You never forget your first Solheim Cup. Suzann Pettersen certainly doesn’t.
“Well, my first one was 2002 in Minnesota and that’s where I dropped the famous F-word on live TV,” said the decorated Norwegian of this bonfire of the profanities.
Pettersen could’ve been forgiven for unleashing an excited expletive of exhilaration. The European rookie had been 5 down with 5 to play against Minnesota native Michele Redman but won every hole on a fraught run-in to plunder a half-point. Even reading that sentence is enough to make you say you know what.
“There’s adrenaline and emotions and excitement,” she said. “That’s why I love the event.”
Pettersen may have turned the air blue but it’s Team Europe who have turned the Solheim Cup blue and gold in recent years.
At the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia next weekend, the visitors will be aiming to keep their clutches on this cherished clump of Waterford crystal for the fourth time in a row, a feat that’s never been achieved in the history of the biennial, transatlantic tussle.
Pettersen, of course, provided a significant catalyst for this period of prosperity. Called up as a contentious wild card under the shrewd captaincy of Catriona Matthew for the 2019 clash at Gleneagles, the two-time major winner proved her doubters wrong in stirring fashion during a duel in the Glen that would go down as a shimmering jewel in golf history.
Four events and three missed cuts had been the sum total of Pettersen’s competitive golf in 18 months prior to the Solheim Cup, having taken time off to have her son, Herman.
But she produced the mother of all performances and held her nerve on the final green of the final match to deliver a breathless, heart-stopping victory that should’ve been accompanied by gas and air. In the delirious aftermath, Pettersen announced her retirement. It was quite the walk-off moment.
That one point win on Scottish soil was followed up by a thrilling 15-13 triumph in Toledo two years later as Matthew, re-instated as skipper, steered Europe to only a second victory on American turf.
Pettersen was a valued vice-captain then. Last year in Spain, she took on the captain’s armband and savoured another memorable moment. It didn’t start too well, mind you.
On the first morning, the U.S. whitewashed the opening session and surged into a 4-0 lead as the visitors hurled a star-spangled spanner into Pettersen’s works. The best laid plans and all that.
With a mountain to climb, Europe just had to crack on and drag themselves out of the foothills. By the end of Day 2, they were back to level-pegging at 8-8.
A barnstorming closing session of singles ensued. It was compelling stuff and the honours were shared 6-6. The final result was 14-14 – the first tied match in the event’s history – and Europe retained the cup amid scenes of rampant exultation.
It was perhaps fitting that Carlota Ciganda, the Spaniard playing on her home turf, earned the decisive point that meant the prize stayed in European hands thanks to a telling late surge in her nip-and-tuck encounter with Nelly Korda.
“I think it was meant to be,” reflected Pettersen. “It came down to Carlota in Spain, in her own hands. I walked with her down 16 and said, ‘is this how you wanted it because it’s all in your hands now?’. And she’s like ‘I’m up for it’.”
Team Europe will be up for the Cup in 2024. The quick turnaround from last year is just a one off. COVID and all its related palavers knocked the team golf schedules doolally so the Solheim Cup will return to even years after these back-to-back meetings to avoid a clash with the Ryder Cup.
We can probably expect another tight affair.
Unlike the Ryder Cup, which hasn’t really had a close run thing since the epic Miracle of Medinah back in 2012, the Solheim Cup has developed into a wonderfully even and unpredictable joust. There was one point in it in 2015, one again in 2019, two in it in 2021 and nothing in it last year.
As tends to be the case, the U.S. has the highest ranked players on the global pecking order, but Europe come in with momentum and experience. The visitors have four members who have played more than three matches. The U.S. has just one.
All this pre-event pondering, probing and pontificating, of course, can fly out the window in the heat of the battle. That battle is ready to commence. Watch out for those ‘F’ bombs.