Anna Nordqvist opened the final round of the LPGA's FM Championship with a birdie. It's conceivably the last she'll ever post on the tour that defined her.
Now 39, Nordqvist shot a 72 in her Sunday round, leaving her at 1 under for the tournament, which she announced earlier this week would be her last.
As she walked off the 18th green, she was greeted by a warm hug from fellow LPGA great Pat Bradley.
"She's obviously been through this and know what it feels like," Nordqvist said. "Obviously, no one else on Tour knows what it feels like to be here. I've always looked up to Pat Bradley, how she carries herself and everything she's done for the game, how she keeps being around and showing up to Solheim Cups as a past captain.
"I feel like I've had
a really good relationship over the years, so seeing her face just really made me smile."
As Beth Ann Nichols chronicled earlier this week, after captaining Europe at the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands in two weeks, Nordqvist will close one chapter and begin another, this one away from the LPGA Tour spotlight. It's a fitting endpoint for one of the most accomplished careers of her generation.
Nordqvist announced herself almost immediately after turning professional, capturing the 2009 LPGA Championship in just her fifth LPGA start following a decorated amateur career that included a brief stint at Arizona State. The tall, reserved Swede quickly became a fixture on Europe's Solheim Cup teams, earning her first selection later that year and never missing another. Over the next 15 years, she compiled a 17-15-3 record, established herself as one of Europe's most dependable competitors and even recorded the first hole-in-one in Solheim Cup history.
Thank you, Anna ❤️
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 30, 2026
Anna Nordqvist wraps up an incredible 18 year career at the @FM_Champ_ 🥹 pic.twitter.com/lozP6PPC0K
But Nordqvist admitted she'd grown weary of travel and knew this would be a good time to get out on her own terms.
"This week's been quite hard. I played so well on Friday; had so much momentum; finished with a double bogey from really nowhere, and maybe feel like killed a little bit of momentum," she said. "Yesterday I just felt so tired and exhausted mentally. Today I felt really good.
"So, yeah, just a lot of emotions. The tears are really close, but it's obviously happy tears, too. I think like just having everyone's support and Karen Stupples or the players and the caddies, was a lot of hugs this morning from guys who have been there throughout my whole journey. It just really means a lot that everyone is supporting me."
Nordqvist was only the second player to win the British Girls' Championship, the British Amateur and the Women's British Open, joining England's Georgia Hall.
For a player who rarely sought the spotlight, Nordqvist built a career defined by consistency, resilience and a knack for delivering on golf's biggest stages. And truthfully, playing this long was never a part of her plan, but it ended up being exactly what she needed.
"Honestly, I never really thought I would still be playing at 39. I thought I would probably have been married and have kids by now, but my journey never really quite worked out that way," she said. "Family has always been my number one priority and it always came before golf, so it was always something that I worked really hard to try to accomplish on the side. But, yeah, things didn't quite work out the way maybe I thought, but my career kind of got a second chance.
"I feel like my life off the course is probably better, like it's better than it's ever been and I'm very happy and I have a very supportive boyfriend.
"So, yeah, I couldn't be more grateful. I hope there is going to be a day when I get to be blessed to have my own family, too. That's obviously part of why I'm stepping away now. Might not be an easy journey to get there, but I'm going to at least give myself a chance."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Anna Nordqvist ends her storied LPGA career at 39
