Solheim Cup Diaries with Stewart Craig - Days 7 & 8
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INSIDE THE ROPES DAY 7 Second Tournament Day - Saturday
Gwladys and Becky celebrate yesterdays foursomes win!!! Well the days start earlier and earlier with a 5.30 a.m. wake up call today and as it turned out Becky was rested this morning because although she is in phenomenal form this demanding course and slow pace of play means everyone needs a rest.
Becky Brewerton and Gwladys Nocera celebrate during Saturday's foursomes match Winning away from home, on the road, is never easy, no matter what the sport and when staid old golf breaks out the flags, slaps on the face paint and ratchets up the rah-rah-rahs, the visiting team have to face down and silence the 13th man or woman if they can. Paul Azinger courted the fans before and during the Ryder Cup at Valhalla and they hooted and hollered with a will, inspired by - and inspiring - some stellar play by the Americans. It was wet and wild at the K Club and the hordes ignored the rain to roar their heroes to victory. At Oakland Hills, Bernhard Langer's men, all playing well, enjoyed long periods of relative silence with the visiting fans, vastly outnumbered, cavorting as loudly as they could. There were no sustained chants of U S A all the way or whatever, no wall of sound and the slightly eerie effect of thousands upon thousands of people watching in stunned disbelief is a rare joy to be treasured and savoured not least because it is so rare. It wasn't until 1987 that the Euros won the Ryder Cup in the United States for the first time at Muirfield Village, following the example of the pioneering Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cuppers who won at Prairie Dunes in1986, the first international team of golfers, amateur or professional, men or women, to win on US soil. The Walker Cuppers added Peachtree to the list and now only the European Solheim Cup team are out in the cold, winless away.
European fans make some noise on the first tee
Europe, defeated handily in fortress Sweden two years ago, were given no chance in America's Midwest and fans decked out in red, white and blue - or in one case some sort of sludgy green as a rather mildewed Statue of Liberty - poured into Rich Harvest Farms, keen to see this ultra exclusive, little played course and cheer their golfing gals to victory. At the first tee they have outchanted and outsung the valiant but reedy Euros, who must make sure they have a few lusty Irish tenors on duty at Killeen Castle in 2011. Subtlety has no place in the chanting business and URUP is no match for U S A. Ole, ole, ole is about the best we can manage but if the chanters number in the dozens rather than the thousands the only way to win that unequal battle is to shut up the opposition altogether.
In that respect Rich Harvest Farms, a course that was not designed with spectators in mind, almost helps the Europeans. It is very long and spread out and there are some far flung holes where only the most intrepid venture, notably the 6th, 8th, 9th and 11th, where the green is so far from the 12th tee that the players are ferried there on buggies. The atmosphere is a little more muted because of that but there is a noisy corner, not quite Amen Corner of Augusta National fame but a gathering place nonetheless, the area where the 12th green, the par three 13th and the 14th are clustered close together and there is a concession stand, a scoreboard and a big screen (with not enough chairs for those who've made the trek and could do with a sit down). It is a magnet for fans and Cristie Kerr, the US No 1, pinpointed it as a bit of a cauldron, where the Europeans might be boiled and beaten.
Diana Luna and Catriona Matthew halved their four-ball match
In the Friday fourballs, Kerr birdied the 12th and 14th to send the fans into a frenzy and she and Paula Creamer won both those holes but it was Suzann Pettersen who birdied the 13th in between and she and Sophie Gustafson emerged from that particular bearpit all square although they did eventually lose the match. In the Saturday fourballs Kerr generated the most eardrum-bursting bedlam when she had an eagle two at the 12th, landing her ball just beyond the pin and spinning it back into the hole (sand wedge 99 yards). To say the crowd went wild would be like describing Ozzie Osbourne's language as a tad intemperate; hopelessly inadequate. Kerr's shot of the day meant she and Nicole Castrale were all square with Pettersen and Anna Nordqvist but in the end it was the Euros who won the match.
And noisy corner was very, very quiet on Saturday afternoon when Sophie Gustafson and Janice Moodie beat the hitherto unbeaten foursomes combo of Creamer and Juli Inkster by 4 and 3. They played in a little vacuum, sent out while the fourballs were still being completed and the atmosphere was at times as restrained as the most polite of garden parties. It won't be like that on Sunday; it will be boiling again as the twelve singles matches roll on through but Alison Nicholas, Europe's Captain, knows that she has players with the strength of character and the skill and the nerve to cope with the red, white and blue hullabaloo. Now it's up to them to go beyond brave but unavailing and finish the job.
So all to play for tomorrow and we can only hope the girls keep producing the same form and bring the cup home from the States. |
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INSIDE THE ROPES DAY 8 The Final Instalment The result was not what we were all hoping for obviously and there was huge disappointment amongst all of the European contingent. However this is how it all unravelled on the day. European Captain Alison Nicholas and Becky Brewerton looking relaxed and ready to go at the start of the final day.
European Captain Alison Nicholas and Becky Brewerton looking relaxed and ready to go at the start of the final day
The European camp had a quiet air of confidence about it on Sunday morning. There was a definite feeling that this was the year that the Solheim Cup would be won on US soil. The draw looked to have worked out perfectly and exactly as expected by Alison ad her Vice Captains. The feeling was that the US team would front load the draw and that is exactly what they did with Creamer, Stanford and Wie out in the first 3 matches. The Europeans had Peterson, Brewerton and Alfredsson out to counteract that move and everything looked good.
In real terms it just came down to putting and in particular on the back 9 the US team holed a greater number of putts than the Europeans. In Becky’s match in particular she came up against the most in form player in either team. Stanford was -7 through 14 holes with Becky at -2 she lost 5 and 4 but not playing badly, in fact against any other US player she would have been either level or up in their game through 14 holes. However that’s the way the cookie crumbles and a number of the other Europeans were up with just a couple of holes to go and only got out with halves.
Suzann Pettersen lost to Paula Creamer 3&2
Becky Brewerton lost to Angela Stanford 5&4 Helen Alfredsson lost to Michelle Wie 1 up Laura Davies halved with Brittany Lang Gwladys Nocera halved with Juli Inkster Catriona Matthew beat Kristy McPherson 3&2 Sophie Gustafson lost to Brittany Lincicome 3&2 Diana Luna beat Nicole Castrale 3&2 Tania Elosegui lost to Christina Kim 2 up Maria Hjorth halved with Cristie Kerr Anna Nordqvist lost to Morgan Pressel 3&2 Janice Moodie halved with Natalie Gulbis Day Three Score: Europe 4, United States 8
Becky hits off the First tee on Sunday The most pleasing aspect of the week from a personal stand point were some of the compliments paid to Becky by both players, officials and commentators from both sides of the Atlantic. The general consensus is that she has probably the best golf swing on tour and I am delighted to have played a part in helping produce that. This girl is nowhere near having peaked yet and she will be one of the best players in woman’s golf.
The week finished with the closing ceremony and a fairly low key party for the Europeans but all in all I feel they acquitted themselves extremely well and certainly won over some new fans with some stunning golf. As for the US team I think they probably lost some fans this week with some of their antics and win at all costs mentality.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my diary and look forward to the next one in 2011. |
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