Annika Sorenstam won 72 LPGA events during her career—ranking her third all time— and was selected as a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.  At the 2003 Colonial, held in Ft Worth, Texas, Annika Sorenstam became the first woman in six decades to play in a PGA Tour event, the first since Babe Didrikson Zaharias played in the Tucson Open in 1945. At that event, Annika signed this flag for the consignor—a lifelong member of the press who was there, covering the tournament. What a great memento of that historic event!

Below is an excerpt from a Golf Channel article that looked back on Annika's accomplishment 10 years later:

"Colonial was Sorenstam’s Mount Everest. In that respect, even as a missed cut, it was a conquest, but not in the way you might think. It was never Sorenstam’s ambition to conquer the men’s game. This was all about conquering fear, pressure, doubt and all the other obstacles that stood in the way of taking her game to greater heights. It wasn’t about making the cut. It wasn’t about making history. It wasn’t about showing the men anything.

"Sorenstam says it was about climbing beyond what she dreamed possible.

“ 'It was a time of my life where I was No. 1 for a while, and I was looking for ways to get better because I knew inside I could get better,' Sorenstam said. 'I wanted a little extra spark to get me there.'  So, at 32, Sorenstam accepted a sponsor exemption to play the event at Colonial Country Club, the course known as Hogan’s Alley. The decision didn’t come without risk. She would, after all, become the first woman in six decades to tee it up in a PGA Tour event, the first since Babe Didrikson Zaharias played in the Tucson Open in 1945. Predictably, a small furor followed Sorenstam’s decision to play. There was backlash over the idea that a woman was competing against men...."

<https://www.golfchannel.com/news/ten-years-later-remembering-annika-sorenstam-playing-pga-tour-colonial>