Scotland in line to host the Solheim Cup after Tour submit bid for 2019

Scotland, the home of golf, could be the stage for yet another significant event after the bidding process for the 2019 Solheim Cup, the biennial contest between the leading women golfers from Europe and the United States, was launched by the Ladies European Tour last night, writes Nick Rodger.

It is early days, of course, but, with official documents having been sent out to various parties, those trusted with bringing showpiece events to this country will now be mulling over the possibility of attempting to lure the women’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup to these shores.

Dalmahoy was the first Scottish venue to host the Solheim Cup back in 1992 before Loch Lomond played host in 2000. The three-day contest has not been back to Scotland since.

A statement from EventScotland read: “We are grateful to have been sent the Tender Guide for the 2019 Solheim Cup, in which the Ladies European Tour outlines the proposed bidding process for this world class event. We will review this documentation in the coming weeks before making any decision as to whether Scotland will make a formal bid for the 2019 Solheim Cup.” nAmerican Danielle Kang yesterday recorded her second hole in one in the space of nine days and won a second car into the bargain.

She holed out with a seven iron on the 158-yard 17th hole in the second round of the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship, winning the Audi A6 on offer for an ace. The 22-year-old won a Buick LaCrosse last Thursday for making a hole in one at the Blue Bay LPGA event in China, where she holed out with an eight iron from 155 yards, also on the 17th.

Despite her second ace helping her to a respectable round of 68 and halfway total of four under par, Kang finds herself a humbling 14 shots off the lead held by world No.1 Park Inbee.

The Korean recorded nine birdies, an eagle and one bogey to reach her score of 18 under par, three shots ahead of China’s Feng Shanshan, who had nine birdies and two bogeys in a 65. nElliot Saltman was celebrating promotion to the second-tier Challenge Tour last night after he completed a wire-to-wire victory in the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour Championship in Egypt.

The Archerfield professional closed with a two-under 70 for an eight-under 208 and won by a shot from the Englishman Laurie Canter. Saltman had been 13th place on the tour’s rankings and needed a big finish to gatecrash the top five and earn promotion. His cheque for £15,000 helped him barge his way to the top of the final order of merit.

“Deep down I thought I had a chance this week,” said Saltman. “But to actually pull off the win, and in the circumstances, has really proved to myself that I am capable of doing it under pressure.”