan State women’s golf coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll.

Players from 44 states and 15 countries make up the field, including five members of the World Golf Hall of Fame: Sorenstam, Amy Alcott, Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb and Hollis Stacy.

The tournament, which debuted in 2018, runs Thursday through Sunday.

“Obviously, there’s in all probability not the depth of what a U.S. Open felt like after I was enjoying the U.S. Women’s Open. But coming to a venue like this, and the USGA does it proper, it does have a U.S. Open really feel to it,” said Webb, 51, a 41-time winner on the LPGA with seven majors, including back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2000-01. She also won the last Oldsmobile Classic in East Lansing in 2000.

“I believe in some respects you return into the previous patterns of what you used to do, which feels acquainted, like getting again on the horse. I suppose in all probability not a lot has modified.”

England’s Becky Morgan, 51, is the defending champion, having won by six shots over runner-up Inkster in 2025. Inkster continues to play and play well at 66, having tied for 12th at the LPGA’s Dow Championship in Midland in June.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Open may not have quite the intensity of the quote-unquote regular majors of yesteryear, but there’s still plenty at stake, including a $180,000 prize for first place. The champion also receives a spot in the field for the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open at Inverness Club in Toledo, and an exemption into the next 10 playings of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.

The men’s U.S. Senior Open first was played in 1980. It took 38 years for the USGA to launch the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. The idea was a hit, especially with Sorenstam, who retired from tournament golf in 2008 but came back to play the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open and has finished top-10 every year since, including top-five three times.

“I believe it has been a motivator for me and for lots of the different girls. I actually do suppose so,” Sorenstam said. “We’ve bought some gamers which are considerably nonetheless aggressive at that age.

“I think it’s a good addition for sure.”

This is the primary USGA championship in Michigan since 2024, when the U.S. Junior Amateur was performed at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township. Oakland Hills is about to host seven extra main championships within the coming many years, together with the U.S. Open (2034, 2051) and U.S. Women’s Open (2031, 2042).

Everything to know in regards to the U.S. Senior Women’s Open

  • When: Thursday, Aug. 20, by way of Sunday, Aug. 23.
  • Where: Barton Hills Country Club (6,237 yards, par 72), Ann Arbor
  • 2025 champion: Becky Morgan
  • 2026 discipline: 120 gamers, together with 5 former U.S. Senior Women’s Open champions (Helen Alfredsson, 2019; Annika Sorenstam, 2021; Trish Johnson, 2023; Leta Lindley, 2024; and Becky Morgan, 2025)
  • Purse: $1 million (winner: $180,000)
  • TV: Saturday-Sunday — Golf Channel (streaming), 4-7 p.m.; Golf Channel (tape delay), 10 a.m.-midnight.
  • Tickets: Starting at $33. Details at usga.org.

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