We were walking the back 40 of the Bay Course property, me and Mike McGee.

A gallery of several hundred onlookers at the turn had dwindled to eight as Annika Sorenstam prepared to hit her second shot at the par-5 15th. Standing in the middle of the fairway on this perfectly Maui Sunday afternoon was the greatest woman's golfer of all time.

She promptly striped her second shot and it soared high above the earth, plopping down easily 200 yards later within 8 feet of the cup. Those who saw it, responded accordingly as Sorenstam handed the club to her caddie, a small smile crossing her face.

Earlier at the 13th, the Swede carded her fourth bogey of the round, causing her to drift away on her own, trying to walk and knock her golf ball with her putter into the high grass like a Little League dad hitting grounders to his son.

It wasn't working well. Mostly she hit foul tips out in front of the plate, forcing so much frustration from deep within that she kicked the uncooperative ball through the rough several times, advancing it maybe 3 feet. Picked it up again, took a big swing while striding purposely and foul-tipped it once more.

Moments before this tiny, but telling tale of Sorenstam's farewell tour, Mike, Annika's fiance for another three months, give or take a week or two, had thought about walking with her to the distant 14th tee, but thought better of it. Good move.

Once Sorenstam completed her ritual of trying to hit the golf ball into the middle of next week, she picked up her final failed swing and returned to the dugout without incident. By the time she got to the 15th, her composure was back in place as her caddie traded her hybrid for the putter.

“;Yeah, that's it!”; McGee barked out; not like, “;YOU'RE-THE-MAN!!!”; But just loud and distinctive enough for her to hear it from inside the ropes running alongside the fairway.

  MCGEE HAS been doing this for countless weeks as his wife-to-be's career winds down, not with the big bang fans pulled for all summer and fall, but the whimper great golfers eventually face.

She can still play, McGee explained as he walked to the 15th green, side-by-side with her even from 100 yards off. In her mind, she proved it back at the season-opening event at Turtle Bay, where she won for the 70th time. Two more victories and a couple of runner-ups would follow, but the cheers heard across the distant fairways must carry over in the gym and on the range.

This will to be No. 1 must drive you to practice and work out 8 hours a day. It must lift you when one careless shot at just the wrong moment can turn a great round into a second-place finish. Even when she hoisted the SBS Open trophy eight months ago, she knew 2008 was it.

“;That was a strange moment for me,”; McGee said. “;Knowing she planned to retire, but was still good enough to win.”;

Was it the right decision? Yes, as the missed 8-footer for eagle at the 15th would attest. Left all the way. Never threatened the cup. Nice tap-in birdie. Small wave to the smattering of applause as McGee positioned himself by the ropes, walked alongside his soul mate and gently rubbed her right shoulder as they made their way to the 16th.

THIS IS THE END, you realize, and you can almost hear Jim Morrison's haunting voice in the background. Retirement can be like that for an athlete. You can rage against it all you want. Still, it eventually wins.

But don't weep for this pairing.

In their mind, this is the beginning of Sorenstam's second life where there won't be any such thing as recreational golf or coming out of retirement after the baby is born. This is it. If you weren't at the closing holes Sunday, where Sorenstam ended her final round in Hawaii with a birdie at the last, you missed it.

“;That's why we came,”; all the way from Canada, a Swedish woman said quietly to her husband. “;To see this.”;

The crowds picked up over the final three holes, so much so, at the 18th, outside the scoring tent, you couldn't move through the throng with a Big Bertha driver. People were straining in over the ropes with hats and magazines and golf balls, you name it, waiting to be signed by the greatest.

Sorenstam spoke briefly with the two reporters, who came to record her last words of playing in Hawaii. As always, she was gracious and thoughtful with her responses. Even thanked us for taking the time to walk the back nine with her.

Somewhere in the masses, Mike McGee waited for her as they prepared to go to China. Six more stops and they're done. After that, if you want to see her, you'll find her in Orlando running the Annika Academy and the Annika Foundation and Annika Course Design ...

You get the idea. A comeback is not part of the plan.