Bernard gallacher
Catriona has played a blinder by getting Dame Laura onside
Iwas thrilled to hear that Dame Laura Davies has accepted the offer to be a vicecaptain at next year’s Solheim Cup at Gleneagles.
It shows the persuasive skills of Catriona Matthew, because Laura has always been so open about saying that captaincy, or that type of role, was not for her.
It’s great news for Europe. It is better to have Laura in the team room and helping the players out on the course than being sat in the TV studio giving her expert opinion for Sky.
Don’t get me wrong, Laura is great on TV. I like her punditry and she was a great balance between Paul Mcginley and Butch Harmon at the Ryder Cup.
Catriona must have been watching and realised that she had to ask Laura to help her. That knowledge and wisdom would have been wasted if the players on the team could not tap into it.
Thankfully, Laura responded positively to the invitation in a matter of seconds.
I have always viewed Laura as a natural leader. The best captains or vice-captains have that bit of inspiration about them.
Tony Jacklin had it, US Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster has it. I think Laura has it, too.
All the players will look up to her, and she is still playing a good schedule on the LPGA and Ladies European Tour, so she will know all the girls.
As Thomas Bjorn showed in Paris, that intimate knowledge of those 12 people is crucial. You can never know them too well.
Laura had never felt she was cut out to be captain. She gave the impression that she didn’t want to be a lackey to anybody. But possibly times have changed. She played in the first 12 Solheim Cup matches, but she hasn’t featured since 2011.
At 55, Laura has finally realised that she will never play in another match, so she is testing out the waters by being a vice-captain.
It would be great if she relished the role and then wanted to take on the main job in the future. She has been Britain’s best-ever female golfer and has carried ladies golf this side of the pond for more than three decades.
Her record shows 87 career wins, including four Majors and a brilliant 45 triumphs on the Ladies European Tour.
She is still playing great golf now. This year, she won two senior Majors, including the US Open by 10 strokes.
Laura has been a brilliant ambassador for her sport and it was fitting when she was made a Dame.
She has expressed her disappointment that the Solheim Cup has never been played in England, and she’s right.
What better way to rectify that than by having Laura as captain and the match staged at The Belfry in 2023.
As for next year’s match at Gleneagles, it promises to be the highlight of the golfing year in Scotland when the teams pitch up in Perthshire in September.
If the crowds turn out in force, it should be a great occasion.
Hopefully that can inspire Catriona and her team to make it a hat-trick of wins on Scottish soil after previous triumphs at Dalmahoy and Loch Lomond. Which player is 20th in the all-time list of career money earners on the PGA Tour?
The surprise answer is Charles Howell III. He ended an 11-year victory drought when he claimed the RSM Classic in South Carolina last Sunday.
Despite that being only his third win on Tour – and first since 2007 – it took Howell’s career earnings to a staggering $37 million.
The remarkable thing is that he has earned so much money, but he has never played in the Ryder Cup and his best Major finish is 10th.
He has been a huge beneficiary of the riches on offer every week on the PGA Tour, but you cannot question his dedication.
The 39-year-old doesn’t miss many cuts, he works hard at his game and comes home with a big pay cheque for his family. He is the classic journeyman pro – but that doesn’t mean he’s not been very successful at it.