In last week’s Thrash Talk, I talked a little bit about the Ryder Cup. This week, however, I’m going to discuss the Ryder Cup’s female counterpart, the Solheim Cup. The event was this past weekend as most golf fans know, and it was honestly the first one I have ever been interested in. I have been trying to make an effort to get more involved in watching women’s golf, and the Solheim Cup definitely gave me many more reasons to become a bigger fan.
I’m an American through and through, so it’s no secret for which team I was cheering. The European team is known for dominating the foursome matches on Friday and Saturday in both the Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. They always seem to play better together and enjoy each other more than their American opponents. That was definitely the case at the 2003 Solheim Cup, but it wasn’t the way it happened this time around.
The United States team was down by two points going into Saturday’s action. The team stuck together and won five out of the eight matches on the second day of competition. The two sides went into Sunday singles all tied up at eight points apiece. The United States team didn’t waste any time on Sunday, winning the first five matches of the day. By the time Annika Sorenstam secured Europe’s first point in the singles matches on Sunday, the U.S. team was just a point and a half away from regaining the Solheim Cup.
I will always be a bigger fan of the Ryder Cup, but the Solheim Cup won me over this past weekend. I love team competition, and both teams fought it out to the very last match. The United States might have won by three points, but the result could have easily been different if a few shots would have gone the other way. And you can bet the European team will be ready for payback in 2007 in Sweden.
There were a lot of positives that came out of the Solheim Cup, and as always, there were a couple negatives. It’s always tough for fans to second-guess the losing team, but I’m going to take the honor this time and give my thoughts on what could have been done differently for the European team. I’m also going to break down some of the positives from this past weekend at Crooked Stick Golf Club, and there were a lot of them.
Positives from the Solheim Cup
The competition was close, and that’s all I ask for in these team competitions. Even though I’m American, I would rather the United States team win a close one rather than a blowout. I don’t know anyone that wants to see a one-sided competition. The television and fans are better when the event is close. Also, I want to commend the fans of Indiana, as well as the fans who traveled from Europe. They were all very gracious to both teams, and I don’t think the fans caused any players to hit a bad shot all week. The fans definitely wanted the U.S. to win, but they cared for the other side as well.
The positives of an event usually surround the winners, and this event was no exception. The rookies for the U.S. team were awesome! There is no other way to describe their play at the Solheim Cup. How about Paula Creamer? It’s just a matter of time before she becomes the best female golfer in the world.
Creamer guaranteed victory before the Solheim Cup, and she backed it up with her play all week. Her overall record at the Solheim Cup was 3-1-1 and she completely blew away Laura Davies in singles play. Davies was one of Europe’s best players, and Creamer made it look about as lopsided as match play can be, winning nearly every hole they played. Creamer was the most valuable player on the team.
Even though Paula Creamer dominated at the Solheim Cup, don’t forget about Natalie Gulbis and Christina Kim. The two rookies shocked me by playing so great. I expected Gulbis to struggle a little, but she finished with an overall record of 3-1-0 in the competition. She also made a huge putt against Maria Hjorth in her singles match to pretty much wrap up the cup for the Americans. I expect her to win before the LPGA season is over in 2005 and do the same many more times in the future.
Christina Kim was definitely one of the emotional leaders for the United States team. The crowd fed off her energy, and that enabled the Americans to keep the charge going all week. Kim’s overall record in the Solheim Cup was 2-1-1, and she dominated in singles competition. Overall, the three rookies earned over half of the points for the United States throughout the week.
With all the talk about the rookies, the veterans should also get their fair share of credit. Meg Mallon, Rosie Jones, Beth Daniel, and Juli Inkster all took a leadership role with the younger players and helped keep them focused. And the veterans did their talking on the course as well. They all played very well and played a huge role in bringing the Solheim Cup back to the U.S.
Finally, it was awesome to see the United States team get along so well. Tom Lehman should take notes from Nancy Lopez for the 2006 Ryder Cup. Lopez had a plan to keep all the players together as one team and have as much fun as possible. The youngest team member was 19 years old, and the oldest was 48 years old. However, they all meshed very well, and this enabled them to win the event. I would give anything to see a United States team be that cohesive in a Ryder Cup. I definitely didn’t see any Tiger Woods/Phil Mickelson drama this past weekend at the Solheim Cup.
Negatives from the Solheim Cup
I have heard a lot of things in the SandTrap forum about the television coverage being bad for the Solheim Cup. I honestly don’t look at the coverage that much, and I think announcing is overrated. As long as I see some fist pumps and hear the cheers from the home crowd, I can enjoy watching team competition. Whether or not the coverage was bad, I really can’t say. Erik J. Barzeski talked about the coverage a bit more in his article, and I encourage you to read that for a deeper look at the Solheim Cup coverage.
As I mentioned earlier, I really don’t like to do any second-guessing in close events like this. That being said, I’m going to do it anyway. Catrin Nilsmark had her hands full all week because the United States team simply had the better team as far as talent goes. Nilsmark did have a lot of gutsy players, and I think she used them very wisely for the most part. She did make one glaring mistake, however.
Nancy Lopez put Juli Inkster out first for the United States team, followed by Paula Creamer. Nilsmark, on the other hand, started off with Sophie Gustafson. Gustafson is a great player, but she isn’t the type to kick-start the singles competition. I can’t really fault Nilsmark’s choice of Laura Davies in the second match, but Creamer just dominated that match. That was a complete shocker in its own right.
There is no doubt that Carin Koch and Suzann Pettersen should have been a part of the first three or four groups. If Europe would have been leading going into Sunday, I would have understood putting those two players in the middle or near the end. But with the tie going into Sunday, Koch and Pettersen should have been out early, along with Davies and Sorenstam. I think Nilsmark put a lot of pressure on some of the wrong players.
Koch, Pettersen, and Sorenstam are all proven winners, and they really could have sparked the European charge on Sunday. By the time their respective matches had ended, the outcome of the Solheim Cup had pretty much been determined. I’m not saying the outcome would have been any different if Nilsmark would have gone the way I just described, but I think the European team would have had much more of a spark for the entire day of singles matches.
The Final Say
The 2005 Solheim Cup was the first I’ve really been interested in, but it definitely won’t be the last. I usually devote my Saturdays and Sundays to football this time of year, but I just kept turning it to The Golf Channel to watch the Solheim Cup. I couldn’t believe it myself. The competition was close, and both teams battled it out until the very last shot was conceded by Suzann Pettersen. That’s all I ask for as a fan.
The best women’s golfer in the world, Annika Sorenstam, won four matches in the Solheim Cup. Her great effort wasn’t enough, however, as Creamer, Gulbis, and Kim carried their team to victory when all was said and done. It might have been the last time golfers Rosie Jones, Juli Inskter, and Beth Daniel will tee it up in the Solheim Cup, and if so, they left us with some great memories and a win for their country.
That’s all I have to say about the Solheim Cup. Now it’s your turn to sound off. What was your favorite moment during the 2005 Solheim Cup? What was the worst part about the event? Finally, could Catrin Nilsmark have done anything different to get different results? If you have anything to add, feel free to comment below or discuss it in our forum. Thanks for reading Thrash Talk this week and play as much golf as possible this week!
Photo Credit: © Getty Images, BBC Sport.
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