Ryder Cup hero and LIV Golf broadcaster announces surprise decision to come out of retirement

The lure of a golf course is clearly too strong for some former players.

Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts announced his retirement at the end of 2025, but the 43-year-old is set to make a temporary comeback.

Getty

Colsaerts will grace the fairways during the Soudal Open that takes place from Thursday 21 until Sunday 24 May.

The decision to step away came after a 25-year career that saw him win 10 tournaments, clinch two top-10 finishes at majors and a Europe Ryder Cup victory as vice-captain in 2012.

Colsaerts called it a career after more than 500 starts on the DP World Tour, a key goal of his that played a major factor in when he decided to step away from golf.

The decision to retire came at last year’s FedEx Open De France in October, where he finished T-49 scoring one-under.

“I’m pretty at peace because it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a few years now. It’s not a decision that I took overnight,” Colsaerts said.

“I’ve been looking at this for a couple of years and when I was looking at the numbers and everything, I realised that it was going to be a possibility, which I’m extremely grateful for.

“25 years is a long time. Yes, I’ll be the first one to admit it, I could have done a lot better.

“I could have probably won about 10 or 15 times on Tour. I probably had what was required.

“But, at the same time, you can trust me. I had a lot of fun in the last 25 years as well. So I look back with not as much regret as a lot of people might think.”

He has since gone on to a career in punditry, joining LIV Golf‘s broadcasting team this year.

Getty

Getty

However with a free week in LIV’s schedule, Colsaerts has taken the opportunity to head back to his home country and tee up for the Soudal.

This latest start will mean Colsaerts has competed on the top circuit of European golf for 28 seasons on the bounce, having made his DP World Tour debut in 1998.

His short-term return in Belgium will additionally mark his 505th start on the DP World Tour.

His latest win came in 2019 at Le Golf National. He secured the Amundi Open de France with a score of 12 under par, edging Joachim B. Hansen by one stroke to lift the title. 

Before that, Colsaerts won the Volvo China Open and the Volvo World Match Play Championship in consecutive years between 2011 and 2012.

The Belgian finished T7 at the 2012 US Open, and T10 in the 2013 edition of the tournament, his highest career ranking being 32nd in the world.

Getty

His biggest achievement would come when he was named as the vice-captain for the 2012 European Ryder Cup team.

It was one of the more memorable editions of the tournament, with Europe completing a stunning final day comeback.

At the start of the final day’s play, the U.S. led 10–6 and required 4 1/2 points to win while Europe required eight points to retain the cup and 8 1/2 to win it outright. 

Europe achieved one of the greatest comebacks in Ryder Cup history by winning eight and tying one of the 12 singles matches.