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Nordqvist aiming for top five in world rankings before retiring

SINGAPORE — Two years to break into the top five of the women’s world rankings is what Anna Nordqvist is giving herself, before she contemplates calling it a day on her professional golfing career.

SINGAPORE — Two years to break into the top five of the women’s world rankings is what Anna Nordqvist is giving herself, before she contemplates calling it a day on her professional golfing career.

Six years ago, the Swede took the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour by storm, winning her first Major — the 2009 LPGA Championship — in just her fifth tournament as a professional. It earned her a place on the European team for the Solheim Cup. But since that blistering start, Nordqvist has struggled to live up to expectations.

However, a change in mindset has sparked a revival of sorts for the 27-year-old, one of the names headlining the US$1.4 million (S$1.9 million) HSBC Women’s Champions, which tees off at the Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course on Thursday.

She beat then-world No 1 Inbee Park by two shots to win the Honda LPGA Thailand in February last year and snapped a five-year winless streak on the tour. Less than a month later, she won the Kia Classic and surpassed US$4 million in career earnings.

“For many years, I tried to listen to a lot of people. But I have tried to work through it, through mental training and support from family and friends. Golf is what I do, and I play it for myself, and not to please anyone else. I put too much time to try to please others,” said Nordqvist at the TaylorMade adidas golf concept store at Cathay yesterday, where fellow LPGA Tour professional Danielle Kang was also present.

“Because I had such a good and fast start to my career, I have more pressure. All of a sudden, people expect you to be up there. Most of the time, these people do not know the competition out there, and how hard you work.”

Both Nordqvist and Kang will be part of the HSBC Women’s Championships’ star-studded line-up of the world’s top 60 golfers from 2014 such as world No 1 Lydia Ko, Inbee Park, Michelle Wie and defending champion Paula Creamer.

“Hopefully, I want to get to the top five in the next couple of years,” said the 1.83m-tall Nordqvist. “I am in 12th position now (in the world rankings), so I want to take it step by step, and keep improving. I’m 28 this year, so the clock is ticking.” Adelene Wong

The HSBC Women’s Champions will be shown on Singtel TV Ch 114 and StarHub TV Ch 208 on Thursday from 11.30am.

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