2019 Solheim Cup

[Argonne69]

> @rule_6 said:

> I don't think they would fair as well in a Team setting.

 

You men the team that won the 2018 International Crown?

 

Match play is basically about making birdies, and grinding out pars in alternate shot. Six of the top ten players in birdie percentage are from Korea, including the top 3. Nelly is ranked 4th. The top 3 players in scoring average are Korean, as are 5 of the top 10. Nelly is the only American in the Top 10 at #9.

 

The Korean players are very close. They make not yuck it up on the course, but they spend a lot of time together.

 

 

[MJ2712]

Let me make some comments as a European who was at the event (it was my 3rd consecutive Solheim actually):

Coming into the event I thought this was going to be a pretty comfortable European win considering the makeup of the teams, with the US having 9 players who never played a cup in Europe and the Euros with so much experience and quite a few players with positive records. And if they had closed out those two matches on Friday afternoon, it probably would have been, but they couldn't so it was a back and forth until the end.

 

The massive crowds were wonderful to see, and they were enthusiastic but fair and respectful to every American player and certainly didn't boo anyone as Danielle said in her rather bizarre press conference.

As a Charley Hull fan, I followed her matches and jumped around between matches on Saturday afternoon. When I saw her and Aza play foursomes in the practice round together on Wednesday, I was very surprised but they played together wonderfully, with Charley stepping up on the back nine on Friday morning, and Aza playing the best I have ever seen her play in the afternoon. I still don't understand how they didn't win that match. And then they put on some show on Saturday morning. I think they hit every fairway and green in gale force winds. A demolition job.

And the drama on Sunday was something special, with pretty much every match coming down to at least the 17th hole. I knew Bronte and Suzanne would come through but I was a bit skeptical about Anna last after her first two matches. And Suzann doing her thing on the 18th with thousands anxiously watching and then pure elation is something I will never forget.

 

I was really impressed by most of the American rookies, especially Brittany and Megan (despite her poor end result but she twice ran into Hull/Munoz and then again into Hull on Sunday, which was probably the best singles match nobody saw that watched it on TV. No bogey between them until the 12th hole but going for the green on 18 was probably the only mistake Hull made with the flag where it was.

I had a feeling Lexi would struggle without Kerr, but Lizette playing as poorly as she did was a big surprise, as was Morgan being a non factor on Sunday.

 

All in all, a fantastic week and a badly needed win for our team. You really don't want a competition where one team always wins. It should be a back and forth, and I am very interested in how the teams look 2 years from now. How many of the rookies from this year will we see again? Who will captain on the US side?

Suzann will definitely be a captain at some point but Beany has said that she wouldn't mind another go. Bring on Toledo :)

Speaking of Toledo, does that course really have only 2 Par 5s and only 3 Par 3s? Does not sound too exciting but we'll see.

[Argonne69]

I'm guessing they could stretch one of the par 4's into a pseudo par 5. They basically did that this past week with one of the par "5s" playing at ~450 yds, along with a driveable par 4.

 

I would expect to see Kristen Gillman, and Jennifer Kupcho as rookies in 2021. I wouldn't be shocked to see Yealimi make the team for the U.S, and Albane Valenzuela and Frida Kinhult on the European side.

 

[AWinfortheAges]

> @Argonne69 said:

> > @rule_6 said:

> > I don't think they would fair as well in a Team setting.

>

> You men the team that won the 2018 International Crown?

>

> Match play is basically about making birdies, and grinding out pars in alternate shot. Six of the top ten players in birdie percentage are from Korea, including the top 3. Nelly is ranked 4th. The top 3 players in scoring average are Korean, as are 5 of the top 10. Nelly is the only American in the Top 10 at #9.

>

> The Korean players are very close. They make not yuck it up on the course, but they spend a lot of time together.

>

>

 

I think at this point in Korean women's golf history they may be the same or slightly worse than the US in team match play, but they would dominate singles matches. I don't think it would take them very long to be better than the US at team match play.

[jmvargas]

my main take on all this is that golf is an unpredictable game and anything can happen ...sometimes what happens is exciting and sometimes it's not and I guess that's what keeps all of us watching..

[Raving Shanker]

> @Jedaigeki said:

> Well, I got that weekend completely wrong. I thought that the first two days would be close-ish (got that right) but then the USA would dominate the singles, I also thought Petterson was a really bad choice. I've never been so glad to be so wrong.

 

Me too - regards Petterson. She was a tiger out there.

 

[AWinfortheAges]

Recently I did another search on Tunein radio for golf shows and podcasts and came across one discussing the Solheim Cup. I've made it through each show on the event except for the final day. Give it a listen if you're interested.

Listen to 2019 Solheim Cup preview on TuneIn http://tun.in/tjf7hL

[MountainGoat]

After reading Suzann Pettersen's letter to her son (https://www.lpga.com/news/2019-suzann-pettersen-letter-to-herman), I still don't know if Suzann fully realized the significance of her final putt -- that sinking it won the Cup and that missing it lost the Cup.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

> @18majors said:

> @Stooch

>

> I don't know whether Michelle Wie will be the next Judy Rankin; but her role as a studio analyst has surpassed my wildest expectation.

> We'll probably see Michelle on TV for the next 30-40 years.

>

>

 

I thought Michelle's appearances on the analysis programs were the most unintentionally hilarious moments in golf television in at least a decade. Not for anything she said. Michelle was simply being what she always has been. Anyone who has ever listened to her speak for 30 seconds in normal conversation would understand exactly how she would come across. Heck, all you had to do was understand the level of her parents and the level of a Stanford education.

 

The priceless hilarity sourced from how she has always been portrayed on forums like this. Talk about quadruple bogeying every comment year after year. I was in stitches every time Michelle appeared, envisioning all the posters on these forums who undoubtedly were expecting her to wobble through nothing but "uh" and "um" throughout.

 

Otherwise:

 

* Of all the razor tight finishes in Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup since 1989, this one remained the tightest throughout the final day. It was surreal how the probability bar wouldn't budge in favor of either side. The United States did have the advantage late but not nearly to the extent of the giggling American players at greenside. Hardly mathematical geniuses.

 

* It would have been one thing if Marina and Ally had won 15 to take leads in their matches. Both missed relatively short putts to win that hole, Marina for birdie then Ally for par. Those two misses were the pivotal moments toward the outcome. Two matches tied while needing one half is exponentially more fragile than two 1-up leads while needing one halve

 

* Marina made the proper decision to lay up, IMO. Too much contour and risk near that green. I have followed her often enough in recent years to know she doesn't have much firepower off the deck. She has improved driving distance but it doesn't fully translate to fairway woods. The press member who asked that question is a guy who follows the men's tour and apparently thought he was watching Rory McIlroy. I doubt he has walked as many holes following Marina Alex as I have, and I only see 1-2 tournaments in person per year.

 

* Suzann had to get up and down on 15, 16 and 18. She did. Otherwise the outcome is different. But as soon as the event ended I said to family members that if anyone had to be on the wrong end of that final match, I'm glad it was Marina Alex and not one of the more emotional players like Lexi Thompson. Lexi might have really wobbled through the aftermath. Marina is a college grad from a prestigious school, just like Michelle. That sets them apart from a big picture perspective, even though the tunnel vision types on golf sites don't like to accept that. I knew Marina would be rock solid and understand she didn't do anything wrong. Sure enough, I checked her twitter briefly and all the correct strong themes were there. I wasn't surprised she rebounded and challenged for the win in her next event. Besides, I have met Marina's mom a couple of times. She is as impressive as they come. I knew she would say all the correct things. Within minutes after the final putt the NBC cameras showed Marina and her mom hugging amidst extreme emotion.