Junior Captain Neumann Leads Day 1

Europe opened up a slender 7-5 lead over the Americans after an engrossing opening day at the PING Junior Solheim Cup match played over the Jack Nicklaus course at Knightsbrook Hotel Spa & Golf Resort in Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland.

However, at one point the home side’s advantage looked liked being much more substantial before the visiting side mounted an impressive comeback late in the day. Lotta Neumann’s European side got off to the best possible start when they defeated the visiting Americans 5-1 in the morning foursomes but the Americans bounced back with a gutsy 4-2 victory in the fourballs to set up an engrossing finale in the morning. 

Heading into the final day, Europe requires 5 ½ points from the remaining 12 singles to avenge the American victory in the last PING Junior Solheim Cup match played at Aurora Golf Club, Illinois, two years ago and also to level the series score at 3-3 since the contest was inaugurated at Oak Ridge, Minnesota, back in 2002. The Americans need seven points to retain the trophy and to break the sequence which, to date, has seen the home side win the trophy on each occasion the match has been played.

The Europeans were looking for a fast start in front of the large crowds assembled at Knightsbrook and that is exactly what their got on a day when fine spells of weather were interrupted by the occasional blustery shower. 

English duo, Charley Hull and Lauren Taylor, lost the top foursome by 2&1 to Mariah Stackhouse and Jaye Marie Green but Welsh girl, Amy Boulden and her Swedish partner, Emma Nilsson, levelled the score before the 16 year-old Irish twins, Lisa and Leona Maguire, put the home side in front for the first time with a closely-fought one hole victory over Emma Talley and McKenzie Talbert. 

Thereafter, the home side really came into its own. The impressive French duo, Manon Gidali and Celine Boutier, defeated US pair, Esther Lee and Gabriella Then by one hole in a match in which both sides shared eight birdies. Spaniard, Luna Sabron and another French girl, Emilie Alonso, also won on the 18th, against Lindsey Weaver and Ashlan Ramsay before German Girls’ champion, Antonia Scherer, and her Belgian partner, Margaux Vanmol, the reigning British Girls’ champion, rounded the morning off with a comprehensive 4&3 victory over Karen Chung and Alison Lee. 

The afternoon fourballs provided an altogether different storyline and one that sets up an intriguing climax to the competition. 

Leona Maguire and Lauren Taylor briefly gave Europe a five point advantage when they defeated Kyung Kim and Karen Chung by 3 & 2. Amy Boulden and Emma Nilsson, plus Manon Gidali and Celine Boutier, also provided half points for the home side but elsewhere the scoreboard turned into a sea of red figures as Lindsey Weaver and Mariah Stackhouse, McKenzie Talbert and Summar Roachell, and Gabriella Then and Emma Talley all produced valuable US victories to reduce the overnight deficit to just two points.

“We were disappointed to lose four matches this morning but delighted with our fight back this afternoon,” said the US captain, Meg Mallon.

“It’s been a great day’s golf and sets things up nicely for tomorrow.

“Overall, we’re happy to be going into the second day with a two point lead,” said Europe’s captain, Lotta Neumann.

“The girls are a bit disappointed with this afternoon’s performance but I would quite happily have taken a two point lead at the start of the day.

“It’s a great platform to build on going into the singles.” 

Foursomes Scores (Europe names first)

Lauren Taylor and Charley Hull lost to Mariah Stackhouse and Jaye Marie Green 2&1

Lisa Maguire and Leona Maguire beat Emma Talley and McKenzie Talbert 1 hole

Amy Boulden and Emma Nilsson beat Kyung Kim and Summar Roachell 4&3

Manon Gidali and Celine Boutier beat Esther Lee and Gabriella Then 1 hole

Emilie Alonso and Luna Sobron beat Lindsey Weaver and Ashlan Ramsay 2 holes

Antonia Scherer and Margaux Vanmol beat Karen Chung and Alison Lee 4&3

Total – Europe 5, USA 1

Fourball Scores

Lisa Maguire and Charley Hull lost to Lindsey Weaver and Mariah Stackhouse 1 hole

Amy Boulden and Emma Nilsson halved with Jaye Maria Green and Ashlan Ramsay

Leona Maguire and Lauren Taylor beat Kyung Kim and Karen Chung 3&2

Emilie Alonso and Antonia Scherer lost to McKenzie Talbert and Summar Roachell 2&1

Manon Gidali and Celine Boutier halved with Alison Lee and Esther Lee

Margaux Vanmol and Luna Sabron lost to Gabriella Then and Emma Talley 3&1

Total – Europe 2, USA 4

TOTAL END OF DAY 1 - Europe 7, USA 5

Solheim Preview - Annika Sorenstam

The Solheim Cup comes to Killeen Castle this week and, I can tell you, us Europeans are already hoping for some Irish luck! 

 Major winners Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke all got their share this year, so hopefully it is now the ladies’ turn to succeed in what some people are calling the new home of golf!

We haven’t won the Cup since Barsebäck in 2003, but I do genuinely like our chances. Admittedly, there is a bit of a rankings gulf between the two sides, but you would be foolish to brand Europe underdogs. As with the Ryder Cup, playing at home is a huge advantage. Remember, America have only won on European soil twice (1996, 2007) since the tournament first began in 1990.

In Alison Nicholas, we have a tremendously experienced captain. She is taking charge for the second successive Cup and I know girls like Suzann Pettersen and Laura Davies, who played under her at Rich Harvest Farms, feel totally at ease with Alison at the helm.

Two years ago, our gutsy display won plenty of new friends in Illinois. We eventually fell to a slender 16-12 defeat, but Alison learnt some crucial lessons and is now confident (as we all are) of masterminding a memorable victory.

As her vice-captain, I really just do as I am told! For the past two years, I have been Alison’s eyes and ears in the States – scouting at LPGA events and generally passing on my two cents. Alison is a ferociously well organised captain but, of course, she can’t be everywhere and I guess that is where I come in.

With the Cup now fast approaching, and most of the logistical stuff out of the way, I am also starting to help with tactics. I haven’t got the main role by any means, but I do have eight Solheim Cups worth of experience to add to the mix and the ability to motivate a dressing room.

It has been very interesting to see how things work from outside of the ropes. The Solheim experience was very different as a player: I essentially just turned up and focused on myself while, as vice-captain, I now have to focus on everyone but myself! I have thoroughly enjoyed the build up. It has got my competitive juices flowing again. However, the bulk of emotions I am feeling are actually brand new. I don’t, for example, have nervous butterflies. I am calm, because I know I can’t directly affect the result.

There will inevitably be times when I wish I could pick up a club, but my playing days are over and I honestly don’t have plans to return to competitive golf. I am loving life as a mother and certainly have my hands full! However, I do want to retain ties with The Solheim Cup. One day I would like to become captain. It might be too soon to start talking me up as a candidate for Colorado 2013, but I do want the role one day. It would be an honour.

For now, I am looking no further ahead than Killeen, where the Americans will be a formidable force to conquer. They have won eight of the 11 Solheim Cups, including the last three. Girls like Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr are just so solid and unflappable – unstoppable at their best and insatiable scrappers at their worst. Michelle Wie is also one to watch. She showed her class in 2009 and, despite an indifferent season so far, is a very talented match play golfer.

That is the thing about The Solheim Cup: form is obviously important, but not the only consideration when piecing your team together. You also need passionate characters who glue the team together, which is why characters like Stacy Lewis and Christina Kim are crucial to the Americans. The jovial demeanour they bring into the locker room will prove infectious and help everyone win points.

You can’t possibly win The Solheim Cup if you don’t gel as a unit, so the captain’s task is to find the correct chemistry. It is no good picking the top two players in the world if they can’t work well together. Alison knows this and has thus selected a very balanced side. We have an excellent blend of youth and experience. Rookies like Mel Reid (who is one of the most exciting prospects in golf right now and will be very confident following her brilliant victory at the Open de España Femenino) will be complemented and guided by sage old heads like Laura Davies and Catriona Matthew.

We also have world No.2 Suzann Pettersen who is, without doubt, our most important player. I expect her to lead by example and really assert her class. She should also excel on Killeen, where she won August’s Ladies Irish Open. That triumph, against a quality field, was a massive confidence boost to us all. We now know, for sure, she is well suited to Killeen.

The par-72, 7,700-yard Jack Nicklaus designed course is the perfect Solheim Cup host. If anything, it is pretty American, although it does have a distinct links feel too. The last three holes are intriguing, but in match play you never know if you are going to be playing them – hopefully not! The 16th is a tough par-three, which very much hinges on where you place the tee box. The 17th is a testing driving hole and the 18th is a vicious long, uphill par-four. 

I also think the long par-fives, especially the second and 12th, will prove highly significant because, unlike traditional links, the greens are built up with bunkers. That gives them a real risk-reward element. One thing is for sure, drama is guaranteed!

This could be the most exciting Solheim Cup yet and, whatever happens, it will be a brilliant spectacle. We are expecting massive crowds, who we will be leaning on for support. 

The fans really are our 15th club – so please come down to Ireland and help us try and become ‘Queens of the Castle!’

Junior Solheim Cup in Knightsbrook

Irish sisters, Lisa and Leona Maguire, have been paired together for the opening foursomes matches at the 2011 PING Junior Solheim Cup which starts at Knightsbrook Hotel Spa & Golf Resort on Tuesday.

The 16 year-old twins from Slieve Russell go out in the second match at 8.11 am when they will be pitted against a strong American duo comprising Emma Talley from Princeton, Kentucky, and MacKenzie Talbert, who lives in North Augusta, South Carolina, and was the winner of this year’s Sea Pines Junior Heritage tournament at Harbour Town.

The Maguires will be competing in the biennial contest for the second time after making their debuts during the defeat at Aurora Golf Club, Illinois, two years ago. That was the fifth match in a series which stretches back to 2002 and on each occasion to date victory has gone to the home side.

This year the Maguire twins are part of a strong European side that also contains three golfers from France, two from England and one apiece from Belgium, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Wales.

The honour of leading the home team out in the opening foursomes goes to English duo, Charley Hull and Lauren Taylor, who are full English internationals and are both members of Woburn Golf and Country Club, Bedfordshire, where they play a lot of golf together. Hull, the English Ladies’ Stroke Play Champion, and Taylor, the reigning British Amateur Champion, face Mariah Stackhouse and Jay Marie Green, the winner at this year’s South Atlantic Amateur.

Welsh girl, Amy Boulden, is paired with Sweden’s Emma Nilsson and will face Kyung Kim and Summar Roachell in the third match on the course. They are followed by the strong French duo of Manon Gidali and Celine Boutier, who are up against Esther Lee and Gabriella Then.

The third French team member, Emilie Alonso, goes out in the fifth match, partnered by Spain’s Luna Sobron against Lindsey Weaver and Ashlan Ramsey, while German champion, Antonia Scherer and Belgium’s Margaux Vanmol, winner of the recent British Girls’ Championship, bring up the rear against Karen Chung and Alison Lee.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the Americans and hope they have a great time here at Knightsbrook,” said Liselotte Neumann, the former British and American Women’s Open champion who captain’s this year’s European PING Junior Solheim Cup side.

“We can’t wait to get started,” she added. “Our preparations have gone well and we are confident we can win back the trophy we lost two years ago.”

“It’s great to be here in Ireland and to get this opportunity to captain this talented American side,” commented Meg Mallon, the US Captain, who won four majors, including two US Opens. “We are the holders but we are all aware how tough it will be to retain the trophy over the next two days.

This year’s PING Junior Solheim Match begins with six foursomes matches tomorrow (Tuesday) morning followed by six fourball matches in the afternoon. The match concludes on Wednesday with 12 singles matches, starting at 8.00 am. Both teams will then be special guests at the Solheim Cup, being staged at Killeen Castle from Friday to Sunday.

Round 1 (Foursomes Matches)

08.00 - Lauren Taylor and Charley Hull v Mariah Stackhouse and Jaye Marie Green

08.11 - Lisa Maguire and Leona Maguire v Emma Talley and McKenzie Talbert

08.22 - Amy Boulden and Emma Nilsson v Kyung Kim and Summar Roachell

08.33 - Manon Gidali and Celine Boutier v Esther Lee and Gabriella Then

08.44 - Emilie Alonso and Luna Sobron v Lindsey Weaver and Ashlan Ramsay

08.55 - Antonia Scherer and Margaux Vanmol v Karen Chung and Alison Lee

European Team Show Seve Spirit

Vivendi Seve Trophy captains, Jean Van de Velde and Paul McGinley, have paid tribute to the courageous efforts of the Continental Europeans after Thomas Björn led a stirring attempted comeback of swashbuckling proportion, befitting the great Seve Ballesteros’s own fearless mentality.

Despite ultimately falling short after an inspired final five holes from Ian Poulter that secured the victory for Great Britain and Ireland, the Continental European team’s efforts did much to elevate the excitement and entertainment value of what was a sublime final day of golf.

Continental Europe captain, Van de Velde, said: “I really take my hat off to the players and to the spirit of those guys. It shows the strength of character they all have, and for that I'm very thankful to them and very proud.

“Starting from the top of the board from Thomas to Anders to Francesco to Alexander, Miguel, Nicolas, Matteo, Raphaël, Peter, nobody ever put their head down. At the end of the day, that's what you want to see.”

The Continentals had got off to a flying start thanks to Denmark’s Thomas Björn, who came from three down to eventually beat World Number Two Lee Westwood 2&1.

“Lee played absolutely unbelievable early on and when he's like that, he's very difficult to keep up with,” said Björn.

“But I had a long chat with José [María Olazábal] yesterday about match play and how you just try and keep yourself there, and I did that,” he continued. “I fought very hard and battled all the way, and then when I get my tail up, there's always some good stuff in there.

“You've got to be proud of that, to go out against arguably the best player from tee to green in the world, but I stuck in there and I'm proud of what I did today.”

And GB&I captain McGinley praised the drive of the Continental Europeans and admitted the turnaround in the lead match had surprised him.

“I have to give credit to Jean and his team, how motivated they were and how his top players turned around the deficit and got the momentum going in their favour. Jean did a lot right today. I think he really got his team flying.

“The first match, I knew was going to be close between Thomas and Lee, but if you told me Lee would be three up after five and still lose his game, I would say, not in a million years, who would have thought that. All credit to Thomas for that.”

McGinley also acclaimed the efforts of another Dane, Anders Hansen, who overcame an in-form Simon Dyson by one hole.

“Anders Hansen is a dogged competitor,” he said. “I knew that at number two and he wins his singles every time, nothing surer. I think he shot ten or 11 under par beating Nick Dougherty two years ago, he's a hell of a player.”

Van de Velde also reserved a special mention for Italian Matteo Manassero, who had on Thursday became the youngest ever competitor in the Vivendi Seve Trophy, and who eventually succumbed to Poulter on the final green.

“Matteo, what can I say?” asked the Continental captain. “It could have swung both ways. You know, it's decided one way instead of the other, and there were a few phenomenal shots from Ian down the stretch.

“For a young man to play against Ian Poulter and to stand up to him, that was a wonderful performance.”

There was a special moment on the 18th green in the final singles match between Peter Hanson and Ross Fisher that was widely recognised as a fitting tribute to the spirit of the man whose name adorns the competition, and Van de Velde believed it was a gesture of which Seve Ballesteros would have approved.

He said: “That was a great suggestion, and I congratulated both of them for that. The game was all over.

“I think they both put on such a great fight and they have so much respect for each other. They just wanted to share that point for the spirit of Seve. Great sportsmanship there.”