The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Consistent in Canada – then Cat gets the cream
Breaking the Ice Eve Muirhead
We pretty much got everything we were looking for out of our first trip to Canada of the season. The first target in any tournament we enter is to get through to the knockout stages, which we did in all three.
To win the first event was obviously a huge bonus but, when we reflect on the trip as a whole, a record of 18 games and only three defeats is pretty consistent stuff.
We’ve beaten the Olympic champions, the Swiss champions, the Korean champions and a few really strong Canadian teams.
If we keep putting ourselves in semi-finals and quarter-finals, we’ll win our share of trophies.
The only slight disappointment was I had a shot to win the semi-final of last week’s event. It was just a couple of inches too heavy.
The longer than normal stay out there definitely worked and we’re doing the same thing next time as well.
It will be two regular Tour events then a Grand Slam.
With the biggest one at the end, we’ll try to peak in week three rather than week one next time because we maybe just tailed off a bit last weekend.
To pick up the points we needed to get into the Grand Slam was a big target and, all in all, it’s been a really positive start.
An exciting finale
The Solheim Cup couldn’t have gone any better for women’s golf, Team Europe, Catriona Matthew or Gleneagles.
Nothing beats match play golf when it’s as close and exciting as Sunday’s singles.
The quality of the golf becomes a side issue as long as the contest is close.
Mind you, I’ve been told that there were quite a few people who left early when it looked like the Americans were on their way to victory. How bad will they have felt when they got home!
Just like at the Ryder Cup in 2014, the weather was kind at Gleneagles and there must be a great chance of the competition coming back to Scotland now that the Europeans have continued their 100% winning record in this country.
Japan is perfect venue
You can be absolutely sure that Japan will host a fantastic Rugby World Cup.
It is one of my favourite places to compete in. Everything is perfect
– the facilities, the crowds and the organisation. Every little detail matters.
Even when we weren’t playing a tournament, everything was perfect in our holding camp there before the PyeongChang Olympics.
The competition will be a huge success.
Whether Scotland will be a huge success remains to be seen, mind you!
We have been so inconsistent down the years that it’s very hard to predict how it will go.
I don’t think playing the strongest team in the group first is a bad thing.
If you’re playing a country ranked higher than you (Ireland are No 1 in the world), the potential to bridge the gap for the underdog is bigger when both sides could be rusty.
As always, we can only keep our fingers crossed when we get up early on Sunday morning!
Everything is perfect – the facilities, the crowds and the organisation. Every little detail matters.