ORLANDO, Florida – Pat Hurst’s job as U.S. Solheim Cup captain just got a little tougher, and she’s happy about it. The Solheim Cup committee has decided to give Hurst one more captain’s pick in the wake of fewer playing opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hurst will now have a total of three captain’s picks.
The number of automatic spots coming from the Solheim Cup points list has been reduced from eight to seven. Two spots will be filled using the Rolex Rankings.
The Solheim committee that makes such decisions includes LPGA commissioner Mike Whan, the chair of the board, the player president and the three previous U.S. Solheim Cup captains.
Hurst told Golfweek that she was hoping to get four picks, taking one from the Rolex and one from the points list, but she’s fine with the committee’s decision.
“I think the more picks I have the harder it is because I disappointment more people,” she said. “Why didn’t you pick me?”
Hurst is on site at the Gainbridge LPGA event at Lake Nona, the first full-field tournament of the season on the LPGA. She hopes to get out to around seven events before the Solheim Cup will be contested Sept. 4-6 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, three weeks ahead of the Ryder Cup and about six hours away from Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
It’s been difficult for Hurst to get to know potential new faces on Team USA given the tour’s COVID-19 restrictions. She can’t go out to dinner with players in the evenings, and they’ve yet to have any meetings beyond Zoom calls.
They are, however, moving forward with planning several things for later in the year. Around 15 to 20 players will meet immediately after the U.S. Women’s Open in San Francisco for informational meetings. They’ll go over their DiSC profile assessments, the personality tests that Juli Inkster used for the pod system she implemented in 2015.
Later in the year they’ll have a retreat, possibly at Lake Oconee in Georgia, where they’ll bond over outside activities that don’t involve golf clubs.
Hurst previously named Michelle Wie and Angela Stanford as her two assistant captains. She’ll choose one more in the coming months. Stanford, a winner last December in her native Texas, could possibly become a playing assistant. Hurst would welcome that development too.
“I want the best frickin’ team that I can get,” she said.