Pettersen withdraws from European team
Suzann Pettersen has pulled out of the Solheim Cup. The fiery Norwegian, who became a controversial figure two years ago in Germany, released a statement Wednesday morning that said she had suffered from a recurred slipped disk injury. She’d been receiving treatment since she arrived in Iowa on Monday evening.
Pettersen will be replaced by vice captain Catriona Matthew, whose name was put in the envelope as an alternate by captain Annika Sorenstam. Matthew was out practicing with rookie Georgia Hall and partners Charley Hull and Mel Reid.
“I have made this extremely difficult decision to help the European team and give my team mates the best possible chance of success,” Pettersen said in a post on Instagram. “There was no guarantee that I would be fit to compete on Friday morning and I did not want to play unless I was able to give 100 percent. I truly love the Solheim Cup and I will stay and support my team this week in whatever way I can.”
Matthew, who first competed in the Solheim in 1998, has played in each of the last seven consecutive competitions and carries a 15-10-8 record. The 47year-old holed the winning putt in the 2003 Solheim Cup in Sweden and secured the halfpoint needed to win the Cup outright in Colorado seven years ago, giving Europe its first victory on foreign soil.
Pettersen, 36, was out walking the fairways of Des Moines Golf and Country Club with her teammates Wednesday morning. Seen as a fearless leader among teammates and opponents, the 15-time LPGA winner has been a mainstay of the last eight Solheim teams and
has a 16-11-6 record.
How Pettersen would react in Iowa — and how American fans would treat her — after the controversial concession in Germany two years ago was a major story line this week that will now go unfinished. At the last Solheim Cup, American Alison Lee scooped up her ball after she thought Pettersen and Charley Hull had conceded an 18-inch putt on the 17th hole. The Europeans had not conceded, and Lee and partner Brittany Lincicome lost the hole and the match.