On Monday, it was announced that Anna Nordqvist will lead Europe's Solheim Cup team against the USA in the Netherlands in September next year.
And now Nordqvist can finally stop keeping secret what she has known since November.
It must be one of the coolest things you can do. It's been fun to tell my closest circle, but nice that it's official now. Then maybe I can start working a bit and stop going around with a secret, she says to TT.
Nordqvist is not retiring as a player, she is keen to point out. But that the nine-time Solheim Cup player would double up next autumn... No, it's not likely to happen even if Nordqvist were to play dream golf in the future.
Haha. It would take a lot of persuasion from the other eleven players in that case, for me to play. But I still have a lot of motivation left. So we'll see a bit next year, how many tournaments it will be, says the Swede who has been both player and vice-captain in two consecutive Solheim Cups.
"Incredible stress"
At the same time, Anna Nordqvist has had a few dark years on a private level. Some of it is already known, such as that she was on her way to divorce her husband Kevin McAlpine when he died in the autumn of 2023.
When TT got a chat with her on Friday, Nordqvist also told about how she has had problems with high levels of the stress hormone cortisol for several years, which in turn has made it very difficult to handle adrenaline.
I've been under incredible stress for so many years, says the three-time major winner.
It has knocked out my entire system on the golf course, I've been able to feel quite unconscious or completely gone. There are many tournaments that I don't even remember playing, the Solheim Cup in Spain (just before McAlpine's death) is one of them. I remember a few holes here and there, then I was very affected.
Therapy has helped
Nordqvist has both gone to therapy and learned trauma management. Now she has found ways to better live with the stress.
I've learned different methods to handle adrenaline, to be more okay with feeling a bit gone and not really present. And more accept that it is, instead of panicking because of it, she says.
In the midst of all this, Anna Nordqvist has gone through yet another trauma. Last summer, after the major tournament in Évian-les-Bains, she traveled to Stockholm to examine a suspected lump in one breast. Instead, the doctors found a large cyst and a tumor in her stomach.
I was operated on in November, two days into the off-season. Now it went well and it was benign, but I didn't know that until the operation was done.
There was a lot of anxiety before the operation and how it would affect me in different ways. I felt that I had worked so hard to build myself up physically. Then suddenly the rug was pulled out from under me.
"Feeling very well"
Now, three months after the operation, she is doing well – on all levels.
Today, I would say that I'm feeling very well, but it has taken a very long time to get here and it has been a tough journey.
She laughs often and it's clear that Anna Nordqvist really means what she says. When the interview was conducted, she was 72nd and last of all players in last week's LPGA tour event in Thailand, but not even that could spoil her mood.
Even if I shot a 77-round today, I can feel that I'm incredibly grateful to be out there and laughing with the caddie, that I can have a good attitude and know that it doesn't affect me and how I live my life and see myself.
Born: June 10, 1987.
Started playing golf: At Torshälla GK outside Eskilstuna.
Lives: In Arizona, USA.
Current as: Has been appointed as Europe's new Solheim Cup captain, a role that Norwegian Suzann Pettersen has had in the last two matches against the USA.
Solheim Cup merits: Anna Nordqvist has not missed a single Solheim Cup throughout her entire professional career. She has played nine times, more than any other Swedish player.
1998: Pia Nilsson.
2003 and 2005: Catrin Nilsmark.
2007: Helen Alfredsson.
2013: Liselotte Neumann.
2015: Carin Koch.
2017: Annika Sörenstam.
