Anna Nordqvist paused for a moment before hitting the “post” button. It was Wednesday 8 A.M. ET, and she had her Instagram open on her phone. Eventually, she mustered the courage to hit the button. The post was live. She shut down her phone right away. A Pro-Am was waiting, and she knew the moment the post would go live, her phone would start ringing. Nonstop.

Because the caption of the post, although a simple one-liner, was loaded with emotions and surprise: “It’s with a grateful heart I am retiring from playing professional golf in Boston this week.”

Nordqvist, 39, the Solheim Cup captain of Team Europe for this year, has just announced her retirement. Surely, it was not in the cards. The accompanying clip with the caption was a mix of highlight reels from the greatest and most personal moments of her career alongside a voiceover of Nordqvist reading her farewell letter. She loves journaling. She also loves the game too much to read a farewell letter without choking back tears.

“Twenty years ago I came to the U.S. with two suitcases, a golf bag and a dream of one day competing with the best golfers in the world,” Nordqvist began in the Instagram video, which you can watch here. “I’m very proud of how far I’ve come and grateful for the dream I’ve been able to live ever since.”

And why wouldn’t she be proud? Eskilstuna, Nordqvist’s hometown, is a dreamy medieval city some 100 miles from Stockholm. The city, nestled on the banks of the eponymous river, is known more for its ancient rune inscriptions than world-class golf courses. Nordqvist, a graduate of Rinmangymnasiet in the city, came to Arizona State on a scholarship. Her stay as a Sun Devil was short but glittery.

NGCA Freshman of the Year? Check.

2007 Pac-10 Player of the Year? Check.

2008 NGCA First-Team All-American? Check.

Graduating from Arizona State? Nope. Nordqvist decided to turn pro after the 2008 fall semester and didn’t complete college. It took her only five starts in the LPGA to win a tournament. A major at that.

She won the 2009 McDonald’s LPGA Championship by four shots over Australian Lindsey Wright. But it wasn’t always a smooth ride. She was considering leaving the game, thinking her time was up. That was around 2016.

Nordqvist continued in the video: “It hasn’t always been easy, especially being so far away from my family, but they have supported me every step of the way. I’ve fallen so many times, but I never gave up, and I stood up every time I fell.”

Two more majors came. She won the 2017 Evian Championship and the 2021 AIG Women’s Open. In between all this, for 17 years, the Solheim Cup had remained the heartbeat of Anna Nordqvist’s career.

She was picked for the first time in 2009, her rookie year on tour, and never missed a single one after that. She made nine appearances, had a stunning 17-15-3 record, and had just stepped into a well-deserved captaincy role.

The timing has caught everyone off guard, but it was a long time coming

Just weeks ago, Nordqvist posted a T7 at the Amundi Evian Championship, becoming the first sitting Solheim Cup captain to crack the top 10 of a major in a Solheim Cup year. Notably, before that, she made the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, another first for a captain in her role.

Her 2026 season has still produced impressive results. Off the course, however, the picture has been different. Nordqvist underwent surgery in 2024 to remove benign cysts from her stomach and has spoken about wanting to prioritize her health and her family ever since.

And that seemed to be the deciding factor as Nordqvist told the reporters at the FM Championship.

A retirement dinner. A flight cancellation. And lots of tears.

Nordqvist was rushing through the Toronto airport. She missed the cut at the CPKC Women’s Open and wanted to return home. The flight, however, got canceled. Nordqvist couldn’t hold back her tears. She sat on the airport floor crying. A retirement dinner was waiting back in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The dinner had to be postponed, and Nordqvist would meet her team some 22 hours later. According to Golf.com’s report, she asked LPGA commish Craig Kesseler for permission to skip the player meeting so that she could schedule the retirement dinner that day.

The dinner was planned at a steakhouse near the famous Gillette Stadium. Nordqvist came to the press conference on Wednesday afternoon—after the Pro-Am, after shocking the world with the retirement announcement on Instagram—and again had to wipe the tears.

“This year I finally started feeling like myself again inside the ropes, and I wanted to finish my career at a note when I was enjoying the game, and felt liked I was in a good place on and off the course.”

“I feel like it was always important to me to listen to my heart and do things the way I want to do them. I feel like so many times I fall into traps just listening to what everyone else thinks I should do. That’s also why I kind of kept it [the retirement] quiet. This is really my time. In order for me to be able to do it, like I just want to do it in a way that I want to do it.”

Had Nordqvist played this year’s Solheim Cup, it would have marked her tenth appearance. Instead, she will lead the team at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt near Den Bosch in North Brabant, the Netherlands.

And it’s important to go back to the video and how she ended her statement: “I’m not sure what the future has in store for me, but it’s with a grateful heart, I’ve decided to retire from professional golf to focus on my health and my family. Love, Anna.”

As hard as the decision may have been, tributes have already poured in from fans and her fellow players. Ten-time major winner and fellow Swede Annika Sorenstam praised her “great career,” while Jessica Korda and Austin Kim were among those sending congratulations.

Nordqvist will tee off with Lydia Ko and Lauren Coughlin at 12:54 PM ET.