Sorenstam: Definition of grace under pressure

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What defines a legend?

Loving what you do and doing it better than 99.99 percent of the world.

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Annika Sorenstam won her 72nd title Sunday and then announced two days later that this will be her final year as she looks on to the next stage in her life.

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Pushing your limits. Always.

Stepping out of your own comfortable world to touch another. To make it your own or help it grow.

Living life to the fullest -- and on your terms.

Defining grace under pressure.

And when you're ready, saying goodbye and taking your life in a new direction.

Annika Sorenstam did just that Tuesday afternoon. She sat in front of the glare of camera lights, smiled and and told us she was leaving. Not tomorrow. Not next week. The end of the year, she said.

After all, she still has a little work to do. And we're not talking David Letterman's Top 10 list.

The woman who redefined the LPGA game, the 37-year-old who brought a softer side to the PGA TOUR's competitive grind five years ago, has a surprise start on one heck of a goodbye season, and you can bet she'll play it out.

She won't catch Kathy Whitworth or Mickey Wright on the all-time win list, but she's turned back the clock and could wind up going down the stretch with Lorena Ochoa at a few more majors. She's already won three times and contended at the season's first major -- the Kraft Nabisco Championship -- despite having to get intravenous fluids and antibiotics the night before the final round.

"She has the chance to have a most spectacular season,'' said fellow Hall of Famer Judy Rankin, "and leave on her own terms.''

There were no tears Tuesday afternoon. No moments like she had at the then-Bank of America Colonial in 2003. Back then, she was the girl testing herself against the boys; a woman who proved her points and teed it up with the big boys. She shot 71-74 -- 145 and missed the cut by four shots. But that wasn't the point.

She proved something to her and to the world. She didn't do it to make a gender statement, although it created a gender-driven debate and brought a satellite-truck city to the banks of the Trinity River.

She did it for herself -- to find out how she stacked up against the TOUR. And by the time she made a tearful exit, she had wrapped the golf world around her little finger.

"I'm glad it did it, but this was way over my head,'' she said as she brushed back the tears in 2003. "I wasn't as tough as I thought I was.''

Yet she was.

All Annika did was lift the LPGA on her shoulders. She carried it with her guts and her drive; with a quiet perseverance and a game beyond compare. She learned from Juli Inkster, Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon and paved the way for Lorena Ochoa , Paula Creamer and Suzann Pettersen.

And, she finally took a deep breath and let us in. She laughed and smiled on the kind of stage usually reserved for Tiger. She was herself, and she won us over.

"She gave women's golf a presence and an importance when Tiger came along that was much needed,'' said fellow Hall of Famer Judy Rankin. "We needed someone on the female side.''

Annika did it by being herself; with that smile we'd see off the course and an icy focus and lack of emotion on it, with a game that was without peer on the LPGA Tour and with a dominance that's Tiger-esque -- 72 LPGA wins; 88 world-wide wins; 10 majors; eight money titles; six Vare Trophies; first woman to pass the $22 million mark.

"I am very, very proud of what I've achieved,'' she said. "Golf has been great to me. I think I've achieved more than I ever thought I could. I have given it all, and it's been fun.''

Now it's time to plan a wedding and raise a family with fiancé Mike McGee, son of former TOUR player Jerry McGee; to give back to the game she loves through her ANNIKA Foundation and as an ambassador for the women's game.

At Colonial, she was still brushing away the tears when she smiled and said, "I've climbed as high as I can. And it's worth every step of it."

These 15 years have flown right by. One minute we were wondering if she could ever smile, let alone rival Karrie Webb or draw us in the way Nancy Lopez did. Now, as she prepares for the rest of her life, we wonder what she has in store for us before she leaves. And what she'll deliver in the next 15.

But we know one thing for sure. She'll give it everything she's got , she'll love it and she'll continue to be the definition of grace under pressure.