Annika has no time to rest, even with baby on way

WILLIAMSBURG

Why would Annika Sorenstam, who has "stepped away" from women's golf to have a baby, appear at Kingsmill on Tuesday to promote a tournament she isn't even playing in?

Two words, Shankapotamus: Why not?

Sorenstam is everywhere these days: Myrtle Beach, Williamsburg, Arizona and Pebble Beach just this week. She's about as retired as Oprah, which is another reason she really doesn't say the "R" word.

So what if she doesn't robotically practice and brilliantly win championships anymore? Sorenstam has traded all that for as many business and golf-ambassador travels as she can cram in before relenting to her nesting instinct sometime in July.

At least that's what her meticulous itinerary says.

"I need to put in the schedule: rest," Sorenstam said with a laugh. "I have friends who tell me I should slow down. I guess I just go with how I feel.... But when you love something, I just go."

Notwithstanding the page on the Kingsmill Web site that claims Sorenstam will in fact defend her title in next month's Michelob Ultra Open - careful there, Kingsmill people - she swears she is done with competitive golf... for now.

That door will stay open, she said Tuesday. But her passion has turned, she said, to owning the world's best golf academy. Building the finest courses. Running the most effective charitable foundation - hers focuses on children's fitness and nutrition.

Also lobbying the International Olympic Committee as best she can, with Jack Nicklaus, to include golf in the Summer Games. Launching the best fragrance line and bottling the best wine.

"I'm lucky in the sense that I have businesses that I really care about and can compete there," she said. "If I didn't have that, I think it would be a different story. I might be a little antsy. I might be a little tough to live with."

In a sense, Sorenstam made life in her own skin easier last May when she smoked the Michelob Ultra Open field with a record score of 19-under par.

About to be married for the second time, Sorenstam, 38, had secretly decided three months before to step away from golf after the 2008 season and start a family with husband Mike McGee.

She chose far in advance when to make her announcement - two days after Kingsmill, at a tournament in the New York City media market. Then she silently hoped to go out with her skills sharp, so that any notion she was done didn't follow her out the door.

Her first-place check for $330,000 bought a lot of self-satisfaction.

"If I'd have shot 77 or something, it could have been interpreted differently; you know, 'She doesn't have it anymore; she can't finish,' " said Sorenstam, who shot a Sunday 66 to win going away. "I didn't want that to happen."

What Annika wants, Annika pretty much gets. This we have learned. Surprises don't become her, nor do they please her. Thus, her anticipation of the day in two weeks when she learns whether she is carrying a boy or a girl.

"I'm a control freak," she said. "I need to know."

And so the plan, given Sorenstam's singular focus, stays diligently on course. No alcohol - "Haven't had a sip since our wedding" in January, "and I've got a wine launch coming up!" No sushi, no bleu cheese, no oysters. Nothing raw.

"I'm 38," Sorenstam said. "I'm not going to take any risks."

See, it really is no longer just about the birdies anymore. It's about the business. It's about the baby. Then, maybe we'll see whether playing professional golf again fits in.

That's Sorenstam's itinerary, and she's sticking to it.

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com