Anna Nordqvist announced early Wednesday that this week's FM Championship will be her final tournament. So to post a first-round 2-over 74 just didn't sit right. Sure, retirement was on her mind, but the 2026 Solheim Cup captain and three-time major winner is still a competitor.
So she went out Friday at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts, and competed, filling up her scorecard with seven birdies en route to a 4-under 68. Yes, she did post a double-bogey on the par-5 18th hole but sits at 2 under, two shots inside the projected cut of even par.
"Grant Boone came up to me on the putting green this morning and we had a little bit of a chat. I said, look, I refuse
to finish after two days, so I grinded hard and hit a lot of good shots," she said of her chat with Golf Channel's long-time LPGA announcer. "Obviously unfortunate to finish with the double on the last, but it was such a downhill lie that with my wedge on the last should've probably been less. Having double yesterday I was going to go for the birdie, so it is what it is. But overall I'm really proud."
Nordqvist, 39, won her first major, the 2009 McDonald's LPGA Championship, in her fifth start on the LPGA after a decorated amateur career that included a short stint at Arizona State. She made her first Solheim Cup team in 2009 and hasn't missed one since, becoming a force on Team Europe for the next 15 years with a 17-15-3 overall record. She even recorded the event's first hole-in-one.
The 6-foot Nordqvist won nine times on the LPGA and earned more than $14 million, putting her 18th on the LPGA career money list. Her 2009 rookie class included Jiyai Shin, Stacy Lewis and Michelle Wie West. At ASU, she found a strong group of supporters, which is why she has made Scottsdale home for so many years. She plans to stay in the desert after she retires, and head home to Sweden in the summer months.
But first, some weekend tee times in Boston. Then it'll be full steam ahead on her Solheim Cup captain duties. In between, Nordqvist will do some catching up with a lot of friends about her retirement announcement.
"I'm glad I did it that way just because it's a Solheim Cup year and it's, every question is about everyone else but me, so I feel like this was something that me and my team could keep between the few of us. I had shared it with a few others and I respect really the fact they didn't share it with the world. Probably a shock to a few," she said Friday. "Probably going to spend the afternoon replying to a lot of messages. I really haven't got to it yet because it's so many thoughtful messages, so I want to make sure I got the time to sit down and reply just as thoughtful back, because it really means the world to me."
Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Soon-to-be retired Anna Nordqvist rallies to make weekend at LPGA's FM Championship
