My Cup runneth
over
Posted: Thu September 18,
1998
Click here to send a golf question to Alan
Shipnuck.
ABOARD UNITED FLIGHT 116, ON THE WAY TO DUBLIN, OHIO, FOR
THE SOLHEIM CUP—First the good news: Last week's
tongue-lashing inspired many of you to actually send in
some mail. Now the bad news: Most of the drivel had nothing
to do with the Solheim Cup,
and will have to be dismissed in future Mailbags. Until
then...
How Swede it is! Six Swedish girls participating in
"Lipstick Ryder." If it was a two-country race
between six Swedes and six Americans, which country do you
think would ending up as
winner?
—Claes Blomquist, Stockholm,
Sweden
Hey, Claes, I think you need to spend a little less time in
the local hash bar. I understand your Nordic pride has been
inflamed by the inclusion of so many of your countrywomen
on the Euro team, but let's be real. The Americans would
have a decisive
edge in experience, to say nothing of talent. The top three
Swedes—Annika
Sorenstam,
Helen
Alfreddson and
Liselotte
Neumann—are legit, but beyond that the pickings are
slim.
I'd like answers to some questions about the Solheim Cup,
and hope you will be foolhardy enough to attempt to provide
them. 1. What team will win, why, and by how much? 2. What
player on either side will have the best individual record?
3. What pairings will we definitely see/not
see?
—Johan Berg, Stockholm,
Sweden
Is it me, or do I detect some serious attitude coming from
Salmon Land? Proving that my devotion to you, the readers,
knows no bounds, I'm gonna hook Claes and Johan up with
each other's email address because they sound perfect for
each other. (If Claes
is not a woman then things could get really interesting.)
As for the icy Berg's questions, by now all y'all know that
I am indeed foolhardy enough to offer my predictions to a
public eager to throw them back in my face when I turn out
to be wrong.
| |
The Americans dominated singles play in 1996—going 9-1-2—to win the last Solheim Cup.
(Bob Martin)
| Let us first begin with a few general impressions. Top to
bottom, this is the best European team yet. The
aforementioned trio of Swedes has played some of the best
golf on the LPGA tour this year, and the Euros have three
more diamonds at the core of
the team:
Laura
Davies, who can still dominate when she's in the mood and whose
go-for-broke mentality is rewarded in match play;
Alison
Nicholas, last year's U.S. Open champ who pound-for-pound is the
most hard-nosed competitor in golf; and
Trish
Johnson, the perenially overlooked but multitalented English lass
who grew up competing against Davies. These three, plus
Alfredsson and Neumann, have competed in all four Solheim
Cups to date, giving the European team a core of experience
the Americans can't
match. In past events the Europeans have been thinner than
Karen
Carpenter, forcing their top players to slog through five matches
apiece, which partially explains why the more refreshed
Americans have dominated Sunday singles. This year the
roster is considerably deeper, and with all those Swedes
hoping to justify the faith
of their national-team coach,
Pia
Nilsson, they will not lack for
motivation.
That said,
I still think the Americans are going to win in a tight
match. They are an experienced, confident team, and from top to
bottom have been playing some serious golf this year. Eight
of the 12 Americans have won LPGA events this year
(compared to just three Euros), and none have recorded
fewer than six top 10s.
Muirfield Village is a ballstriker's course—just check out
the recent winners at the Memorial, which include
Tom
Watson,
Vijay
Singh and
Tom
Lehman—and the U.S. team is clearly superior in that area,
with
Kelly
Robbins,
Pat
Hurst,
Dottie
Pepper and
Chris (Don't Call Me Trish)
Johnson, among others. Call it 15-13,
U.S.
Oh, Johan, note that I ignored two of your questions.
U-S-A! U-S-A!
U-...
Who do you see as the potential MVP in the Solhiem Cup
matches? Go
USA!!!
—Ed Carter,
Buffalo
Pepper for the U.S., Davies for the Europeans. Both have
been the emotional leaders in past years, as well as their
team's standout player. Both arrive in Oh-Hi-Oh with their
games in indifferent shape, stymied by moody putters. One
of them will step up
and inspire their mates to victory. It says here that woman
will be Pepper, who boasts a 8-4-1 record in the Cup and
was the star of the '94
match.
As a Canadian, I wonder if it isn't time to broaden these
types of match-play competitions. There are some great
women golfers (including Canadians like Lorie Kane) who get
left out of U.S. vs. Europe. What do you
think?
—David Gorecke, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan
Any event that excludes the game's most exciting
players—South Korea's
Se Ri
Pak and Australia's
Karrie
Webb—is ripe for some second-guessing. Still, I like that
the Solheim is dedicated to copying the Ryder Cup, right
down to its tweaked format and rampant jingoism. There's a
purity to U.S. vs. Europe, and you have to remember that
the Ryder Cup was arround
for 65 years before the Presidents Cup came along.
Considering how global the LPGA has become I suspect it
won't be long before the powers that be start a second
biennial match that includes the rest of the globe. Until
then, all you Lorie Kane honks
will remain the lunatic
fringe.
Do you think that the "boom" in golf lately will
result in the Solheim Cup becoming more popular and moving
towards Ryder Cup
status?
—Mike Bartholomew, Billings,
Mont.
Actually, I think my daily reports from Muirfield Village
(beginning Friday evening) will be what takes the Solheim
to the next level.
Send your golf question to Alan Shipnuck.
|
