CLIFTON, N.J. — Annika Sorenstam ignored her notes and spoke from the heart. One of golf's greatest players was leaving the game, and she handled her retirement announcement the way she would a 10-foot birdie putt with a tournament on the line.

With command and composure.

Calling her decision one she'd "been thinking about for a while," Sorenstam said yesterday she will retire after the season. The 37-year-old Swede will end an LPGA Tour career in which she has won 72 tournaments to date and delivered a defining moment when she teed it up against the men on the PGA Tour at the Colonial in 2003.

"I have made a decision to step away from competitive golf after this season," she said at the Sybase Classic. "Obviously this was a very difficult decision for me to make because I love this game so much. But it's the right one."

Her final event will be the Dubai Ladies Masters after the LPGA Tour season ends.

"I'm leaving the game on my terms," she said.

Tiger Woods called Sorenstam "the greatest female golfer of all time" and said it was sad to see her walk away from the game.

"It has been a pleasure watching Annika play for all of these years, but even more of an honor to call her a friend," he said.

Sorenstam brought notes with her but, for the most part, did not refer to them. She drew a parallel to Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who announced his retirement in March.

"One of the things he said was that he loved the competition but not the daily grind," Sorenstam said. "I feel the same way."