Watching The Solheim Cup

I’m watching the Solheim Cup today on the Golf Channel. Going into the third day, the United States and European teams are tied at 8 all. This is golf excitement at its best.

For the uninitiated, the Solheim Cup is a biennial women’s team golf event featuring professional golfers representing Europe and the United States. It’s the equivalent of the Ryder Cup or the President’s Cup for the men’s tours.

The cup is named for Karsten Solheim, the founder of Ping golf, who was instrumental in the creation and sponsoring of the event.

The first Solheim Cup event was held in 1990, and is held in alternating years, between the men’s Ryder Cup events.

The match play event is held over three days, with eight foursomes on day one, eight four-balls on day two, and 12 singles on the final. Click on the following links for an explanation of match play, foursomes and four-balls.

The 14-lady US team is determined by a points system, based on their performance on the LGPA Tour. The European side uses a mix of points from the Ladies European Tour and the World Golf Rankings. Captain’s Picks fill out the rest of the roster.

This year’s US Team consists of:  Meg Mallon, Brittany Lang, Nicole Castrale, Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Natalie Gulbis, Juli Inkster, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome, Kelly Robbins, Kristy McPherson, Christina Kim, Morgan Pressel, Cristie Kerr and Captain Beth Daniel.

The European Team is: Joanne Morley, Helen Alfredsson, Suzann Pettersen, Sophie Gustafson, Laura Davies, Diana Luna, Maria Hjort, Janice Moodie, Anna Nordqvist, Liselotte Neumann, Catriona Matthew, Tania Elosegui, Becky Brewerton, Gwladys Nocera and Captain Alison Nicholas.