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Just weeks after closing out her career with the match-winning putt in the Solheim Cup, Suzann Pettersen has written an emotional open letter to her infant son, Herman.

The Norwegian stunned the sport when she called time on her decorated career moments after sinking the winning putt in this year’s match at Gleneagles.

“This is it,” she said. “I’m completely done. My professional career, I’m done. I have no plans starting from tomorrow.”

The 38-year-old had played only a handful of competitive rounds since stepping away from the game in November 2017 to have Herman, her first child.

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Now, in a poignant letter posted on the LPGA website, Pettersen has explained how the marketing slogan for this year’s Solheim Cup – “It all leads to this moment” – formed the perfect frame for her to announce her retirement.

“When I saw the ball disappear and the tens of thousands of fans surrounding the green roared, I realized, immediately, that the line I’d seen all week was a perfect summation of my career,” she wrote. “It all led to that moment. My family was all there. You won’t remember it, but I’m sure you will see it in replay for years to come.

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“What you can’t see on video is the relief I felt. I knew in that instant that I would never have to ask myself ‘what if…?’ I would never have to wonder if I could make it back. I had answered all those questions.

“It was a fairytale ending, one I couldn’t have imagined.”

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In the same letter, Pettersen describes Herman as a “precious gift” and revealed how complications in her pregnancy made her “a complete basket case, worrying every moment that something was going wrong”.

She also revealed how she broke down later in the evening following her match-winning heroics at Gleneagles.

Suzann Pettersen

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“I sat in one of those comfy chairs in the dark room of the Gleneagles Hotel listening to you breathe. I looked at my phone and it had blown up with thank-you messages from people around the world. LPGA players, staff, Europeans, Americans – it didn’t matter. Messages were ticking in one after another.

“I had become a lot more emotional as a mom. But this was overwhelming. I wept like I hadn’t in many years. For the first time as a golfer, I was completely, totally satisfied, content and at peace.”

>> CLICK HERE TO READ PETTERSEN’S POST IN FULL


author headshot

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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