Solheim Sunday Morning
by hound dog on Sep 25, 2011 6:12 AM PDT
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PrintThe heavy rains at Killeen Castle have suspended play a second time today so this is a good time to update all the goings-on. Team U.S.A. rallied from a 7-5 deficit by winning three of yesterday's fourball matches. They entered Sunday singles tied 8-8, a position which boded very well for them as the U.S. has won over 60% of its singles matches over the years.
Two developments have put a serious damper on that outlook. Paula Creamer, leading off the American's Sunday lineup and previously unbeaten in Solheim singles, has been dominated by Catriona Matthew. She is 5-down through 11 holes. Even worse, Cristie Kerr was forced to withdraw before her match began with Karen Stupples. From her interview with Rich Lerner, Kerr said that tendonitis cropped up in her wrist on Tuesday and was diagnosed by a doctor on Thursday. The more she played on Friday, the better it felt so she kept reporting to Rosie Jones that she was fine - though she was still "playing in pain" - and Jones kept sending her out, playing the maximum four matches (71 holes). This morning on the range, Kerr could barely hold onto the club. She broke down in tears as she realized she wasn't physically able to play.
Dottie Pepper is saying that despite her efforts the first two days (2-1-1 record), Kerr let her team down by not being honest with Jones about the pain so Rosie could perhaps choose to sit Kerr a match or two prior to the mandatory Sunday singles. I tend to agree with Dottie but I also understand Kerr's position. She could and did go Friday and Saturday and from the line scores (I didn't see any of the action so those of you who did can correct me) I would say she played pretty well. Tendonitis isn't like a sprain, which gets bad and stays bad for a predictable period of time. It flares up without warning and usually at the worst possible time, like on a Sunday morning for the anchor of an international golf team. Cristie helped her team as long as she could - now they have to pick her up.
They are about to resume at 2pm local time with Europe leading 9-8. The Americans lead in four matches, trail in five and are All Square in two. Another rally will be required for them to retain the Cup but remember - a 14-14 tie is good enough to do just that. Team Europe must collect 14.5 points to win.
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You were right!
It was hard fought, but Europe wins this year. Can’t wait until they come to Colorado!
by Boomergolfbliss on Sep 25, 2011 10:16 AM PDT reply actions
I hope the coverage is fair to O'Toole, who was otherwise great all week
Even if she held on for a win, the USA still needed Stanford to win the 18th hole from Munoz to salvage a half point and retain the Cup at 14-14. I have a feeling the memories of the finish won’t allow for that, preferring the simple version that O’Toole turned a victory into defeat.
When O’Toole led 2 up simultaneous to Stanford even and Wie 1 up on Pettersen, the USA was at least a 1-4 (-400) favorite.
O’Toole has terrific strengths in her game but also many distinct flaws. Her wedges and distance control and sometimes her chipping can be very weak by pro standards. I was astonished she was able to avoid those weaknesses for nearly 4 full rounds. Frankly, I expected Hedwall to cruise today, in the 4&3 range.
One of the key shots wasn’t aired by Golf Channel. O’Toole was still calm on 16, effortlessly draining a 3 foot putt for halve to retain the 2 up lead. She responded to the crowd’s chants of USA-USA. We didn’t see Ryann’s drive into the left rough on 17. She had been accurate all week off the tee. With a typical drive, I have little doubt Ryann would have hit the green and won the match with a routine par. Instead, once the erratic play showed up, I was almost certain she would butcher the wedge to 18. That’s been her problem during the recent slump, approach irons.
It was always going to be difficult to overcome 0-4 combined from Lang/Inkster and Lewis/Stanford in alternate shot. Splitting the two winning Friday foursomes while maintaining the two losing pairs was one of the strange decisions in recent Solheim or Ryder Cup history.
Anyway, it was terrific theater and generally very well played. I can’t imagine anyone who preferred the snoozefest FedEx Cup.
"Splitting the two winning Friday foursomes while maintaining the two losing pairs was one of the strange decisions in recent Solheim or Ryder Cup history."
I had not noticed that. An odd choice – which when it fails, it looks awful.
Cristie Kerr
She played well and looked fine both days other than twice when she shook her right wrist after hitting tee shots, notably on the final hole of the early session on Friday. The announcers spotted and replayed it but did not say anything about a prior injury or tendonitis concern.
I thought Cristie kept talking for too long during Rich Lerner’s interview. I’m on her side in this situation but she has a tendency to not sound or look 100% sincere when she gets emotional. On some message boards her quotes have been presented in detail and described as somewhat contradictory.
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