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GOLF-US-TRUMP-SORENSTAM-PLAYER
Trump to honor golfers Sorenstam, Player
WASHINGTON, March 7, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump will honor
retired professional golfers Annika Sorenstam and Gary Player with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.
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 honor 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.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0955 hrs