On Monday night, LPGA legend Anna Nordqvist found herself stuck in Toronto, sitting on the airport floor, crying. She was battling a brutal travel day from the Women’s Canadian Open in Edmonton and was in a race to Boston for this week’s FM Championship. 

Why was she crying? 

Her team was waiting for her to arrive in time for her retirement dinner, a story that was made public Wednesday when Nordqvist officially announced the news to the rest of the world. After 20 years as a pro, and even while she prepares to captain Europe in next month’s Solheim Cup, this would be her final week competing on the LPGA Tour. 

The sudden news first arrived via a video posted to Nordqvist’s Instagram Wednesday morning, where she reads a letter she wrote to herself, announcing this will be her final week competing inside the ropes. 

“I am not sure what the future has in store for me,” the letter read, “but it is with a grateful heart that I have decided to retire from playing professional golf to focus on my health and family.”

Upon arriving in Boston after a 22-hour travel dilemma, Nordqvist politely asked LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler if she could skip the player meeting, and she was able to host that retirement moment with friends and family after all. 

Now 39, she’s lasted a helluva lot longer than most. Nordqvist won nine times on the LPGA, but her career will be best remembered for her success in majors. She won three times (2009 Women’s PGA, 2017 Evian, 2021 Women’s Open), and nearly bagged a fourth when she lost a playoff at the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open. She also played on nine Solheim Cup teams, tied for the second-most all-time among Europeans.

On Wednesday afternoon, she sat in front of reporters to explain her decision, occasionally getting choked up in the process. She explained how she enjoys journaling, so writing a retirement letter felt fitting. It was when she was pulled into thinking about the totality of it that the tears first formed. 

“When I look back on the career,” she began, “I literally came — I had the opportunity to come to Arizona State University like 20 years ago. They saw something in me. Gave me a full scholarship, and—

“Trying not to cry,” she said, wiping her eyes.

“You know, given the opportunity because I had a dream. I had a lot of people doubting me and said I was never going to make it. But it’s amazing what you can do if you not believe in yourself, but if you chase after something, you put in a lot of hard work.”

She’ll captain in the Solheim Cup in a couple of weeks, as Europe tries to win on home soil.

“It’s probably going to hit me right then,” she said. “Like I’m sure it’s going to feel empty or the high is going to be very high or the low is going to be very low.

“I just really don’t know. For the last 18 months to a year I’ve been working so hard on the Solheim Cup on top of my own playing career. I kind of forget about myself many times.”

What she seems to be looking forward to most is spending time with family, particularly her closest kin in Sweden, who she’s gone months and months — sometimes years — without seeing. For now, they’ll all be tuning in for the beginning of the end of her career, which kicks off with a 12:54 p.m. tee time on Thursday with Lydia Ko and Lauren Coughlin. 

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