Anna Nordqvist returns to defend title

At the end of a 10-week stretch on the road last summer, Anna Nordqvist met Max, the family’s new English Cream Retriever. Fluffy Max got to drink out of the shiny hardware mom brought home from the AIG Women’s British Open at Carnoustie, her third major title.

This week, Nordqvist returned the trophy, which she jokingly called Max’s “water bowl,” on Instagram, at historic Muirfield, where the women will compete for a major title for the first time. There have been 16 British Opens staged at Muirfield, dating back to 1892.

“I’ve been looking forward to this week for a long time,” said Nordqvist. “It’s one of my favorite weeks out of the year. I’ve had a lot of special memories playing the British Open over the years starting in 2007 when I qualified, Monday-qualified as an amateur into St. Andrews.”

This was the championship the Swede grew up wanting most, and after marrying Kevin McAlpine, a Scot from Dundee, winning at nearby Carnoustie made it all the more special. Nordqvist says she’s still pinching herself that her biggest childhood dream came true.

Soon after this year’s British, Nordqvist will have a long-awaited wedding celebration that was postponed for two years due to COVID-19.

Nordqvist, 35, recently returned to Carnoustie to tee it up and played 15 holes.

“It was a two-ball wait on 16,” she said, “and it was already 9:30 at night and we kind of gave up.”

Nordqvist is one of only two players who have won the British Girls’ (2005), British Amateur (2008) and British Open (2021), joining England’s Georgia Hall. Her Amateur victory came at nearby North Berwick, and earlier this week, she was reunited with all three trophies. Both Hall and Nordqvist also earned low-amateur honors at the Open.

A nine-time winner on the LPGA, Nordqvist has won three different majors dating back to her breakthrough title at the 2009 KPMG Women’s PGA as a rookie. She has four top-10 finishes at the British, including last year’s victory.

Last month, Nordqvist won the Big Green Egg Open on the Ladies European Tour.

“I don’t feel like I have any pressure on me this week,” she said. “I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m just trying to enjoy myself.”

Also among the favorites this week is Australia’s Minjee Lee, who hasn’t finished outside the top 11 in her last four appearances at the British Open. She said she loves links-style golf, particularly having grown up in windy Perth.

Earlier this year, Lee won…