{"id":40266,"date":"2025-08-02T10:38:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T10:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/40266\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T10:38:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T10:38:13","slug":"ive-been-through-hell-golf-isnt-so-important-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/40266\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve been through hell \u2014 golf isn\u2019t so important now"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anna Nordqvist does not mind admitting that, after coming through some of the toughest challenges in her life, captaining Team Europe in next year\u2019s Solheim Cup is not only a welcome distraction but a dream come true.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, her world came crashing down when she received news at a tournament in South Korea that her husband, Kevin McAlpine, had died suddenly.<\/p>\n

McAlpine, 39, was an LPGA caddie and son of the former Dundee United goalkeeper Hamish. Nordqvist had revealed on social media the pair were going through a divorce, but the tragic news prompted her to return immediately to the United States.<\/p>\n

\"AIG<\/p>\n

Nordqvist and McAlpine after her Women\u2019s Open triumph at Carnoustie in 2021<\/p>\n

WARREN LITTLE\/GETTY<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get married and plan for a future, and then you see it shatter into a thousand pieces,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve dealt with a lot of emotions and been through hell and beyond. I hope no one ever has to go through what I did.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did everything I could to help him and make things work and it\u2019s hard to pick up the pieces and start from scratch when you\u2019re 36 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

With help from family and friends, Nordqvist has done a lot of soul searching and reflecting on what ultimately makes her happy. \u201cI\u2019d always held back on things I really wanted to do but now I\u2019ve been to Wimbledon, the Ryder Cup and the Open,\u201d she said. \u201cGolf isn\u2019t so important any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 38-year-old Swede and three-times major winner, including the 2021 AIG Women\u2019s Open, is still an active player on the LPGA Tour and says she definitely does not envisage facing a Keegan Bradley scenario<\/a> where she may end up as a playing captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always said pretty loud and clear I\u2019m focused completely on the captaincy,\u201d she said, having finished one under after the second round of the AIG Women\u2019s Open at Royal Porthcawl. \u201cI know the players and I know the caddies and I\u2019m more approachable if I\u2019m not playing. I\u2019ve been playing alongside a lot of the possible team members and I think it gives you a good grasp of what they\u2019re like as people, their personalities and style of play.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when I\u2019m outside the ropes I can treat it more like an office. It\u2019s a fine balance, but we\u2019re a year out and I have a great team to help me. I love all that goes on in the background, like signing bags and designing the outfits. That\u2019s very much a hobby for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nordqvist has named her compatriot Caroline Hedwall and England\u2019s Mel Reid as vice-captains for the event, which takes place at Bernardus Golf Club in the Netherlands in September next year.<\/p>\n

Since going with her family to watch the Solheim Cup in Barseback, Sweden, in 2003, Nordqvist said her goal was to play in one. In a remarkable career, she has appeared in nine consecutive editions, with Europe lifting the trophy five times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a beauty in new beginnings, and I\u2019m so much happier now,\u201d she said, describing captaining Team Europe as bigger than any of her goals growing up. The team is in good hands.<\/p>\n

\"AIG<\/p>\n

Woad is leading the British charge on two under<\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

Elsewhere at Royal Porthcawl, the Japanese players continued to dominate the leaderboard, with Miyu Yamashita taking a three-shot lead into the weekend ahead of Rio Takeda after carding a superb seven-under 65 to move to 11 under.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Lottie Woad and local favourite Darcey Harry head the British challenge at two under. The favourite going in to the tournament, Woad made the perfect start with a flurry of birdies to take her to five under before her round was derailed with a triple-bogey seven at the par-four 16th.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the toughest hole on the course and I just had to forget about it as quickly as possible,\u201d Woad said. \u201cI\u2019m probably a bit too far back now but playing four rounds is never a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Open leaderboard-4 C Tamburlini (Switz), P Anannarukarn (Thai), L Duncan (US)-3 Kim Sei Young (S Kor), M Sagstrom (Swe), Kim A Lim (S Kor), L Fuenfstueck (Ger)-2 A Lee (US), N Hataoka (Japan), N Korda (US), L Woad (Eng), M Khang (US), D Harry (Wales), E Henseleit (Ger), C Alexander (SA), B Matthew (US)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anna Nordqvist does not mind admitting that, after coming through some of the toughest challenges in her life,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-40266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}