BIG-TIME CHARLEY
Hull is Solheim veteran aged just 25
CHARLEY HULL insists she’s never been better prepared to help Catriona Matthew’s team make history at the Solheim Cup this weekend.
The English ace is just 25 years old but is still a bit of a veteran of the event as she prepares to make her fifth appearance in it.
And she brings bags of Solheim success to the European team, with her nine wins, three halves and just three defeats since her debut as a 17-year-old wild card pick in 2013.
Then skipper Lotta Neumann’s faith was repaid in spades eight years ago with Hull winning two of her three games as Europe secured their sole away success in the tournament.
Hull believes that her experience in the top women’s team tournament can be crucial to Scot Matthew’s hopes of retaining the trophy she led Europe to at Gleneagles two years ago.
Hull said: “I think I’m wiser, I feel like a lot more confident now.
“Back then, as my first Solheim Cup, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, so I found it was almost easier in a way because I didn’t feel the pressure.
“But now I’m actually looking forward this year to not having as many European fans because I quite like being the underdog coming into the event. I enjoy that, I kind of bounce off that more.”
Matthew, below, was in the thick of the action the last time Europe won on American soil, securing the half-point reuqired to get them over the winning line.
Now she can call on 2013 team-mates Hull, Carlota Ciganda and AIG Women’s Open champion Anna Nordqvist as she looks to lead Europe to a second away win at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
Her team also has four rookies in Sophia Popov, Leona Maguire, Matilda Castren and Nanna Koerstz Madsen. But Mel Reid, a vicecaptain at Gleneagles, believes they strengthen the team, not weaken it. She said: “This is by far the strongest team I think we’ve had. “The rookies have played, won and played fantastic golf on the LPGA against these American girls, so there’s no reason why we can’t bring this cup back our