The Charge of the Fight Brigade
Congrats to the European squad for their impressive victory over the Americans at the Solheim Cup.
It was looking like the Americans were going to pull off an unlikely victory about a half-hour earlier. Europe and U.S. were tied at 12 1/2 points apiece.
Michelle Wie rolled in a clutch 15-footer on 17, putting some pressure on Suzann Pettersen, who had thrown a dart to roughly four feet (Wie had also made a clutch putt on 15 to go 1-up, but Pettersen responded with a birdie on 16.); rookie extraordinaire Ryann O’Toole was 2-up with two to play over Caroline Hedwall; Angela Stanford had just squared up her match against Azahara Munoz.
The U.S. needed 14 points to retain the Cup, while Europe demanded 14 1/2. The odds were leaning toward the Americans. In an ideal world, O’Toole was supposed to close out Hedwall and either Wie or Stanford would halve their match.
In quickly turned the wrong direction for the Americans and the momentum swung to the Europeans.
I was surprised the Wie/Pettersen match went to the 18th hole. Wie had looked lost with the putter and struggled in the previous matches, but she put up a good fight against the intimidating Pettersen, who has notched two LPGA victories this season. With the match all square on 18, Pettersen hit first, knocking it to eight feet. Wie pushed her approach into the bunker, followed with a decent shot out to roughly three feet.
Confidence, passion and fist-pump
But was there ever a question Pettersen would miss her birdie putt? Not in my mind. As soon as the ball disappeared, the Norwegian dropped her putter and raised her arms in the air and celebrated with vibrant fist-pumps.
Munoz knocked it to three feet on 17.
Now all eyes were on the American rookie, who only had 10 LPGA starts under her belt going into the biennial matches between the U.S. and Europe.
O’Toole went into Sunday singles with an impressive 2-1-0 record (win-halve-loss). She shut down the naysayers and skeptics that understandably questioned captain Rosie Jones’ wild pick. She had played and composed herself like a steely veteran — until the last two holes when she couldn’t close out Hedwall. All credit to the rookie (and Hedwall for not giving up).
O’Toole hit an errant drive on 17, causing her to lose the hole. She found the fairway on 18, but airmailed the green into the gallery. Meanwhile, Hedwall had stiffed her approach to about eight feet. O’Toole seemed to rush her chip and chunked it — just a foot more and it probably would have been perfect. Her second chip had to go in the hole, but she didn’t play the break high enough and it rolled 10 feet past.
Euros finish in flourish
The Europeans charged the green and the celebration commenced.
On the other side, O’Toole was consoled by her teammates. It was perhaps too much pressure for O’Toole, who likely had never experienced the weight of her team and country leaning on her. Ryann should hold her head up high and judging from what we saw this week she’ll play in many more Solheim Cups.
What happened to the Munoz/Stanford match? Stanford conceded the putt to Munoz, giving the Spaniard a 1-up lead with one to play. Golf Channel’s coverage cut out after the Europeans celebrated on 18 with Hedwall’s victory over O’Toole. Apparently Munoz and Stanford still played the final hole, but they conceded each other’s birdie putts and Munoz won 1-up.
Cristie Kerr is taking a lot of heat perhaps overdoing it and playing all previous four matches even though the tendinitis in her wrist had flared up as early as Thursday. Kerr tried to warm up, but it was too painful and she was forced to withdraw, forfeiting the point to Karen Stupples. I don’t think we should blame Kerr for “playing too hard” or Jones for putting Kerr in the line-up in every match despite knowing Kerr was hurting.
Kerr is a fierce competitor and with several key members of the American squad struggling, she wanted to play for her team — they needed her. Yes, I realize they also needed her in the singles, but Kerr’s intentions were good and her wrist/arm was probably nearly broken if she withdrew. Not many are fans of Kerr and she’s well known for her moody disposition, but if you didn’t feel bad for her when you saw bawling, then you’re heartless and/or have no concept of sport or a competitor’s mindset.
Well played by the Europeans and Americans. Hats off, ladies. Oh, and the final tally? Europe 15, USA 13.
(Tophoto via Matt Cooper’s Twitter; AP Photos/Peter Morrison)
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Congrats to the Europe team. They deserved this. Their play in the final holes showed their determination to take the cup. Biggest disappointments:
5) Kerr unable to play
4) O’Toole unable to close the match and win a point
3) Creamer getting beat badly in first match
2) Wie unable to seal the deal and win a point or tie
1) And the number 1 disappointment—Ms. Lincicome with her experience and 2 wins this year losing to Boeljon who was virtually unknown.
2 years from now girls, lets win it back!
Just back from Killeen Castle -what a day!! From meeting the great Nancy Lopez to chatting with Cristie Kerr. Fantastic day’s golf (and the result wasn’t too bad either!!!!!!!)
Given that the deciding point and ultimate match was garnered with a forfeit I’m hard pressed to see how there isn’t some hollowness to this victory?
Steph: I don’t know what the TV coverage in the US showed but Stanford didn’t concede a putt to Munoz on 17. Stanford failed with her birdie attempt and then Munoz holed hers to go one up. They then agreed a half on the 18th green as you described.
US lost because of their big guns failed to deliver:
- Wie ought to have played a wee bit better
- Creamer got creamed
- Bam Bam got bamboozled by an unknown
Steph: Keep up the great work, but I disagree with your assessment of Kerr. Either Kerr should have taken herself out yesterday a.m. or p.m. or both to rest up or Rosie should have taken Kerr out to rest her for the singles. Maybe Rosie should have used Kim with Pressel yesterday afternoon? That being said kudos to Europe for the comeback.
P.S. Biggest surprise in the singles? For me, Creamer gets destroyed by Matthew in the match one.
Yes, a great match, Congratulations to the Euros.
@Jon, I totally agree man. I was thinking the same thing after I read the article. Kim who sat out yesterday afternoon should have been in instead of Kerr if Rosie knew of her tendinitis. Kim can give a team as big a lift as any golfer in the world with her enthusiasm. Definitely a huge mistake by Kerr and Rosie…they blew it. Great job by the Euros!
I’m a big Creamer fan, but as they were teeing off yesterday AM, I got a bad feeling about that match. The wind was way up, and getting worse. Rain started around their 2nd hole, and clearly the first few groups got the worst of the day’s weather. Paula is already a relatively short hitter, her game relies on precise irons to get close. She was hitting 3 woods and hybrids into the par 4′s since the wind crushed her drives to 200 yd range. Matthew is a crafty 41 yr old Scottish wind/links specialist. The announcers commented on how well suited her ball flight was to the windy day. Then add in that she starting bombing putts, (with no makes by PC) and Paula was done. If Paula could have made it to the back 9 down 2 or something maybe, but 4 or 5 down, not likely. Sorry for Paula, she was clearly crushed by it.
With the Kerr thing, what I don’t get is: She played a great round Saturday afternoon – she won 4 of the holes, compared to 1 for Morgan. So even if there was some irritation, it seemed under control. So then to wake up on Sunday 10 hrs later and be unable to play – wow that’s a shocker. So I can see why Kerr would resist and Rosie would concur in sitting her on Saturday.
The other thing that was mentioned was Saturday PM lineups had to be submitted prior to completion of the AM matches, at which point the US was down substantially. That was the reason Kerr and Paula got sent back out – and they did win 2 points in the afternoon.