Solheim Cup: Team Europe captain Anna Nordqvist discusses struggles balancing playing during qualification campaign
Speaking after her final round at the AIG Women's Open, Anna Nordqvist discussed the tough phone calls she made to her potential Team Europe players and how she has found balancing captaincy with playing; watch the Solheim Cup live from September 11-13 on Sky Sports
Sunday 2 August 2026 21:12, UK
Team Europe captain Anna Nordqvist has admitted juggling playing with Solheim Cup captaincy during the qualification campaign has been tougher than expected.
The Swede ruled herself out of being a playing-captain ahead of the AIG Women's Open, the final qualification event, despite showing encouraging form ahead of the last women's major of the year.
Nordqvist was the best-performing European at the Amundi Evian Championship last month and wanted a strong finish to her own major season, where she battled into the weekend as many of her potential Solheim players missed the cut.
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A top-30 finish was an impressive return for someone having to split their focus, with Nordqvist pleased with how she has handled Solheim Cup duties alongside another strong major showing.
"I think it's hard to put it in words how hard it's been," Nordqvist told Sky Sports. "I felt like as soon as I came off the course, it was just so much stuff about Solheim Cup, which has been hard because I really wanted to go and enjoy this week.
"I think it has been a lot more than I expected. There's been a lot more, I guess, practical stuff to deal with. Maybe looking back, it was going to be a tough task to do both, but I'm very proud of myself for how I've done it."
The 39-year-old spent 90 minutes calling prospective European wildcard hopes on Friday evening ahead of failing to find a birdie in a third-round 77 the following day, before rallying to a final-round 68.
"I think I was completely crushed yesterday [third round] out there," Nordqvist admitted. "I made eight phone calls and spoke to some players that are making it and some that didn't, on Friday night, which I knew was going to be hard.
"I guess there's not really good timing to deliver good news or bad news. It comes with the job, but this week's been really hard.
"I felt really off the first day but managed to battle through. I played really well the second day and then yesterday, I didn't really play that bad, but mentally I was just exhausted after everything on Friday.
"I care a lot about others and sometimes I forget about myself. I'm playing good. I'm not going to pick myself, but I feel like my golf is good enough to be up there with the girls. I'm excited to move on from there and focus on the girls that's going to be on the team."
Nordqvist was still unsure on her finalised 12-player line-up after she completed her final round, as she awaited whether Chiara Tamburlini would remain in the second automatic spot via the Ladies European Tour's Solheim Cup rankings.
Esther Henseleit and Lottie Woad both had opportunities on the final day to overtake Tamburlini, which would have put Nanna Koerstz Madsen as an automatic qualifier via the world rankings and freed up another potential captain's pick.
Nordqvist planned to finalise her team on Sunday evening ahead of announcing her picks on Monday afternoon, live from 3pm on Sky Sports News, having tried to limit looking at players' AIG Women's Open progress during the tournament.
"I tried not to worry too much about other scores," Nordqvist explained. "After Friday I had to give some of the girls [calls] that were playing the weekend, but I can't leave it to talk to 12 or 16 players on Sunday - that's not fair.
"Overall, with the picks, if you played well this year, you're probably going to get a pick. But the only way to really control it was by playing yourself in."
Who will win the Solheim Cup? Watch Team Europe try and regain the trophy from Team USA exclusively live on Sky Sports, with all three days live from September 11-13 on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream golf and more with no contract.
