President Donald Trump will honor retired professional golfers Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour.
The White House announced Friday that Sorenstam and Player will receive the medal in a ceremony on March 23, joining Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Charlie Sifford, and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to receive the award.
Sorenstam, who was born in Sweden, completed her LPGA career with 72 tournament victories and was the dominant female player of her era.
“I am enormously grateful to the President for this honour and all it represents to me, to my family, to the LPGA and the ANNIKA Foundation,” Sorenstam said in a statement posted on the LPGA website.
“I am proud to be the first LPGA player and female athlete who is a naturalized American citizen to be recognized in this way. It is an overwhelming feeling.”
Player, who is South African, won 24 US PGA Tour events and 118 international tournaments.
