Iben Tinning may have officially stepped away from competition after claiming her sixth career title at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters in December, but the 37-year-old Dane won’t rule out making a fifth Solheim Cup appearance.
A leg injury forced Tinning to quit full-time golf last year, but she is playing at the European Nations Cup at La Sella Golf in Spain this week, alongside 24-year-old third year Ladies European Tour professional Malene Jorgensen.
She also plans to play at the Evian Masters in France in July, after her win entitled her to a place in the field.
“I know I’ve retired but I was always going to play this one and because I won, now I’m in the Evian Masters so I want to play that one as well. If my Rolex World Ranking holds up then I’ll play the British Open, but that’s it,” Tinning explained.
The four-time Solheim Cup player currently lies in fourth place on the European standings, just inside the cut-off point for automatic selection for the match at Killeen Castle in September and she said: “If I qualify then I will definitely play; that’s 100 per cent.
“I don’t think I’ve got a chance to be honest with you. It would be fun but the only problem is, why I’m not playing is more the leg; that is the big problem for me. Even when I played in Dubai, I was in so much pain, so I can’t really play a lot of weeks in a row but I can play here and there. That’s what I’m going to do. I can’t go back to a full time pro life, that’s impossible for me.
“It would be fun to play it again and then I think I could definitely raise my game to it, even though I’m not going to play a lot of tournaments, because I think it’s more in the head than having to play a lot. It would be alright though, wouldn’t it?
“It’s the best players in the world that plays The Solheim Cup and as I’m not a full-time player, then I’m not really thinking about it. It would be fun, but we’ll see how it goes.
“I will play now and again until I don’t have my card anymore. I can play a week once in a while but it’s only going to be two or three tournaments.”
Tinning has represented Denmark at the European Nations Cup every year since its inception in 2008, formerly with compatriot Lisa Holm Sorensen.
