You would think 11 majors would make you immune from trash talk. Or maybe a Hall of Fame career with 72 LPGA titles. Well, nothing—and by nothing, we mean absolutely nothing—makes you immune from taking in a word or two from your children. Ask Annika Sorenstam. She knows.

Now, you have seen Sorenstam’s son, Will McGee. The 13-year-old is quite the star at the PNC Championship. He is the youngest player in the field, but nobody can match his adrenaline level. “Slow down, Mommy, I don’t want this moment to end,” the teenager said in 2023 while taking the final walk to the 18th hole. In the post-round interview, Sorenstam and her son both had tears (of joy) in their eyes. McGee is emotional. And it turns out, the kid is quite chirpy too.

But at this year’s PNC Championship, the kid tried to trash-talk the wrong person. And got hammered. Annika Sorenstam was putting lights out on the first day of the family event. For those who watched the Swedish International in the early 2000s, it was like turning the clock back. For Will McGee, it was a pleasant surprise. Or shock. “Mom, when have you ever putted like this?” asked the teenager trying to have a go at her mom.

Sorenstam was having none of it. Appearing in the PGA Tour/Sirius XM Radio, husband Mike McGee, recounted the entire episode. Sorenstam quickly fired back, “I putted my best before you were born.” Checkmate, Will. Your mom is not just good with the flat stick, she is brutal with a tongue-in-cheek as well.

Nevertheless, it somehow figures, that—Will has never seen her mother at her best. Sorenstam hung up her clubs in 2008, at just 37. Will was born three years later. Probably, the teenager never searched for ‘putting advice from Annika Sorenstam’ on YouTube. Maybe he will next time. Steve Stricker and John Daly would sure want him to.

How Steve Stricker came to the LPGA icon’s rescue

The Sorenstams were grouped with the Strickers. The 12-time PGA Tour winner overheard the banter between mother and son. He felt obliged to chime in. Notably, Stricker has seen Annika Sorenstam at the JC Penny Classic, the previous avatar of today’s Grant Thornton Invitational. So the 12-time PGA Tour winner told Will, “I remember she putted like that.”

It wasn’t the first time someone told Will of his mother’s genius though. Back in 2023, Will McGee asked John Daly for advice.  “Chip and putt. Just chip and putt. If you can’t chip and putt, then don’t worry about the other stuff. So, it’s all about [that] right? I think your mom is good; she knows what she’s doing. She has done it.”

Nevertheless, McGee likes to have some fun when he is hobnobbing with other Hall of Famers. Last November, Sorenstam was caddying for her son at a Junior Golf Tournament. Will asked for a read on a putt. Annika Sorenstam offered her take, and Will followed. He missed it. The 13-year-old griped, “I knew the read was too high!” Well, the LPGA legend couldn’t help but chuckle and smile at Charles Howell III, who was also there caddying for his son. She might be a Hall of Famer to us. But to Will, she is a mother.