Saturday
Aug222009
Europeans tie Solheim Cup after Saturday morning snailfest
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 3:31PM
Writing from Sugar Grove, Ill.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The 11th Solheim Cup Match is dead even.
After a morning of incomprehensibly slow play, the Europeans have rallied to tie the match at 6 points each going into Saturday afternoon's alternate shot matches.
The Europeans halved the second best-ball match of the morning and won the last two, climbing back from a one point deficit through 12 of the weekend's 28 matches.
Diana Luna started the comeback for the Europeans, grabbing a half-point with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th. Luna, the only player on either team who didn't play on Friday, and Catriona Matthew teamed to rally from a 2-down deficit against Angela Stanford and Brittany Lang with as many holes to play. Matthew birdied the par-4 17th, then Luna sank the birdie at the last, while Stanford and Lang could only manage pars on each hole.
"Catriona said, 'Knock it in for the glory,' " Luna said. "It's just amazing."
"We were kind of down for most of the day, and just found it the last two holes, really," Matthew said.
The last two morning matches also went to Rich Harvest Farms' final hole, which the Euros may want to take home with them. Anna Nordqvist wants at least 20 feet of it. That was the length of her birdie putt that locked up a 1-up victory for her and Suzann Pettersen over Americans Nicole Castrale and Cristie Kerr.
Maria Hjorth and Gwladys Nocera captured a 1-up outcome over Brittany Lincicome and Kristy McPherson in the final morning four-ball. Hjorth birdied the par-3 16th, dropping her tee shot one foot from the cup for the lead, then all four players parred the last two holes.
The long American win was a whopper. Christina Kim and Michelle Wie took a 5 and 4 victory over Helen Alfredsson and Tania Elosegui in the morning's first match. Wie made five birdies and never had a five on her card in 14 holes.
Slow play in the best ball match was endemic. It took Kim and Co. almost three hours to make the turn, and they were the pacesetters. The final match, with Hjorth, Nocera, Lincicome and McPherson, was played in 6 hours 3 minutes, perhaps a record for sloth in international competition.
A full report and notebook after the afternoon matches. The last alternate shot match starts at 3:55 p.m. Chicago time. Sunset is 7:41 p.m. Can Jerry Rich call the folks at Musco Lighting before then?
– Tim Cronin
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The 11th Solheim Cup Match is dead even.
After a morning of incomprehensibly slow play, the Europeans have rallied to tie the match at 6 points each going into Saturday afternoon's alternate shot matches.
The Europeans halved the second best-ball match of the morning and won the last two, climbing back from a one point deficit through 12 of the weekend's 28 matches.
Diana Luna started the comeback for the Europeans, grabbing a half-point with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th. Luna, the only player on either team who didn't play on Friday, and Catriona Matthew teamed to rally from a 2-down deficit against Angela Stanford and Brittany Lang with as many holes to play. Matthew birdied the par-4 17th, then Luna sank the birdie at the last, while Stanford and Lang could only manage pars on each hole.
"Catriona said, 'Knock it in for the glory,' " Luna said. "It's just amazing."
"We were kind of down for most of the day, and just found it the last two holes, really," Matthew said.
The last two morning matches also went to Rich Harvest Farms' final hole, which the Euros may want to take home with them. Anna Nordqvist wants at least 20 feet of it. That was the length of her birdie putt that locked up a 1-up victory for her and Suzann Pettersen over Americans Nicole Castrale and Cristie Kerr.
Maria Hjorth and Gwladys Nocera captured a 1-up outcome over Brittany Lincicome and Kristy McPherson in the final morning four-ball. Hjorth birdied the par-3 16th, dropping her tee shot one foot from the cup for the lead, then all four players parred the last two holes.
The long American win was a whopper. Christina Kim and Michelle Wie took a 5 and 4 victory over Helen Alfredsson and Tania Elosegui in the morning's first match. Wie made five birdies and never had a five on her card in 14 holes.
Slow play in the best ball match was endemic. It took Kim and Co. almost three hours to make the turn, and they were the pacesetters. The final match, with Hjorth, Nocera, Lincicome and McPherson, was played in 6 hours 3 minutes, perhaps a record for sloth in international competition.
A full report and notebook after the afternoon matches. The last alternate shot match starts at 3:55 p.m. Chicago time. Sunset is 7:41 p.m. Can Jerry Rich call the folks at Musco Lighting before then?
– Tim Cronin
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