Trump to honor retired pro golfers with Medal of Freedom
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2019, file photo, Gary Player jokes with spectators after hitting a tee shot on the first hole during the first round of the Father Son Challenge golf tournament in Orlando, Fla. President Donald Trump is honoring a pair of retired pro golfers with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White House says Annika Sörenstam and Player will receive the honors during a White House ceremony on March 23. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2019, file photo, Annika Sorenstam, of Sweden, waves to spectators after teeing off on the first hole during the first round of the Father Son Challenge golf tournament in Orlando, Fla. President Donald Trump is honoring a pair of retired pro golfers with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White House says Sörenstam and Gary J. Player will receive the honors during a White House ceremony on March 23. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is honoring a pair of retired pro golfers with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor the president can give a civilian.
Annika Sörenstam and Gary Player will receive the medal during a White House ceremony on March 23, the White House announced Friday.
Both are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Player, who is South African, won 24 PGA Tour events and 118 international tournaments.
Sörenstam, who is Swedish, completed her LPGA career with 72 tournament victories and was the dominant female player of her era, earning The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year award three consecutive years beginning in 2003.
Sörenstam is the first LPGA player and the first female athlete who is a naturalized citizen to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, according to the LPGA.
Trump played with Sörenstam and Player last fall at his private club in northern Virginia.
The president gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods last year after Woods won his fifth Masters title.