Saturday
Aug222009
It's all even heading to Solheim singles
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 9:59PM
Writing from Sugar Grove, Ill.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The American and European Solheim Cup teams played past sunset on Saturday at Rich Harvest Farms, and decided nothing.
Nearly 12 hours of play saw the European team win the day, and force an 8-all tie heading into Sunday's dozen singles matches.
The day's action finished with drama in the gloaming, when Michelle Wie missed a 15-foot birdie putt to win the evening's final alternate shot match, followed by Europe's Maria Hjorth, missing a 6-footer that would have forced a halve.
Instead, the two conceded pars created a win for the U.S. LPGA players, and a deadlock after the 16 doubles matches.
"My hands were shaking," Wie said of her putt, which just edged the right side of the cup as several hundred fans crowded around the final green, straining to see the hole.
She and Hjorth completed play at 7:50 p.m., four minutes after sunset in Rockford, which is 46 miles to the northwest. It was far darker than it appeared on television, thanks to Golf Channel's high definition cameras and big lenses.
Europe won the morning best-ball play 2 1/2-1 1/2, and split with the Americans in the afternoon. The morning play, which extended into the afternoon thanks to matches that lasted up to 6 hours 3 minutes, made the 11th competition a 6-all deadlock heading to the alternate shot play. Now it's deadlocked going to the final day's singles, the competition the U.S. traditionally has dominated.
Europe has won the singles three times in the previous 10 Solhiems, but only once when they've trailed or were tied entering the final day. That was in 1998, at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The U.S., ahead after two days, still won the match.
"Each of us has to go out and beat our opponent to a pulp tomorrow," Morgan Pressel said. "We all have to think there aren't 12 matches, there are one."
The U.S. can retain the cup by splitting Sunday's play. Europe needs 6 1/2 points to win.
The pairings, with records for the week, and the European player listed first:
10:05 a.m.: Suzann Pettersen (1-3) vs. Paula Creamer (2-1)
10:15 a.m.: Becky Brewerton (2-1) vs. Angela Stanford (0-2-1)
10:25 a.m.: Helen Alfredsson (1-2) vs. Michelle Wie (2-0-1)
10:35 a.m.: Laura Davies (0-1) vs. Brittany Lang (1-0-1)
10:45 a.m.: Gwladys Nocera (3-0) vs. Juli Inkster (1-2)
10:55 a.m.: Catriona Matthew (0-1-2) vs. Kristy McPherson (1-2)
11:05 a.m.: Sophie Gustafson (1-2) vs. Brittany Lincicome (1-2)
11:15 a.m.: Diana Luna (0-0-1) vs. Nicole Castrale (0-2)
11:25 a.m.: Tania Elosegui (1-1) vs. Christina Kim (2-1)
11:35 a.m.: Maria Hjorth (2-1-1) vs. Cristie Kerr (2-1)
11:45 a.m.: Anna Nordqvist (2-1) vs. Morgan Pressel (1-0-1)
11:55 a.m.: Janice Moodie (1-1) vs. Natalie Gulbis (1-1)
Often in team matches, the outcome comes down to the lesser-known players, rather than the stars, and that could be the case again on Sunday. The Luna-Castrale match could be critical. So might Nordqvist-Pressel, a matchup of a cool Swede and a tough Floridian.
Saturday's nearly 12 hours of play was filled with amazing shots, not the least of which was Cristie Kerr's hacky flop shot out of ankle-deep rough behind the 17th green, with a pond on the other side. With misadventures on both sides, it set up a double-bogey putt by Wie, who made it to halve the hole, but that halve was critical.
"That lie was ridiculous," Kerr said. "I thought the only way to get it close was to hit the hole, and I hit the shot better than I thought. It's probably one of the best flop shots I ever hit in my life."
By the time that match was at the 18th, the light was fading fast. It wasn't much better when Kristy McPherson and Morgan Pressel closed out Helen Alfredsson and Suzann Pettersen, 2 up.
"We probably shouldn't have played, but nobody wanted to come back at 6 a.m. to play one hole," McPherson said, forgetting that both teams are staying in a lodge between the first tee and the practice range, and could have snuck out at dawn and finished in their pajamas if they wanted to.
Besides, McPherson drilled her approach to six feet at the last, and Pressel converted the putt for birdie and the win.
"The 18th hole hasn't been kind to us this week, but we won a couple matches there this afternoon," Pressel said.
The afternoon split was preceded by Europe's big push in the morning, which began with Diana Luna's grabbing a half-point for the visitors 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 the 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 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.
"Someone said it was an 8-mile walk," Europe's Becky Brewerton said. "There are a hell of a lot of long walks."
But there were also shuttles between some greens and tees just because it was so long. Six hours for a foursome? That's more like Harborside International, the unofficial Chicago home of the six-hour round.
Sunday's singles will be quicker. Won't they?
– Tim Cronin
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The American and European Solheim Cup teams played past sunset on Saturday at Rich Harvest Farms, and decided nothing.
Nearly 12 hours of play saw the European team win the day, and force an 8-all tie heading into Sunday's dozen singles matches.
The day's action finished with drama in the gloaming, when Michelle Wie missed a 15-foot birdie putt to win the evening's final alternate shot match, followed by Europe's Maria Hjorth, missing a 6-footer that would have forced a halve.
Instead, the two conceded pars created a win for the U.S. LPGA players, and a deadlock after the 16 doubles matches.
"My hands were shaking," Wie said of her putt, which just edged the right side of the cup as several hundred fans crowded around the final green, straining to see the hole.
She and Hjorth completed play at 7:50 p.m., four minutes after sunset in Rockford, which is 46 miles to the northwest. It was far darker than it appeared on television, thanks to Golf Channel's high definition cameras and big lenses.
Europe won the morning best-ball play 2 1/2-1 1/2, and split with the Americans in the afternoon. The morning play, which extended into the afternoon thanks to matches that lasted up to 6 hours 3 minutes, made the 11th competition a 6-all deadlock heading to the alternate shot play. Now it's deadlocked going to the final day's singles, the competition the U.S. traditionally has dominated.
Europe has won the singles three times in the previous 10 Solhiems, but only once when they've trailed or were tied entering the final day. That was in 1998, at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The U.S., ahead after two days, still won the match.
"Each of us has to go out and beat our opponent to a pulp tomorrow," Morgan Pressel said. "We all have to think there aren't 12 matches, there are one."
The U.S. can retain the cup by splitting Sunday's play. Europe needs 6 1/2 points to win.
The pairings, with records for the week, and the European player listed first:
10:05 a.m.: Suzann Pettersen (1-3) vs. Paula Creamer (2-1)
10:15 a.m.: Becky Brewerton (2-1) vs. Angela Stanford (0-2-1)
10:25 a.m.: Helen Alfredsson (1-2) vs. Michelle Wie (2-0-1)
10:35 a.m.: Laura Davies (0-1) vs. Brittany Lang (1-0-1)
10:45 a.m.: Gwladys Nocera (3-0) vs. Juli Inkster (1-2)
10:55 a.m.: Catriona Matthew (0-1-2) vs. Kristy McPherson (1-2)
11:05 a.m.: Sophie Gustafson (1-2) vs. Brittany Lincicome (1-2)
11:15 a.m.: Diana Luna (0-0-1) vs. Nicole Castrale (0-2)
11:25 a.m.: Tania Elosegui (1-1) vs. Christina Kim (2-1)
11:35 a.m.: Maria Hjorth (2-1-1) vs. Cristie Kerr (2-1)
11:45 a.m.: Anna Nordqvist (2-1) vs. Morgan Pressel (1-0-1)
11:55 a.m.: Janice Moodie (1-1) vs. Natalie Gulbis (1-1)
Often in team matches, the outcome comes down to the lesser-known players, rather than the stars, and that could be the case again on Sunday. The Luna-Castrale match could be critical. So might Nordqvist-Pressel, a matchup of a cool Swede and a tough Floridian.
Saturday's nearly 12 hours of play was filled with amazing shots, not the least of which was Cristie Kerr's hacky flop shot out of ankle-deep rough behind the 17th green, with a pond on the other side. With misadventures on both sides, it set up a double-bogey putt by Wie, who made it to halve the hole, but that halve was critical.
"That lie was ridiculous," Kerr said. "I thought the only way to get it close was to hit the hole, and I hit the shot better than I thought. It's probably one of the best flop shots I ever hit in my life."
By the time that match was at the 18th, the light was fading fast. It wasn't much better when Kristy McPherson and Morgan Pressel closed out Helen Alfredsson and Suzann Pettersen, 2 up.
"We probably shouldn't have played, but nobody wanted to come back at 6 a.m. to play one hole," McPherson said, forgetting that both teams are staying in a lodge between the first tee and the practice range, and could have snuck out at dawn and finished in their pajamas if they wanted to.
Besides, McPherson drilled her approach to six feet at the last, and Pressel converted the putt for birdie and the win.
"The 18th hole hasn't been kind to us this week, but we won a couple matches there this afternoon," Pressel said.
The afternoon split was preceded by Europe's big push in the morning, which began with Diana Luna's grabbing a half-point for the visitors 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 the 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 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.
"Someone said it was an 8-mile walk," Europe's Becky Brewerton said. "There are a hell of a lot of long walks."
But there were also shuttles between some greens and tees just because it was so long. Six hours for a foursome? That's more like Harborside International, the unofficial Chicago home of the six-hour round.
Sunday's singles will be quicker. Won't they?
– Tim Cronin
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