By Keely Levins
Team USA already has a full coaching staff, but a surprise advisor appeared on-site at Inverness Club during Solheim Cup week. Two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson joined captain Pat Hurst and assistants Michelle Wie West, Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford on Tuesday in Toledo, Ohio.

 

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Watson has played on four Ryder Cup and two Presidents Cup teams. He’s never been on a winning Ryder Cup team, but both of the Presidents Cups he’s played in have resulted in victories for Team USA.

On Thursday, there will be a two-team celebrity event, and Watson is one of 20 players competing. Since he’s on-site, he contacted Hurst and asked if he could help out.

“He’s got a wife, he’s got a daughter, and he loves golf and he loves, like I said, he just wants to support women’s golf. And so I was all for it,” Hurst said. “I asked the assistants. They were all for it and it’s been great. He’s been a lot of fun having him in the locker room hearing his take on a lot of the things, and a lot of times we have to tell him that, ‘Hey, men and women are a little bit different and I think he’s definitely seeing that.’ But we’re all enjoying him around, players, caddies. We’re asking him a ton of questions and it seems like he’s having just as much fun as we are with him around.”

Assistant captain Angela Stanford said that while she was walking around the course, she saw Watson talking to Danielle Kang about a chip shot. The two were going over different ways to hit it, with Watson sharing how he’d approach it.

“He’s available, and I think that’s what makes it so special is you just have,” Stanford said. “You have a major champion, multiple major champion, another one walking around and being helpful. So I think that was the cool part. I just kind of stood back and watched that and watched them interact and it was really cool.”

The post Bubba Watson is an unlikely advisor for the United States Solheim Cup team appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Here’s a closer look at the American squad attempting to reclaim the Cup from Team Europe.

MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2021 European Solheim Cup team

Brittany Altomare

Andrew Redington/WME IMG

Age: 30
World Ranking: 54
Solheim Cup appearances: 2019
Record: 2-1-1

Altomare was a captain’s pick in 2019 and is again in 2021. Her only professional win was on the Symetra Tour in 2016, but she finished runner up at the Amundi Evian Championship after losing a playoff to Anna Nordqvist in 2017. She was a captain’s pick in 2019 and scored points for Team USA in fourball and singles.

Austin Ernst

Stuart Franklin

Age: 29
World Ranking: 27
Solheim Cup appearances: 1 (2017)
Record: 2-2-0

After not making the team in 2019, Ernst locked in her spot for 2021 by winning twice: the 2020 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and the 2021 LPGA Drive on Championship. The 2011 NCAA individual champion has had two top-10 finishes in the second half of the 2021 season.

Ally Ewing

Meg Oliphant

Age: 28
World Ranking: 22
Solheim Cup appearances: 1 (2019)
Record: 1-3-0

Ewing got the last-minute call to join the team in 2019 when Stacy Lewis withdrew due to back injury. Since then, she has come into her own on tour, winning her first two titles at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Reynolds Lake Oconee last fall and the Bank of Hope Match-Play this spring. The latter of which she won over Germany’s Sophia Popov, in what felt an awful lot like a Solheim Cup preview.

Mina Harigae

Oisin Keniry

Age: 31
World Ranking: 62
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie

While the LPGA Tour had to pause tournaments in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harigae went to Arizona to stay sharp on the Cactus Tour. She won events by nine, 14 and 16 shots. That got Captain Pat Hurst’s attention. Harigae had three top-10 LPGA finishes after the restart in 2020, and has logged three more top-10s in the second half of the 2021 season. She’s a veteran in that she joined the LPGA Tour in 2010, but this is her first Solheim Cup.

Danielle Kang

Jamie Squire

Age: 28
World Ranking: 8
Solheim Cup appearances: 2 (2017, 2019)
Record: 4-4-0

Kang loves the event and will surely thrive playing on home turf among the cheers of home crowds. She’s won five times on the LPGA Tour, including one major, the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA. Also the winner of back-to-back U.S. Women’s Amateur championships, the No. 7 player in the world knows how to succeed in match play.

Megan Khang

Ross Parker – SNS Group

Age: 23
World Ranking: 37
Solheim Cup appearances: 2019
Record: 0-2-1

Khang was one of the six rookies on the 2019 team. Though she went winless, she comes into this Solheim Cup with more experience. In 2021, she had her career-best finish in a major, finishing T-4 at the U.S. Women’s Open. She’s one of the straightest drivers of the ball on tour, hitting 80 percent of fairways.

Jessica Korda

Bruce White – SNS Group

Age: 27
World Ranking: 18
Solheim Cup appearances: 2 (2013, 2019)
Record: 4-2-2

Korda made the team in 2017 but had to withdraw due to injury before play started. In 2019, she paired with her sister to win twice, won her singles match, and halved another fourball match. In a match that ended in a loss for Team USA at Gleneagles, Korda was a bright spot. It’ll be hard not to pair the sisters together again with their winning record.

Nelly Korda

Bruce White – SNS Group

Age: 23
World Ranking: 1
Solheim Cup appearances: 1 (2019)
Record: 3-0-1

The No. 1 player in the world, six-time LPGA Tour winner and the recently crowned Olympic gold medalist heads into her second Solheim Cup more established—and confident—than she was in Scotland. Korda was solid in her Solheim debut, especially when paired with her sister, Jessica. The pair won their two foursomes matches 6-and-4 and 6-and-5, respectively.

Jennifer Kupcho

Michael Reaves

Age: 24
World Ranking: 28
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie

Kupcho’s amateur career is full of accolades: 2018 NCAA champion at Wake Forest, winner of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and 34 weeks ranked No. 1 amateur in the world. Since turning pro in 2019, she has finished in the top 10 nine times while looking still for first LPGA win.

Yealimi Noh

ANDY BUCHANAN

Age: 20
World Ranking: 31
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie

Despite not having status on any tour, Noh decided to turn professional in 2019 instead of going to UCLA. She played Monday qualifiers, breaking through at the Cambia Portland Classic and making the most of her start by finishing second. She got her card for the 2020 season via Q-Series. In 2021, she finished in the top 15 in three majors: the KPMG Women’s PGA, the Amundi Evian, and the AIG Women’s Open.

Lizette Salas

David Cannon

Age: 32
World Ranking: 14
Solheim Cup appearances: 4 (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Record: 6-6-2

Though only 32, Salas is the eldest member of the American tean. Her four years of Solheim Cup experience will serve well on a team heavy in rookies and one-time players. Salas edged her way onto the 2021 team by finishing T-2 at the AIG Women’s British Open, her second runner-up in a major this season and the final qualifying event for the Solheim Cup.

Lexi Thompson

Bruce White – SNS Group

Age: 26
World Ranking: 12
Solheim Cup appearances: 4 (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Record: 5-4-6

Thompson, an 11-time LPGA Tour winner, went winless at the 2019 Solheim Cup, in part due to a back spasms in her singles match. She and Cristie Kerr had gotten into a dominant rhythm as Solheim Cup partners in 2015 and 2017. With Kerr not on the 2019 team, Thompson was paired with different partners each match. This year, Hurst will be looking at her pods to find the right match for Thompson to unlock the points she is capable of scoring.

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By Kent Paisley
Solheim Cup captains Catriona Matthew and Pat Hurst are paired together at this week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open for the first two rounds. They won’t be lacking for topics to discuss as the European and American team pictures sharpen into focus. Only three events — the ISPS Handa World Invitational, the Trust Scottish Open and the AIG Women’s British Open — remain before the Solheim qualifying period concludes on August 22, with the match at Inverness Club set for Labor Day weekend.

Hurst will have nine of her 12 players solidified after the final major of the 2021 season. Seven of them come from the U.S. Solheim Cup points list, the remaining two off the Rolex Rankings. It’s a change made by the U.S. Solheim Cup Committee in March, dropping from an original 10 automatic qualifiers to hand Hurst an additional captain’s pick.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda (579.5) and Danielle Kang (495.5) are perched far above the rest of their compatriots in U.S. qualifying. In third is Ally Ewing (290), who trails Kang by more than 200 points. Austin Ernst (263.5), Lexi Thompson (260.5) and Jessica Korda (256.5) are next, and all look to be set to wear red, white and blue come September. Megan Khang (238.5) is in a more precarious position at the seventh and final spot. Points are earned by top-20 finishes in ranking events and are doubled at the majors. Winning the Women’s British Open will earn a player 60 points.

Brittany Altomare (205 points) is sitting in eighth place in the points list, trailing Khang by 33.5 points. The 2019 Solheim veteran is the last player with more than 200 points, as assistant U.S. Solheim captain Angela Stanford (179.5) is in ninth place and Stacy Lewis is in 10th (173). Given how the points shake out, any player farther down the list—including Solheim veterans Lizette Salas (14th/145) and Angel Yin (15th/143.5)—would have to win at least two of the last three events, including the Women’s British Open to have any shot of sneaking off with the seventh and final spot from the points list.

As for the two players who make the U.S. team from the Rolex Rankings, Salas (24th) and Jennifer Kupcho (27th) currently hold those positions as of Monday’s updated rankings after the Amundi Evian Championship. Yealimi Noh (31st) is closest to catching Kupcho and serves as a reminder of how much potential volatility remains with a major left in the qualifying period. Noh soared 31 spots up the rankings following her third-place finish at Evian. Altomare (46th) is the next closest in the rankings, followed by Lewis (53rd).

After those nine spots are finalized, Hurst will have three captain’s picks to make. It’s currently an experience-laden roster, with Kupcho the only rookie. That’s a different dynamic than the 2019 American team, which had six rookies and narrowly lost to the Europeans, 14.5-13.5, at Gleneagles. It gives Hurst flexibility in terms of tapping another veteran (Yin, Marina Alex) or giving a first-timer (Noh, Amy Olson, Lauren Stephenson) an opportunity.

Matthew will know six players on her European team after the qualifying period concludes, two from a LET points list and four from the Rolex Rankings. She then has six captain’s picks, an increase from the original plan of four, an adjustment made in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic impacting playing schedules in 2020 and 2021.

Emily Kristine Pedersen (119.88) and Sanna Nuutinen (81.75) hold the top two positions of the LET ranking. As with the Americans, three events remain to earn LET Solheim points. Almost anyone with LET status in the field at the Women’s British Open at Carnoustie could surge into one of these two positions; a victory there is worth 80 LET Solheim points. LPGA players Nanna Koerstz Madsen (68.25) and Georgia Hall (56) are in fourth and sixth in LET Solheim points, respectively.

Richard Heathcote/R&A
Sophia Popov, by way of her lead in the Rolex Rankings, and Emily Kristine Pedersen, by way of her current lead in the LET points list, should be representatives for the European side at Inverness.

As for the four potential European players coming from the Rolex Rankings, Sophia Popov (26th), Carlota Ciganda (35th), Charley Hull (38th), and Mel Reid (40th) currently hold those positions. The closest chasers are Hall (43rd), Leona Maguire (50th), and Matilda Castren (52nd). Hall moved up 10 spots in the Rolex Rankings after a T-6 at the Evian.

Of the six current projected players on Team Europe, Matthew has two rookies in Nuutinen and Popov, which might influence her captain’s picks. Celine Boutier, Anne van Dam and Bronte Law were the three rookies Matthew had in 2019. Castren, a 26-year-old from Finland, recently earned LET status and with an LPGA win earlier this season is somebody Matthew is strongly considering should she not earn an automatic spot.

In her blog post to the LET’s website on July 23, Matthew shared her happiness with the quality of her potential players’ recent form.

“The players are certainly making it all tricky!” Matthew wrote. “It is great that we have so many players peaking and putting in those top performances.”

While not the instant prize in these last few events, the points races and roster jostling are set up for an exciting finish at the last major in golf this year.

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By Keely Levins
Of the many scheduling changes that occurred in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, one big one was the Ryder Cup being postponed to 2021. In turn, the PGA of America and European Tour announced a shift in the Ryder Cup’s overall schedule moving forward; the biennial matches would be played in odd-numbered years instead of the even years it had been held since 2002. It was a move that was not only a big deal for PGA Tour players trying to make the teams, but also for the LPGA—because odd years have been when the tour has held the biennial Solheim Cup.

In 2021, both the Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup will be played in the United States, at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, and Whistling Straits outside of Milwaukee, Wis., respectively. And in 2023, the Solheim Cup will be played in Spain, a week before the Ryder Cup will be held in Italy.

From then on, however, the LPGA Tour announced on Monday that it will hold the Solheim Cup in even-numbered years, citing the Ryder Cup’s shift as the reason for its change.

“With the world sporting schedule changing so much due to current difficulties, we felt it was in the best interest of the Solheim Cup to return to an off-year rotation with the Ryder Cup,” Dennis Baggett, Executive Director of the Solheim Cup, said. “When the competition returns to the United States in 2024, I have no doubt fans will have an incredible opportunity to celebrate the best women golfers from the United States and Europe as they represent their home countries.”

The Solheim Cup was originally played in even-numbered years starting with its inception in 1990 until 2002. But when Sept. 11 caused the Ryder Cup to postpone and shift its schedule, the Solheim Cup moved to odd-numbered years. That created a unique instance where the Solheim Cup was played in consecutive years (2002 and 2003) similar to what will happen in 2023 and 2024.

In the first week of September 2021, Catriona Matthew’s European Team will defend the cup against Team USA captained by Pat Hurst.

The post Solheim Cup moving to even-numbered years starting in 2024 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
As soon as Pat Hurst was named the 2021 U.S. Solheim Cup captain in Janaury, Michelle Wie West grabbed her phone and sent her a text. The topic? Wie West wanted to be considered for an assistant captain position. It didn’t take long for Hurst to agree.

“I just called her up, we set up basically an appointment to talk, and she was in my pod two different times, and I know what she’s like,” Hurst said. “I know she’s very patriotic, loves the red, white and blue just like I do, and her intensity is there. All the players love her. They respect her, and that’s what I need.”

The decision became official on Thursday, Hurst formally announcing that Wie West would join Angela Stanford as an assistant for the team that will compete at Inverness Club in Ohio in September 2021.

Wie West played two of her five Solheim Cups in Hurst’s pod and hopes to bring some of the stability to her own pod that Hurst exemplified.

Wie West said of Hurst as an assistant captain. “Really, she made me feel comfortable, and that’s kind of what I aspire to be, and I just feel extremely honoured when I actually got that phone call when she picked me as assistant captain. I was just ecstatic.”

Darren Carroll
Michelle Wie celebrates her singles match victory in the 2009 Solheim Cup.

Whenever a young player—Wie West is now 30 years old—is named as a captain in a team event, the question of playing captain comes up. While Wie West says she’s planning on making a return to competitive golf, the question of whether or not she’ll be a playing captain is too far off to answer. It’s tough for Wie West to predict what her game will look like in September 2021 because right now, her focus is on her baby, Makenna. Four and a half weeks before the assistant captain announcement, Wie West and her husband, Jonnie, announced the arrival of their first child.

“Whether or not I’m going to be a playing assistant or not, I’ve talked to Pat about that, and that’s a bridge that we’ll cross when we get there, if we even do get there, but I’ll leave the decision completely up to Pat,” Wie West said. “It’s completely up to her whether she wants me to play or not. … It’s her decision, and if she wants me to play, I’ll play; if she doesn’t want me to play and only be an assistant, I’m fine either way.”

Wie West has been able to get out on the range and the course, strategically planning practice sessions around Makenna’s feedings. And while Wie West knows she wants to play on tour again, her priorities have shifted. Instead of golf, it’s Makenna first.

“I see the world in a completely different light now and a completely different view, perspective, and it’s insane how that happens overnight,” Wie West said.

There’s also the issue of her injured right wrist to consider. Wie West hasn’t played on the LPGA Tour since June 2019, when the wrist injury sidelined her for the remainder of the season. With rest, she says it’s feeling better—joking that she’s afraid of saying anything positive about the wrist, fearing something bad always happens after she says it feels good.

Another variable is obviously the spreading of the COVID-19, how that can affect events on the LPGA calendar, and how complicated that can make travel with a baby.

With all of these variables in mind, Wie West says she’d like to be ready to play an event sometime in 2020.

In the meantime, Wie West will continue to work on her game around Makenna’s schedule, and mentally go through her five Solheim Cups of experience to see what she can bring to Team USA in 2021.

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