Americans set to turn up the noise for grudge match
AFEW rural counties across from where the movie Field of Dreams was made here in the back end of the American beyond, it’s easy to see this 15th edition of the Solheim Cup in similar terms.
It was certainly a brave decision to bring the biggest event in women’s golf to a long-neglected part of the nation rather than take it to a fashionable metropolitan centre, but it looks like being thrillingly rewarded.
‘If you build it, they will come,’ is the line from the movie that has resonated down the decades. Well, they did build a stadium course here in John Wayne country — and boy, are they coming.
The State Fair — the second biggest in America after Texas, the locals are proud to let you know — is winding down across town and the Solheim is about to crank up. Around 130,000 tickets have been sold in advance and as many as 100,000 more spectators might turn up over the course of the next three days. ‘The biggest sporting event we’ve ever had,’ declares the Des Moines Register, regarding the biggest Solheim Cup any of us have ever seen. No one’s going to need to tell this crowd to pump up the volume.
What a contrast to the first Solheim back in 1990 in the plush confines of Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida, which was more akin to a garden party. One writer wittily referred to it as the ‘Ryder Cup with lipstick,’ but over the years the contest has developed a hard and occasionally nasty edge to the point where at times it has felt more like the Ryder Cup with stilettos.
There have been catfights and arguments that led to tears for souvenirs, culminating in a blazing row in the middle of the 17th fairway in Germany last time. The Americans were rightly incandescent over a shameful act of sportsmanship on the part of Suzann Pettersen, who claimed a pivotal hole over an 18 inch putt that her opponent Alison Lee thought had been conceded.
Full of righteous fury, the visiting side staged a comeback for the ages in the singles and now they’ve reconvened behind the same steely captain in the veteran Juli Inkster. Stricken with a ruptured disc, Pettersen will be on the sidelines this time trying to make sure a visiting side containing four rookies and only three players who have played in more than two Solheim Cups don’t become overwhelmed by the febrile atmosphere.
Europe’s captain is Annika Sorenstam, a candidate for the greatest woman player of all time and certainly the greatest European. There’s an air of Bernhard Langer’s quiet studiousness in the manner in which she goes about her business, and let’s hope her captaincy proves as successful as his did in the 2004 Ryder Cup, when Europe dominated.
It’s crucial Europe get off to a good start today to quieten the crowd and keep the Americans, who have the better players on paper, feeling under pressure. Otherwise there’s a danger the leaderboard on Sunday could turn ugly.
The match gets off to a cracking start today with a foursomes clash between English pair Mel Reid and Charley Hull against battle-hardened Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson.
Carlota Ciganda from Spain and German Caroline Masson will play Danielle Kang and Lizette Salas, followed by a debut for 21-year-old Georgia Hall from Bournemouth, alongside Swede Anna Nordqvist. They will take on Paula Creamer and Austin Ernst.
In the anchor match Scot Catriona Matthew, only drafted in on Wednesday, will partner Karine Icher from France against Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller.
The vast farmlands of Iowa wouldn’t ordinarily fit too many people’s notion of an ideal place to visit. ‘I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to,’ was the opening line of the celebrated writer Bill Bryson’s first book. But it’s great to be in a place that has wrapped the often overlooked world of women’s golf in such a loving embrace. Twenty-four players more accustomed to circulating in a remote outpost of the sporting world have been made to feel like they’re the centre of the universe. Let’s hope for a match that fits the occasion, then, one that’s close and loud, feisty and inspirational. Oh, and girls — with a level of respect that stays the right side this time of what’s generally considered acceptable. SCOT Richie Ramsay was the biggest casualty in the first round of the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play in Germany as he lost 3&2 to England’s Tom Lewis. Defending champion Anthony Wall saw off fellow Englishman Sam Walker with a winning birdie putt from 20 foot on the 18th — while tournament host Lawrie needed 20 holes to edge past Peter Hanson in the 64-man knockout event.
Meanwhile, Scots duo Russell Knox and Martin Laird both shot 66 in the opening round of the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.