Betsy King, captain of this year’s United States Solheim Cup team, announced her picks and assembled the team for a press conference yesterday.
Here is the team that will be representing the U.S. against Europe at the Solheim Cup in Sweden September 14-16:
Captain: Betsy King
Assistant captain: Beth Daniel
(The first 10 players qualified for the coveted spots automatically with their accumulation of Solheim Cup points):
1. Paula Creamer 741.00
2. Cristie Kerr 713.50
3. Morgan Pressel 532.50
4. Juli Inkster 512.00
5. Stacy Prammanasudh 483.50
6. Pat Hurst 449.00
7. Natalie Gulbis 412.50
8. Brittany Lincicome 396.50
9. Angela Stanford 372.00
10. Sherri Steinhauer 324.50
Captain’s picks
Nicole Castrale 277.00
Laura Diaz 240.00
History and stats
Beginning in the U.S. in 1990, The Solheim Cup has been played every two years, alternating locations in the U.S. and in Europe. It’s a match play competition with a format similar to the Ryder Cup. The U.S. team has a strong lead in this U.S. vs. Europe competition, having earned victory at 6 out of 9 events. However, only one of those wins came on European soil. Will the team Betsy King has assembled be able to make that 2 this year at the Halmstad Golfklubb in Sweden? Or will we have to wait until the competition comes back to the U.S. (Chicago) in 2009 for the next team to get that Waterford Crystal cup for America again? Trivia tidbit: Did you know The Solheim Cup was named after Karsten Solheim, the founder of of the manufacturing company that makes PING golf equipment?
The big snubs?
Of course, since this competition only includes U.S.- and European-born players, the world’s No. 1 female player will not be competing. Lorena Ochoa – who just captured her 3rd straight win(!) at this weekend’s Safeway Classic – will have to sit back and watch with the rest of us. So will Se Ri Pak, who recently qualified for the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame (and will be officially inducted in November). Back when the Solheim Cup began in 1990, Mexico wasn’t really an issue and the Korean explosion hadn’t happened yet. Even Se Ri didn’t hit the scene until 1998. A U.S. vs. Europe event might have seemed nearly all inclusive. While I’d love to see an event that was more of a truly international team match play competition, I don’t have a proposal for how to do it. I mean, Korea would be a force to be reckoned with but any team Mexico could field would essentially be a one-woman show. If we broke it down by North and South America vs. The Rest of the World, where’s the rivalry and National – or Continental – pride?
Speaking of National pride, one golfer who did have the chance to make the team but didn’t, is Christina Kim. Christina was part of the winning U.S. team in 2005 and dearly wanted to make the team again this year. In fact, at this weekend’s Safeway Classic, she seemed to be more interested in looking good for Betsy King than in the 2nd place purse she won (tied with 3 other players). She practically said as much in her on-camera interview when she finished on Sunday. Maybe winning that tournament would have caught Betsy’s eye, but Lorena Ochoa ran away with that prize, defeating all the second place winners by 5 strokes.
Still, the first captain’s pick for the team happened to be 11th place in Solheim Cup points and a win yesterday would have knocked Nicole Castrale out of that position. Of course that wouldn’t have guaranteed her a spot – Nicole might have been chosen anyway – but it might have been more difficult to justify. King’s second pick wasn’t about points, because Christina had Laura Diaz beat in that regard. Nothing against Laura here, but it also wasn’t about sponsors and ratings because I think Christina’s charm and enthusiasm would win that hands down. Diaz must have been chosen for her experience in Sweden (and in years) as well as whatever influence King thought Diaz would bring to the team. I’m sure Diaz has passion and team spirit but I’m also sure she won’t express it like Christina Kim does.
Calm and stability won out over buoyancy but that’s not to say that’s how Captain King made her picks. I’m sure she looked at all angles and made the decision she thought would be best for a cohesive team. I just hope it’s a winning team. And I feel for Christina.
Go get ’em, U.S.A.!
August 28, 2007 at 12:10 am
I too feel for C. Kim after her heartfelt post-game interview telling all of America (those who watch the LPGA anyway)that she wants it sooooo bad. But let’s look at stats. Diaz’s last 5 finishes: (3rd), (9th), (12th), (4th), (12th). Kim’s: (9th), (6th), (58th), (26th), (2nd). In Diaz’s 16 total events, she got 4 top 10s & 2 top 3s. In Kim’s 20 total events (4 more), she only mustered the same number of top 10s & just 1 top 3. But the most telling stat is the eagles & greens in regulation (GIR). In 2007 Diaz ranked 9th in GIR to Kim’s 29th, and 7th in Eagles to Kim’s 64th.
Of course, the rah rah factor will always favor Kim, but a rah rah type player is only effective when the crowd is there to hype it…otherwise it seems kinda foolish. I doubt it will play effectively in Europe. I’ll take a better Diaz over a hyped Kim anyday. Besides, it was just a little over the top (tacky) to try to sell (hype) her way onto the squad. And Betsy was clearly not buying.
August 28, 2007 at 12:44 am
Hi Lorelai,
Thanks for your comment. I’m not saying Diaz was the wrong choice. That’s for the captain to decide.
I knew what the stats pages said when I linked to them (Diaz had 19 events) and I’m not sure Ms. King relied solely on stats for the decision either. What about the other stats – birdies and putts per green? Kim has Diaz beat on both counts. I’d rather have more birdies and fewer putts per green than the occasional eagle, but I definitely agree that GIR is key. And if we talk about the last 5 starts instead of finishes, that ugly 58th in Kim’s list wouldn’t look so bad next to Diaz’s CUT.
I don’t think Christina was trying to hype her way onto the team – like you said, I thought her interview was heartfelt, not contrived. She just really wanted it. Plus, the “rah rah factor” isn’t just effective to a hometown crowd, it can also have a motivational influence on the team.
I just feel for her and look forward to seeing her work even harder in the next two years to earn points and make the 2009 team.
August 29, 2007 at 6:39 am
Good points, and I agree that the stats could cut either way & probably only had a marginal effect on King’s picks overall, but I’m still not convinced Kim wasn’t hyping it up–which turned me off. Yes, she wanted it badly and very sincerely, which made her appeal very heartfelt. But in the end, hype is hype, for whatever reason. Either ya tend to like it or ya don’t. And King’s subtle comments about needing a player who was not as susceptible to emotion driving their performance in an arena like Sweden indicated to me that at least she felt that the hype wouldn’t ultimately do much for the team without the crowd’s matched response. Either way, I still feel for Kim because she laid it out there. But as you might be able to detect, I am a huge Diaz fan so I forthrightly admit bias! :->
BTW, excellent site, and please keep up the outstanding work!