Three-time major champion Anna Nordqvist to retire after FM Championship

Three-time major champion Anna Nordqvist, 39, has announced she will retire from professional golf after this week's FM Championship near Boston. In a social media post she said this week would be her final one "walking inside the ropes, competing on tour."

Nordqvist has been a playing vice-captain in the previous two Solheim Cups and has appeared in each of the last nine editions of the biennial contest since making her debut in 2009. She helped Europe lift the trophy on five occasions and captured her three major titles at the LPGA Championship in 2009, the Evian Championship in 2017 and the AIG Women's Open in 2021.

In a post on social media, Nordqvist said: "Dear golf, 20 years ago, I came to the US with two suitcases, a golf bag and a dream of one day competing with the best golfers in the world. "I don't know how to say goodbye to something that means so much to me, but this is going to be the last week walking inside the ropes, competing on tour."

Over an 18-year professional career Nordqvist has earned $14.1m (£10.36m), recording nine victories on the LPGA Tour and five on the Ladies European Tour. She is currently ranked 118th in the world, finished in a tie for seventh in July's Evian Championship and was tied for 29th in the most recent Women's Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Nordqvist underwent surgery to remove a benign cyst from her stomach during the summer of 2024, a year after her husband, Kevin McAlpine, died suddenly aged 39 while the couple were going through a divorce. She added: "I'm not sure what the future has in store for me, but it's with a grateful heart I have decided to retire from playing professional golf to focus on my health and my family."

Nordqvist will captain Europe at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands when they take on the United States on 11-13 September in the Solheim Cup, a role she will fulfil after her final playing week at the FM Championship.