Three-time major champion Anna Nordqvist will be buoyed by positive memories when she tees up in the inaugural La Sella Open at La Sella Golf Resort & Spa in Dénia, Alicante, tomorrow.
The world number 33, who is the only non-American to have won major championships in three different decades, lifted back-to-back trophies at La Sella 12 years ago.
The Swede said: “I have good memories from La Sella, in 2010 and 2011, winning the European Nations Cup here with Sophie Gustafson. I love playing in Spain. The Solheim Cup is in Spain in a few weeks. I love Europe and I love playing here before the majors, so this week worked perfectly for my schedule, and I love coming back to the Ladies European Tour and seeing a lot of my friends and experiencing the atmosphere out here.
“I have good memories of the golf course and could remember all the holes bar one. The back nine is a little trickier with the trees and some of the tee shots. It’s a fun venue and there is a lot of room for birdies out there.”
Nordqvist, a five-time winner on the LET, is hungry for a first success in 2023. She finished tied for third in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June, thanks to a hot putter over the weekend, and she has posted two further top 10s so far this season on the LPGA.
“This year has been a little bit up and down and there has been a lot going on for me, but I’ve been trying to do my best,” she continued. “It was really nice to finally see the putter warm up at the KPMG and finish third. The putter has been what has not been cooperating and I’ve been burning a lot of edges. It’s nice to see that I can compete out there and that the game is not far away. I’m looking forward to playing this week and we’ll see how well I can do.”
This week’s La Sella Open marks the start of a busy summer stretch of European tournaments for Nordqvist, including two majors and two co-sanctioned events with the LPGA in between. The Amundi Evian Championship, which she won in 2017, takes place next week, followed by the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open, the AIG Women’s Open, which she won in 2021, and the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics, which is the final qualification tournament for the European Solheim Cup team.
Nordqvist, currently in-line to qualify from the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, hopes to be a playing vice-captain when the biannual competition between Europe and America takes place in two months’ time.
“I’m so honoured to be a vice-captain and I have the intention of playing myself. It’s been very fun to be part of the process and seeing all the work that Suzann (Pettersen) is putting in,” she said.
“There has been a lot of good play in general. Leona has been playing well, Charley has been hitting some form, Celine’s always solid, Linn Grant just won. I’m very excited about how the European team is shaping up.”
All Nordqvist’s friends and family will be coming to support Team Europe and she added: “They had to take ’21 off due to covid and not being able to travel, so I think they’ve saved their voices, and I think the group has grown a lot. I know that it might be one of the last times they see me play in a Solheim Cup, just because I’m getting older and that’s the way it goes. I know there will be a lot of my friends coming, which I’m very excited about. Having my nieces and nephews there, them being there at an age when they understand a bit more and they know what I’m doing and what I’m up to all these weeks when I’m away, I’m excited to see the smile on their faces, watching and cheering along.
“The fans mean everything. We missed the fans, especially the European fans, two years ago. It’s nice to quieten down the crowd in the US, but this one is going to be amazing. We’d love to see as many people come out and support us as possible. I always try to describe the atmosphere for people who haven’t been to a Solheim Cup and you can’t, because it’s just amazing. If you’re going to go to one women’s golf tournament in your life, I would pick the Solheim Cup and I would pick the one in Spain this year.”
If she’s lucky, this week could prove the perfect warm-up for another big week in Spain in September.
Nordqvist will launch her La Sella Open challenge from the 10th tee at 15.29 on Thursday alongside Anne van Dam of the Netherlands and Germany’s Olivia Cowan.
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