Annika Sorenstam, the No. 1 player in women's golf and one of the most famous female athletes in the world, has filed for divorce from her husband of eight years, Golfweek magazine reported on Tuesday.
The divorce petition was filed on Feb. 4 in Circuit Court of Orange County, not far from where Sorenstam and David Esch live in the gated community of Lake Nona. The suit has been sealed, and no other details were available.
"They're made an amicable decision to terminate the relationship," Orlando-based attorney Mayanne Downs told the magazine. "They're going to try to keep it personal and private. That's all I'm at liberty to say."
Sorenstam's agent, Mark Steinberg, was traveling in Asia and not immediately available for comment.
Sorenstam had hinted at early retirement in recent years, saying she might want to start a family.
But rumors that the marriage was rocky began last year when Esch, highly visible through his Swedish wife's career, stopped traveling as frequently. Esch began to work in real estate near their summer home in Incline, Nevada.
He was last seen at the Samsung World Championship in Palm Desert, California in October, when Sorenstam shot 67 in the final round to win.
But he was not at the season-ending ADT Championship, when Sorenstam was presented with her seventh LPGA player of the year award. Sorenstam thanked her husband in the acceptance speech, then went on to win her eighth LPGA Tour event of 2004.
Sorenstam also was at Kapalua to play in the pro-am at the US PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes Championships last month. She spent three days on Maui with her sister, Charlotta.
Sorenstam, 34, and Esch, 35, met in 1994 at Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix, where Esch worked for Ping.
They got engaged at the end of 1995, after Sorenstam won the US Women's Open. They married on Jan. 4, 1997.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
Brandon Miller scored 18 points, LaMelo Ball had 17 and the Charlotte Hornets built a 47-point lead in the first half of a 150-95 rout against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. It was the second-biggest win in franchise history for the Hornets and their largest on the road. The Hornets bounced back from a pair of frustrating losses in a big way, having fallen to Toronto by one point and Indiana by two in their last two games. Charlotte pounded the NBA champion Thunder by 27 in Oklahoma City before those defeats, previously the Hornets’ most lopsided victory of the season. Tre
RSS