By Doug Ferguson

updated 8:03 p.m. ET May 13, 2008

Annika Sorenstam has always pursued perfection.

That’s what first attracted her to a concept called “Vision 54” as an 18-year-old in Sweden, the idea that she could make birdie on every hole in a round of golf. She has yet to get there, having to settle for being the only player in LPGA Tour history to shoot a 59.

But she never stopped trying.

Sorenstam announced Tuesday she would retire at the end of the season, leaving her until Dec. 13 in Dubai to make the perfect exit. And while she did not offer the perfect script, how can it get any better than this?

• She wins the McDonald’s LPGA Championship for the fourth time, tying the record held by Mickey Wright.
• She wins her fourth U.S. Women’s Open, again tying Wright’s mark.
• In a duel that stretches over the next six months, she beats Lorena Ochoa in the final round of the ADT Championship to capture her ninth Player of the Year award, her seventh Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average and she wins the money title for the ninth time.
• In her final event, the Dubai Ladies Masters, she shoots 54.

That would leave her short of Kathy Whitworth’s record 88 career victories and Patty Berg’s record 15 majors, but Sorenstam was never motivated by that kind of history. Otherwise, she would have kept playing.

The reason for her retirement is what made her so great in the first place. She devoted everything to hitting the ball where she was aiming, to the fairway and to the green, and she nailed it more times than not.

In 15 years, she compiled 72 victories, a number that figures to keep growing based on her seven-shot victory Sunday. Along with her 10 majors, she is one of six women to complete the career Grand Slam, picking up the last leg at the 2003 Women’s British Open by holding off Se Ri Pak, one of a half-dozen of her rivals over the years.

And she transformed herself at the PGA's Colonial, even though she missed the cut.

The shy Swedish girl, who once purposely lost junior events because she was afraid to make a speech, subjected herself to criticism and second-guessing when she accepted a sponsor’s exemption on the PGA Tour. Her greatest shot might have been that 4-wood that split the middle of the 10th fairway on the first day, when she had a putt for birdie on every hole and shot 71.

She turns 38 in October. Why quit now?

“It’s all or nothing with me. You know that,” Sorenstam said in a telephone interview as she headed to Shea Stadium to throw out the first pitch before the Mets faced the Washington Nationals. “I know what it’s like to play good golf. If I can’t play good golf, I don’t want to play. I give 100 percent or I don’t. There’s never been an alternative.”

The announcement was surprising, even if everyone saw it coming.

“This would be very much like Annika to get on top and then quit,” said Judy Rankin, a Hall of Famer, former Solheim Cup captain and now a television analyst.

Five years ago, before she elevated her game to Mt. Shasta heights, Sorenstam hinted at an early retirement. She was 32, coming off a season in which she won 13 times around the world.

“I have a lot of other interests,” she said that day. “I need to be 100 percent ready to come and play. That’s fine for now. But one day, I want to do other things. And I want to do those 100 percent.”

She was interested in cooking at the time, and she spent her offseason working in the kitchen at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla. Now she looks as comfortable in a black business suit as she does in spikes and wraparound shades.

She opened her golf academy last year at the Ginn Resort outside Orlando. She has a clothing line as part of her brand (“Annika”), and she is designing golf courses around the world. She hosts tournaments on the LPGA and European tours, devotes time to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and her own charitable work.

She is engaged to be married in January and wants to start a family.

Juli Inkster awoke in South Korea to learn of Sorenstam’s retirement and was shocked, but only until rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

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“I always knew she didn’t want to raise a family and be a golfer,” said Inkster, who won four majors while raising two daughters. “It’s good for her. She’s got a plan and the tour is going to miss her. But she’s a perfectionist. She doesn’t think she can be a mom and a golfer and a business person and do everything at 100 percent. That’s great she realizes that.”

Her life has not been perfect.

As consistently great as she has been in her career, Sorenstam went five years without winning a major and 10 years without a U.S. Women’s Open, the most prestigious title in her sport. She probably should have won more than 10 majors, which make up 14 percent of her career victories. Contemporaries like Inkster and Karrie Webb are in the 20 percent range, along with Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour.

Her toughest year might have been 2004 when her marriage to David Esch was falling apart. She filed for divorce the following February, yet won the first two majors to entertain thoughts of a Grand Slam.

But for someone whose life has been a pursuit of perfection, Sorenstam rarely felt such peace as she gathered before more media she has seen this side of Colonial and tried to explain she was walking away.

Few golfers can do that at the peak of their powers with so few regrets.

“I’m leaving the game on my terms,” Sorenstam said.

Perfect.

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