Women’s golf icon Annika Sorenstam has entered to play in the sixth U.S. Senior Women’s Open set for Aug. 1-4 at Fox Chapel Golf Club.
Sorenstam, who has 96 career wins, including 10 major championships, has played in the Pittsburgh area before. She is familiar with nearby Oakmont Country Club, having played in her first U.S. Women’s Open at the historic venue in 1992 as an amateur.
Sorenstam, 53, who won the Senior Open in 2021, does not have to qualify for the 120-player field. The three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion and four other senior winners are fully exempt.
The others are Laura Davies (2018), Helen Alfredsson (2019), Jill McGill (2022) and Trish Johnson (2023).
There are 404 entries for the tournament — 17 from Pennsylvania — with qualifying scheduled to run from June 4 through July 11 at 16 sites across the country. Qualifiers will be 18 holes.
Women who are 50 or older and carry a 7.4 handicap index or lower are eligible to compete.
Other exempt players with U.S. Women’s Open titles include three-time winner Hollis Stacy (1977, 1978, 1984), two-time champions JoAnne Carner (1971, 1976) and Juli Inkster (1999, 2002), and Amy Alcott (1980), Jan Stephenson (1983), Jane Geddes (1986) and Liselotte Neumann (1988).
Sorenstam made history in 2003 when she teed it up with the men at the PGA Tour’s Colonial. That year, she achieved the career grand slam.
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U.S. Senior Women’s Open entrants from Pennsylvania:
Sharon Barley, Ephrata
Karen Bennett, Canonsburg
Sarah Braendel, Malvern
Diane Cardano-Casacio, Flourtown
Lisa Day, Coatesville
Megan Brosky-McGowan, Blue Bell
Stephenie Harris, Furlong
Loraine Jones, Newtown Square
Lisa McGill, Philadelphia
Debbie McKenzie, Mechanicsburg
Linda Nevatt, Warminster
Janice Park, Meadowbrook
Monica Pedano, Wayne
Diane Rama, Harleysville
Karen Siegel, Maple Glen
Carol Semple Thompson, Sewickley
Binney Wietlisbach, Wayne
