MATTHEW ANSWERS SOS AMID SOLHEIM CHAOS

ANNIKA SORENSTAM found herself in an unprecedented situation for a Solheim or Ryder Cup captain yesterday when she was forced to name a replacement for the Europe team in the week of the contest. Catriona Matthew thought she would be Sorenstam’s vice-captain at Des Moines Country Club in Iowa before assuming the skipper’s role when the biennial contest against the Americans moves to Gleneagles in 2019. Now the 47-year-old Scot, Britain’s finest player over the past 15 years, will make a ninth appearance when the contest begins tomorrow in place of Suzann Pettersen, who pulled out with a back injury. Pettersen will swap roles with Matthew to become a vice-captain. ‘Suzann informed me on Saturday she might be struggling and there has been a lot of juggling since then,’ said Sorenstam. Pettersen went for a run on Saturday — before she was due to attend a wedding — and ruptured a disc in her back. ‘I just thought I’d do a bit of exercise before sitting down all day but there was no wedding, I can tell you that,’ she said. Matthew has been a member of three triumphant teams and holed the winning point way back in 2003 in Sweden, when Sorenstam was a player herself. Pettersen found herself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons when the match was played in Germany in 2015, following a piece of poor sportsmanship when she claimed a pivotal hole after opponent Alison Lee had assumed an 18-inch putt had been conceded. The Americans have never quite forgotten or forgiven the Norwegian. Matthew practised with the European team on Tuesday and played the course a couple of months ago on a reconnaissance mission with Sorenstam. ‘I’m gutted for Suzann but it’s obviously a bonus at this stage of my career and I’m looking forward to it,’ said Matthew.