Americans rally for Solheim Cup victory

Writing from Sugar Grove, Ill.
Sunday, August 23, 2009

There was a point early Sunday afternoon at Rich Harvest Farms when the European team not only had the lead in the 11th Solheim Cup Match, but appeared ready to score a dominating victory over the hosts from the United States.

Every match was on the course. The Europeans led in five of them and were all square with the Americans in three others. If every match ended as it stood, the visitors would win the Cup by a one-point margin.

Then, as European captain Alison Nicholas put it, "Unfortunately, the momentum changed in about a half-hour and went the Americans' way."

There, the momentum stayed.

Here, the Cup stays. The American rally, a barrage of birdies spurred on by roar after roar from the gallery of about 30,000, brought the U.S. LPGA team a 16-12 victory in the biennial match for the coveted crystal.

The big 3-up lead held by big Laura Davies? It evaporated, Brittany Lang fighting back for a half point against the freewheeling Brit by winning the last two holes.

The 2-up lead France's Gwladys Nocera held over captain's pick Juli Inkster with five holes to play? It vanished, wiped out by three straight birdies from the 49-year-old veteran, who scored a half point and then announced her Solheim Cup farewell.

Lang and Inkster were in the middle of the lineup. The first three Americans out, Paula Creamer, Angela Stanford and Michelle Wie, won their matches – Wie finished the week an undefeated 3-0-1, the 19-year-old crafting the best record of any American – to break the 8-all tie that existed after Saturday's matches, and rev up the Americans in the gallery.

Then the comebacks commenced. The combination of results and racket broke the momentum of the Europeans, and then their hearts.

"It was tough, especially when they were rallying," said England's Janice Moodie, who halved her anchor match with Natalie Gulbis, squandering a 3-up lead on the Floridian with five holes to play. "You hear cheers, and then nothing when you hit a good shot. So you think, 'Silence is golden.' "

There were several thousand European fans on hand, and they could be heard from start to finish. But the Americans outnumbered them by about 8 to 1, not that it mattered in the early going.

"Most of the day, it didn't look like it was gonna happen," U.S. captain Beth Daniel said. "But on the 12th, 13th, 14th holes, they turned this thing around. Juli Inkster's comeback was pretty darn gutsy, and our first three players were huge.

"The halves by Inkster and Lang were huge at that part of the day," Daniel allowed. "If we don't win those two halves, we don't win the Solheim Cup."

They built on the foundation stablished by the first three Americans in the lineup. They, like the others, were greeted on the first tee by an atmosphere that combined an Ohio State-Michigan football game with the F.A. Cup Final, all of it taking place during the first lap of the Indianapolis 500.

Angela Stanford knocked off Wales' Becky Brewerton 5 and 4, putting the first point on the board with Brewerton winning only one hole. Creamer broke a tie with Suzann Pettersen by winning the 10th, 12th and 14th holes.

Wie played a monumental match with Sweden's Helen Alfredsson, building a 3-up lead before seeing Alfredsson square the match with a rally. Wie then won the 15th hole with a birdie and the 16th with a par, hanging on for a 1-up triumph.

"Helen's the best, so tough to beat," Wie said.

Wie authored the shot of the day, and in response to a brilliant one. Alfredsson had hammered her second shot on the par 5 second hole to within four feet of the cup. Wie, with 213 yards left, hit her second to within three feet. The crowd, which applauded Alfredsson's fine shot mildly, went wild for Wie.

"That second shot was the best shot I've ever hit ever," Wie said. "Helen, she stuck it. She was playing great."

Alfredsson missed the eagle putt, after which Wie made hers to go 1-up. A birdie on the par-3 third followed, and another birdie on the par-4 sixth put Wie three holes ahead.

Then Alfredsson rallied, winning the eighth, ninth and 11th holes to square the match. Wie answered with a birdie to win the 15th, and used a par to win the 16th to go dormie 2. Alfredsson won the 17th with a par to keep the match alive, but matching pars at the last brought Wie the victory.

"She's a great, fantastic player," Alfredsson said.

Wie's win was the third point on the board. Then Catriona Matthew posted Europe's first win – and one of only two on the day – by knocking off Kristy McPherson 3 and 2. But the halved match by Lang, Brittany Lincicome's win over Sophie Gustafson and the halved match by Inkster went up in an 11-minute span.

"I kept talking to myself," Inkster said of her mindset when she was 2-down. "It's two holes. If you can't win two holes, you don't belong here."

The holes were won. The U.S. suddenly led 13-10 on the scoreboard, and had a 15 1/2-12 1/2 edge when incomplete matches were considered.

Yogi Berra's axiom aside, it was over before it was over. Morgan Pressel's 3 and 2 victory over Anna Nordqvist, which came about when Nordqvist missed a 10-foot par-saver on the 16th hole, made it official a few minutes after Christina Kim walked to the 17th tee dormie 2, assuring the U.S. of another half-point. She ended up beating Spain's Tania Elosegui 2 up.

The news of the American victory – the third straight for the Yanks – spread around the course quickly. Kim was actually one of the last two know. She figured it out when she saw Wie waving a big American flag by the 18th green.

"It's the most unbelievable thing in the world," Kim said, choking back tears.

"I knew we had the half-point from Christina going dormie," Pressel said. "It was awesome."

In short order came the group hug on the 18th green, and the closing ceremony, where each member of the American team held the crystal high. After that, the celebration was expected to continue in the lodge adjacent to the practice range. This time, Daniel, who admitted to waking at 4:11 a.m. the last few mornings, might still be up at that hour, and have plenty of company.

"We'll be good until tomorrow morning," Pressel said. "We'll be tired tomorrow."

– Tim Cronin

Last hurrah for Inkster, perhaps Davies also

Writing from Sugar Grove, Ill.
Sunday, August 23, 2009

Juli Inkster exits the Solheim Cup stage a winner.

Inkster staged a dramatic rally to grab a half point after she was 2 down with five holes to play against Gwladys Nocrea of France. Then she said her eighth Solheim appearance would be her last.

"It is," Inkster said. "I'm not doing a Brett Favre. I want to come out and watch. I've had a great ride and I've had a lot of fun, but it's time for these young girls to come out here and kick booty."

Inkster, 49, is an obvious choice to captain a future American team. To that, she quipped, "I'd love to pick out the clothing and ribbons."

Fittingly, Inkster, with a 2-2 record this week and a 16-10-5 career mark, lowered the American flag in the closing ceremony.

The last for Davies?

Conversely, Laura Davies, the British star who has played in every Solheim Cup, may have made her final appearance in the big show. If that's the case, she leaves the biggest stage in women's golf on a sad note, having lost her only team match on Thursday, and ending up with a halved match against Brittany Lang on Sunday after blowing a 2-up lead with as many holes remaining.

Davies was 3-up lead through 10 holes, that commanding lead the centerpiece of Europe's rousing start. But Lang stormed back with a par to Davies' bogey on the 17th and took the 18th with a birdie, after Davies' second shot hit a tree and crashed into a creek well short of the green.

"It was a really stupid tee shot," Davies said of the 17th. "I should have put the club back in my bag, but I was anxious to get on with it. And my second on the 18th hit the top of the trees and dropped straight down into a water hazard. It was horrific luck.

"Does a halve feel like a loss? One hundred percent."

Davies, 21-17-5 in Solheim play, has said in the past she had no interest in being a Solheim Cup captain, and reiterated that on Sunday, pointing to captain Alison Nicholas.

"No," Davies said. "Poor Al's been put through a hedge backwards this week. It looks like hard work, and I've always shied away from hard work."

Davies has been known to place a bet or two, and said when asked if she'd bet on a future captaincy, "Any money you like, I'll never be the captain."

No rudder for the captain

Unlike the Ryder Cup, where the host captain has a huge say in the course setup, Beth Daniel had no official say in how the LPGA set up Rich Harvest Farms. It seems she had no unofficial say, either.

"Nothing," Daniel said before the Solheim Cup was complete. "I'm making my statement, and I have made it to the LPGA, that I think the home captain should, but I don't. I have no say in the setup.

"I would set it up, probably, a little bit differently. There are some holes that are too long."

The course was set up as a par 73 playing to a maximum length of 6,673 yards, and it seemed to play every bit of that. The rough began the week at three inches, long for any women's major, including the U.S. Open, and didn't get any shorter.

"The plan by the LPGA was to have the course play hard and fast," said Daniel, a Rich Harvest Farms member. "We've had non-prevailing winds, it's wet, it's damp, it's cold, the ball's not flying as far. It's playing every bit of the almost 6,700 yards. It's a long, difficult golf course. I think we've seen some exceptional golf."

Around Rich Harvest

The gallery of 30,000 brought the three-day total to 83,000, and the weeklong total of 120,000, a Solheim Cup record. … The 2011 Solheim Cup is slated for Killeen Castle, Ireland, on a course designed by Jack Nicklaus. … Michelle Wie played her match in 4-under-par 69 to Helen Alfredsson's 3-under 70. … Wie and fellow captain's pick Juli Inkster accounted for five points of the 16 scored by the U.S.

– Tim Cronin

It's all even heading to Solheim singles

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

Next up, a Continental Cup?

Writing from Sugar Grove, Ill.
Saturday, August 22, 2009

Jerry Rich, owner of Rich Harvest Farms and the man who cajoled, prodded and finally convinced the LPGA to bring the 11th Solheim Cup Match to his backyard golf course, let the word go forth Saturday morning that he's open to another competition playing through.

It's called the Continental Cup, Rich said, explaining that it would be a three-team competition involving teams from the Americas, Europe and Africa, and Asia and Australia.

It's something that LPGA staffers haven't even heard of. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, at least in the mind of Rich and executives from the LPGA, the hierarchy of which has been in turmoil in recent months. With the Solheim played in odd-numbered years, the Continental Cup would logically take place in even-numbered years.

Rich, speaking on WSCR-AM, was enthused about the concept. He didn't say as much, but, with galleries at Rich Harvest exceeding expectations, he's probably interested in hosting the inaugural tournament.

The concept, which some think should be applied to the Solheim Cup itself, would bring in many women's golf stars, including Mexico's Lorena Ocoha and the posse of South Koreans who have come to dominate the LPGA money list in recent years.

Missing in action

Laura Davies wasn't in the lineup for either session on Saturday, a first for the most experienced European player on hand. And she wasn't all that happy about it.

"You want to be involved in the action," she told Golf Channel.

She may have told Europe captain Alison Nicholas as well.

"Laura's a competitor," Nicholas said. "She wants to play. She didn't play in the afternoon because all the other players were just playing so well.

"It's not easy to leave anyone out. I've been in that position myself. But it's a team game."

How far is it?

The 10th hole is close to a mile from the 18th green, and seems even farther away, given the circuitous route of the course. At least one of the players has noticed.

"The 10th and 11th, they're out in the sticks," said Becky Brewerton, the Welsh representative. Who know they spoke that way across the pond?

Around Rich Harvest

A new traffic pattern improved bringing in the massive galleries on Saturday. A VIP parking lot was converted to general parking, an additional entrance was created for the main lot, and alternate routes were used, bringing Friday's maximum delay of two hours down to next to nothing, even though at least 30,000 people were on hand again. … Galleries proper have been announced as 25,000 on Friday, 27,000 on Saturday, and 90,000 including the practice days. That doesn't include support personnel. … Gates open at 8 a.m. Sunday, an hour earlier than originally scheduled.

– Tim Cronin

Europeans tie Solheim Cup after Saturday morning snailfest

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