The 18th Solheim Cup is done and dusted, and for the first time in its history, both teams finished on 14 points. But the cup, owing to Europe’s victory in Ohio at Inverness Club two years ago, will remain on European soil. Tron, Randy and Neil ventured over to Finca Cortesin Golf Club along Spain’s Costa del Sol to take in the spectacle, their first time attending a European Solheim (after being in Ohio for the last one). What follows is a hodgepodge of thoughts, musings, and takeaways they’ve brought back across the pond with them…


In an era when golf is being optimized, every statistic sliced and diced, youth and power emphasized, and probabilities quantified and requantified over the course of a round, a performance like the one we witnessed from Caroline Hedwall on Sunday afternoon was both miraculous and fleeting. The 34-year-old veteran was a surprise captain’s pick and a question mark in the eyes of many coming into the week. After a lean year in 2021 on the Ladies European Tour, Hedwall captured the season-ending Andalucia Open de Espana (played just up the road from Finca Cortesin) for her first victory since 2018, and then played solid, if unspectacular golf into 2023.

Fast forward to Finca Cortesin - consider that Hedwall arrived having carded just three rounds in the 60s in her previous 18 tournament rounds. Then consider that Hedwall sat the first three sessions. The pick from Pettersen felt curious when it was announced, and even more so through midday Saturday. Hedwall partnered with fellow Swede Anna Nordqvist in the fourball session on Saturday afternoon. After some good play from Hedwall on the front nine, they frittered away a 2 up lead through 10 holes and lost 2 down to the American duo of Cheyenne Knight and Angel Yin. Fast forwarding to Sunday, through the first twelve holes of Hedwall’s match against Ally Ewing on Sunday, it appeared to be more of the same. Going out in the middle of the session, Hedwall trailed early in the match and arrived to the 13th tee 3 down with 6 holes to play. Then the improbable happened.


Birdie on 13. Birdie on 14. Draining long birdie putts and doing so with emphatic reactions that catalyzed the crowd. Both Ewing and Hedwall parred the difficult 15th hole, though Hedwall nearly scared a birdie putt in there. 1 down with three to play and Randy and I turned to each other with that look that said “what if???” Then ‘what if’ happened on 16, in the midst of Georgia Hall and Gemma Dryburgh both coughing up leads and notching only half points. Hedwall drained a 15-foot birdie putt to pull that match to all square and catalyze the crowd in front of one of the biggest grandstands on the course. All around her things kept deteriorating, with Ciganda showing signs of crumbling after a shank on 15 and Angel Yin shutting the door on Celine Boutier to take the US to a 13-11 lead. Randy and I were struggling to contain ourselves, and not even as Euro fans, but rather as fans of golf and competition. What we were witnessing was breaking the probability models and a sign that crazy shit still happens.


Moving onward to the tucked pin on 17, Hedwall managed to stuff one to ten feet and then buried the putt. 1 up going into 18! “My gosh, this can’t possibly continue,” we thought. Both players hit great drives on the par five 18th, avoiding the bunker up the left and earning a look at the green in two. Ally Ewing put her second shot in the green-side bunker - not a bad place to be to the back pin. Hedwall, who’d put a charge into her drive and was significantly closer than Ewing, ripped a high draw over the huge swales short right of the green, landed on the front edge and rolled to the middle of the green, setting up an easy two-putt for birdie. Ewing, knowing she likely needed to hole the bunker shot to win the hole, caught a lot of ball and hit it over the green and it was over and Europe was squarely back in it, with 12 points on the board and Carlota and Maja Stark’s matches trending positively to get to at least 14.

For anyone to do what Hedwall did - going from 3 down to a 2 up victory in a six-hole stretch - would be improbable. For Caroline Hedwall to do so and the way she did it, without Ally Ewing completely collapsing, made it all the more remarkable. It was among the most improbable things I’ve ever seen in golf. It’s why they hit the shots, instead of the #databoys just simulating these things, as I sometimes feel they’d rather do. It all felt exceedingly rare, that in 2023 a captain would pick someone without the statistical profile, and then in the face of injuries on the team and surprises stuck to your guns and didn’t play her until Saturday afternoon to ensure she was rested for Sunday. Then, Hedwall went out and did what she did to pay off all that belief and trust.

There was something unquantifiable that Suzann saw inside her pick, that the models weren’t picking up, and often those hunches don’t work out and the eye test and emphasis on heart don’t pan out. But when it does, it’s magical.

The Aura of Suzann Pettersen (written by Randy)

Sunday night, during the euphoric Team Europe press conference, I donned my big-J journalist hat and asked Maja Stark if she could speak about the emotions of her week and the experience in general. Note: this was Maja’s first Solheim Cup. She’d gone 2-1-1 across four sessions and capped it by taking down current US Open champion Allisen Corpuz in a crucial singles match late Sunday to set the stage for Carlota Ciganda’s theatrics. She answered, saying:

“I've never had so much fun in my life, and I'm so happy to be able to win this for Suzann. I don't think there's anyone really in the world that I get that star struck over, but I'm still star struck, even after a week of hanging out. I can't believe it.

Then I just felt like -- I hoped the whole way that the pressure would make me better, and I think it did. It's such a nice feeling to actually hit those crucial shots at the end. And yeah, I'm just so happy, and I've had so much fun with the team. It's probably the best experience of my life.

I love this answer. I mean, how can you not? What an incredible Solheim experience! But it was what she said specifically about her captain, Suzann Pettersen, that struck a chord in me.

All week I had marveled at Pettersen’s aura, for lack of a better word. Of any player, captain, vice captain, it was Pettersen, in my opinion, whose simple presence commanded my attention the most. Whose energy most consistently exerted a gravitational pull on my interest. She has that elusive, intangible ‘It’ factor in spades. A classic alpha personality, in the way psychologists define the term–e.g. strong sense of self, determination, a conviction in beliefs, ambition and desire to work hard, etc.

But it’s not simply possessing those attributes that results in the aura around Pettersen. Because let’s face it, every member of Team Europe and Team USA has ample amounts of determination, ambition, sense of self and hard work – or they wouldn’t be in Spain. It’s something in the mysterious alchemy of Pettersen’s blend of characteristics that sets her apart from everybody else, at least in my eyes. I don’t know what it is, I don’t know if we even have the words or the ability to figure it out—but I’m certain it’s an aura. Maja Stark felt it this week, and it was exciting for me to be in the midst of it as well.

I spent much of my time during the three days on-site following Linn Grant’s matches. Beyond the world-class swing and clear-cut physical strength, LG possesses a simmering, yet calm, intensity that you don’t often see in the sport. While this week was a mixed bag - not quite rising to the moment in the opening match with Maja and losing to the best golf of Megan Khang’s career, I’ll mostly remember the Saturday afternoon partnership with Carlota Ciganda in which Linn birdied the first five holes and looked like a boxer in total control of a bout, locked in, to the point of not hearing the closing bell. Carlota played beautifully and complemented Linn’s aggressiveness with brilliant iron play, and the two looked comfortable in each other’s company. More striking was the fact that I think Linn was speaking Spanish with Carlota. Instead of the two of them speaking English, Linn relied upon one of her secondary languages to speak her partner’s native tongue in the biggest event of her career to this point. A small gesture, but an alpha signal nonetheless.


The singles loss is going to burn Linn, to the point where I think it’ll be a massive source of fuel over the next 6-12 months in the lead-up to next year’s Solheim Cup in DC. And to be able to run it back with Suzann as her captain and as a mentor whom she wants to show growth and impress (see: Randy’s bit about Suzann’s unrelenting competitiveness and aura above.) I’m buying all the stock - she’s built different. The very things we so desperately want to see in Nelly, I see in spades in Linn.

The Yin and Yang of Wanting (written by Randy)

On Saturday afternoon, after Day 2’s fourball session came to a close, Angel Yin and her partner, Cheyenne Knight, stepped into the press center to discuss their 2up victory over the European side of Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall. It was an important point, the lone point the United States put on the board that afternoon, in a weekend full of important points considering where the contest would end.

There was Angel, always a character, up on the podium sporting big black sunglasses she had received moments earlier from, of all people, LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. And continuing with the homage to Colorado football coach Deion Sanders, she enthusiastically proclaimed, “We keep receipts!”


Let’s take a quick step back here and discuss a couple of things. This was not a combative Angel Yin in any sense of the imagination. This was one of the larger personalities in women’s golf putting on display her charisma, humor, and authenticity for everybody to see. It’s just who Angel is, never shying away from being herself. Wherever she goes, a whirlwind of energy, emotion and sound follows.


So back to the aforementioned Saturday afternoon press conference and the Deion Sanders hater-blockers. This was Angel in her element. Playful, funny, boisterous. Exuding humor, good energy, and laughs for all those in her vicinity. Her partner, Knight, was asked what it’s been like to foster team chemistry with Yin. To which Cheyenne said:

“It's been so much fun. Angel has such an infectious personality. I haven't spent a ton of time with her, but honestly, on the media day, we just had so much fun and we've been saying sayings, like, to each other and quoting Deion Sanders from Colorado football.”

On Sunday afternoon, Solheim Cup veteran, Danielle Kang, went out of her way to single out the impact Angel Yin had behind the scenes for Team USA this week, “Listen, when I'm old and gray one day and look back, I'm going to remember our team rooms where Megan and Angel and all these girls were hyping us up, and I wish you guys had a camera. I wish people could experience what I experienced last night and this week because it was unbelievable.”

Angel Yin belongs in events like the Solheim Cup. She’s great for her teammates. She’s great for the media, always looking for a quote. She’s great for the fans. Oh, and the 24-year-old has been pretty damn good for scoring points too, collecting five-and-a-half of them from nine career matches across three appearances in 2017, 2019 and 2023. Notice the gap in 2021 however. What happened two years ago? Well, as Angel related on 

 she wanted the Solheim spot so badly that it ended up taking a toll on her body and overall well-being. Listen to it for yourself, or read, in her own words:


“Only people close to me in my life know this, but I can say it: It’s really important, but it’s not life-or-death for me, where it was like that before. I put so much importance on being able to wear red, white and blue and represent our country. I really got so sick afterward, I couldn’t even get out of bed. And then the experience afterward and what I heard afterwards – I think it was just too much for me to handle. My reality collapsed a little bit.”


Fast forward to the beginning of 2023 and Angel had done the hard work to get to a place where she could care a bit less. Or better put, care in a way that is more sustainable for her physical and mental well-being.

“This year, my mindset [was] more peaceful going in. It’s like, if I make it, I make it. If not, I have other goals I need to do.”

For Angel Yin, or hell, for anybody, to accomplish anything of significance begins with wanting something very badly. What her story, her candor can teach us though, is there’s a risk with going too far in that desire. She found that less can be more, and by learning that valuable lesson, ironically, the US team is poised to keep reaping more and more from her in years to come.


I spent the majority of Sunday afternoon posted up above the front right bunker on number 15 at Finca Cortesin, a difficult par 4 that brought matches back from the hinterlands of the golf course. This spot allowed me to watch players strike a distant tee shot over a massive ravine and then hit long irons into an elevated green with trouble left and bunkers right.

I picked this spot thinking it would be the earliest hole the tournament could potentially end based on where things stood when I left the media center. The 15th also gave me the best chance to catch each match as they were either decided or developing into the final act of each drama. As I watched groups come through and constantly updated the leaderboard on my phone, I began to feel some FOMO with big moments happening on 16-18 that I was unable to see.

The 15th was difficult, so there weren’t many fireworks with nothing better than par winning the hole through the 6 matches I watched. Regardless, I stuck to my plan to wait on the penultimate match of Korda vs. Ciganda and follow this match to its conclusion. My patience paid off as I witnessed a shot that will stick with me for years to come: Carlota Ciganda’s shank from the middle of the fairway up into a tree about 40 yards short right of the green.

It was jarring to watch the golf ball streak off the club face from about 175 out. It looked like a poorly thrown frisbee that was way too low and veering right while also refusing to hit the ground. It elicited gasps and fore calls from the packed crowd lining the hill overlooking the 15th green. Ciganda went on to dump her 3rd shot in the front bunker, blasted it out to 20 feet but conceded the hole with Korda in for par after a classy up and down from just off the back of the green. This tied a match that Ciganda led all day and put Korda in the driver’s seat heading into the final three holes with the cup up for grabs.

Seeing this shank made the Ciganda’s next two irons the best golf shots I’ve seen in person. With both players splitting the 16th fairway, Ciganda answered Korda’s excellent approach to 10 feet into 16 with an iron to 3 feet. After Korda missed her putt, Ciganda converted her birdie to win the hole and go back up by 1 in the match.

By the time this match arrived at 17 tee, the arena like par 3 was packed and buzzing with energy. You couldn’t script the final act any better: The lone Spaniard had the honor and the advantage. She could win it right here at the par 3 in front of king and country. As I watched her tee it up, I wondered to myself, was she concerned about that swing she made on 15?

While the course left a lot to be desired, let’s focus on the positive:

The first hole offered an opening litmus test all week, and the setup committee did a great job of mixing up hole locations to make the hole distinctly different each session. Would be keen to know if the first hole was more volatile than the historical average for openers in the Solheim Cup.

The selection of an American-style course with grainy Bermuda grass definitely had an effect on the European team and played right into the hands of the Americans. That said, it appeared that California native Rose Zhang struggled on the tight Bermuda. Whether this was simply inexperience or a larger issue with Bermuda, we shall see.

Walking the course, it’s a shame that the coverage was so poor/non-existent on many of the holes, particularly the second through fourth, which were among the strongest on the course and offered some cool vistas out to the Mediterranean. The 2nd is a par five with a fairway that bottles awkwardly in the landing area, the 3rd a strong uphill par 3 that was a good litmus test for who was striking it well, and then the 4th is sweeping par five with water up the left short of the green and a steep slope along the right side of the green. Juxtaposed with the par fives on the back, these two were much more dynamic.

A view of a tree in play on the second hole.

Spanish national treasure Pau Gasol spectates on the No. 4 fairway.

Not-quite-centerline trees were prevalent on many holes and Randy’s eyes lit up every time he saw them. Weirdly, I really like these vertical hazards - not too tall, not right in the middle of the fairway - they made the players think a bit more, but without being suffocating as trees typically are.

On the setup front, I really appreciated what they did on Sunday for singles: moving the tee up on 14 to create a dynamic short 4 (for what was otherwise a bizarre hole as a short two-shooter), which contrasted nicely with the beastly par four 15th. These two holes proved pivotal in deciding the outcome of the most competitive matches. The short 17th provided incredible drama with a tucked left pin on Sunday.

The 9th hole was another high point, both literally and figuratively. Finca Cortesin is unabashedly a resort and real estate development, with the main hotel complex and priciest lots occupying a ridgeline that segregates the two valleys that contain each nine. The 9th (which plays as the 18th for resort play) is really the only hole that uses this ridgeline, and it does so nicely, with a big fall-off down the left and a demanding second shot to a green with short-grass fall-offs up the left.

A view of the approach shot into the 9th green.

2023 Solheim Cup Takeaways

Things will be different this time for the United States Ryder Cup team when they tee it up in Europe this week.

Don’t misunderstand me, or send a note to Jon Rahm or Rory McIlroy that they can use as bulletin board material. I do not mean to say that the result is going to necessarily be different. That’s something that I go back and forth on daily. I’ll probably flip another 50 times before the first shots are hit on Friday.

What will be different, without any shadow of a doubt, is the makeup of the team the United States is bringing to Italy, and their process for trying to win the Ryder Cup. This American squad has learned from past mistakes and has a plan that wasn’t sketched on the back of a napkin the week of the event. It doesn’t mean the United States is going to win, but for the first time in forever, it feels like the two teams will be on equal footing in terms of strategy.


That, in and of itself, gives me hope America can end its Ryder Cup road drought.

He was a captain’s pick on the last U.S. Ryder Cup team to win on European soil. Floyd went 3-1 en route to a 15-13 victory at The Belfry.

An entire generation of American players has come and gone since then, with 

 of them able to do what that 1993 team was able to do: bring the cup back to America.

The turmoil began in 1997, as the team welcomed 21-year-old Ryder Cup rookie Tiger Woods to the team. Jim Furyk was also a first-timer. 27-year-old Phil Mickelson, who had played on the 1995 team at Oak Hill, was playing in his first European Ryder Cup. Together, those three men seemed poised to buoy American golf for a generation.


Despite being heavily favored, the U.S. team lost a nail-biter in Spain

Five years later, they would lose again at the Belfry.


They would then go on to lose the next European Ryder Cup at the K Club.

No matter how hot the individual players were, no matter how many times they were favored, and no matter how many times they convinced us that this time it would be different, it just never was. When it was over, the Europeans were dousing themselves in champagne and the Americans were left pointing fingers.


Each Ryder Cup seems to have its own set of blunders. Including, but not limited to: leaky rainsuits, pairings drawn out of a hat (not literally), whining about said pairings, teammates brawling, chunked chips, all brown outfits, and Brett Wetterich. (If interested, KVV and I dove into these mistakes in detail over the course of 

) It’s difficult to paint them all with the same brush, but if I had to nail it down, I would say:

The U.S. had a talented group of players that failed repeatedly in this format

The U.S. did not have a cohesive process of forming a team and making decisions.


On the first point, while there’s plenty of blame to be shared, I’m going to pick on the three names above: Woods, Mickelson, and Furyk.

Specifically, I’m going to pick on their playing records.


Tiger played on five of these six teams (missing 2014 due to injury), Phil played on all six, and Furyk played on the first five and captained the sixth. They’ve been the biggest constants on the U.S. Ryder Cup over the last two decades, and as you might guess, they were anchors.

Tiger and Phil, the two best players of their generation, combined to go 15-25-6 in European Ryder Cups. Add in Furyk and the record goes to 20-37-9.

For all of their accomplishments in individual stroke play events, they just could not figure this format out. Once that narrative began, the pressure mounted. Things seemingly got worse as their careers went along.

For Furyk, it ended in 2014 after going 1-3 en route to a 16.5-11.5 defeat at Gleneagles.

For Tiger and Phil, it ended with them going a combined 0-6 as the US was embarrassed 17.5-10.5 at Le Golf National in France in 2018.

I refuse to believe the narrative that these guys didn’t care. If anything, I’d venture to say that some of them cared too much. Jim Furyk intimated such on our podcast six years ago:

“My biggest regret, really in my whole career, is… the Ryder Cup is my favorite event,

 Furyk said. “It’s the greatest sporting event in golf, in my opinion. And so for me to go into nine of those as a player and have those teams come out 2-7. Losing seven times is my biggest regret.”


For years, I wrestled with trying to understand why the Ryder Cup tormented those three. At first, it seemed like a sample size. A run of bad luck. They just needed more chances. At times, I blamed their partners. I questioned their decision-making, but never their talent. And while I do still believe that the lack of a U.S. process contributed in some way to their failures, in the end, one conclusion seemed inevitable.

Some people were made for this event, and some simply aren’t.

The first attempt at a process overhaul —

— went as poorly as it possibly could have.

Ted Bishop, the PGA of America President, went with his gut and picked Tom Watson as captain, despite the fact that Watson had almost no connection with the current generation of players. Watson, who was the captain of the last Ryder Cup team to win in Europe in 1993, had no serious plan for the event other than to 

 go with his gut. Bishop, one of Watson’s good friends, wanted someone who wouldn’t coddle the players. And who better to lead the team than the greatest American links player of all time?

What ensued wasn’t really Watson’s fault. He was brought in to be Tom Watson. The problem was with the U.S.’s process, or lack thereof. It was a gamble, and the man in charge admitted it himself. It was apparent very early on just how reckless that gamble was.

Watson’s follies include but are not limited to:

Sitting a scorching Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth (after initially trying not to pair them together)

Not remembering who he subbed in for Spieth and Reed (after telling them their play would dictate their afternoon standing)

Running a 44-year-old Phil Mickelson back out for a second 18 on Friday

Sitting the Mickelson/Keegan Bradley team the entire following day

Pairing Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan together in foursomes at the last second, sending them to the range to figure out what golf ball they were going to play

Verbally harassing the U.S. players for their poor play

A lack of communication led to confusion among the players. A lack of scenario planning led to panicked decision-making.


The U.S. side was throwing darts at the board with a blindfold on, hoping for a miracle. The players were fed up, and Phil took the mic and changed everything:

“We had a great formula in ’08. I don’t know why we strayed,” Mickelson said. “I don’t know why we don’t go back. What Zinger did was great. There were two things that allow us to play our best I think that Paul Azinger did, and one was he got everybody invested in the process. He got everybody invested in who they were going to play with, who the picks were going to be, who was going to be in their (practice session) pod, when they would play, and they had a great leader for each pod.

“In my case, we had Ray Floyd, and we hung out together and we were all invested in each other’s play. We were invested in picking Hunter Mahan that week; Anthony Kim and myself and Justin Leonard were in a pod, and we were involved in having Hunter be our guy to fill our pod. So we were invested in the process.


“The other thing that Paul did really well was he had a great game plan for us, you know, how we were going to go about doing this. How we were going to go about playing together; golf ball, format, what we were going to do, if so-and-so is playing well, if so-and-so is not playing well, we had a real game plan. Those two things helped us bring out our best golf.

“We all do the best that we can and we’re all trying our hardest and I’m just looking back at what gave us the most success. Because we use that same process in the Presidents Cup and we do really well. Unfortunately, we have strayed from a winning formula in 2008 for the last three Ryder Cups, and we need to consider maybe getting back to that formula that helped us play our best.”


Phil’s infamous rant at the press conference on Sunday night was polarizing, and he was heavily criticized to the point where, years later, he was still apologizing for how he went about it. You can debate whether it needed to be done publicly, but it is one of the few occasions in the last decade where we can definitively say:

In the wake of that humiliation, the United States overhauled its process yet again.

Or, depending on how you look at it, implemented it for the first time.

American golfers of all ages gathered in Florida like heads of state to brainstorm ideas. For the first time, they would not be taking orders from above, they would be formulating a plan. A strategy.


It is not something they needed to form from scratch. Their European counterparts had already created the blueprint. They just needed to cop-... uh, imitate it.


“When we all got together in West Palm, it was called the Task Force, which is not the best name,” said Furyk in 2017. “But it helped us get together as players, as past captains, the PGA of America as a whole, to band our thoughts together and try to create a plan for the future. And a long term plan for the future of what can we do, in any way, to help this team improve and to get better, and give them the best opportunity.”

Step 1: Form some continuity among the captains.

Jay Haas had already been named the 2015 Presidents Cup captain before the “task force” was formed. But the names assembled as his assistants have permeated through U.S. teams in the 8 years that have followed: Fred Couples, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III, and Steve Stricker.

2023 Ryder Cup: A New Era for Team United States

OK, there have been a ton of riveting storylines in the 2023 Solheim Cup.

A questionably exhausting venue, the youth invasion on both teams and no shortage of gritty matches. It’s tied up heading into Sunday singles, in a Solheim Cup that held Team Europe as the favorites. As someone watching from home, the momentum from both sides is palpable: the clutch putts, the incredible ball-striking, the roars and fist bumps that follow. It’s a deeply encouraging display of women’s golf, a representation it’s deserved for a long time from both teams – especially from its rising stars.

But one moment in particular stuck out to me, and many others on social media. The decision one veteran made in her Friday press conference, which, unfortunately, has shrouded the more profound storylines that surround the event. I’m not using this to take away from the quality of golf she’s played, either. Lexi Thompson, on all accounts, has fought tooth and nail for Team USA – when her place on the team was subject to scrutiny leading up to the Solheim Cup.

Paired with Lilia Vu in the Friday Four-Ball session, the Americans were right on the heels of Team Europe for the majority of the match until the 17th hole, when Lilia Vu birdied to tie the match. On the final hole, it all fell on Thompson’s third shot, where her ball was nestled in an unfavorable lie and her chip ended up a shank. Though she nearly holed her next attempt, the sequence earned Team Europe its first full point and cut its deficit to two points after the first day.

Later, in the press conference, a reporter asked Thompson about the moment: “There was some question on what you were trying to do and what you actually did do on the third shot. Could you just go through it for us?”

Immediately, her expression soured and she quipped: “I don’t need to comment on that.”

“I don’t need to comment on the chip. It was a bad lie, and I didn’t hit a good chip, but it was pretty much impossible.”

Followed by a hot mic mumble from Captain Lewis: “That’s a terrible question.” (The same captain who said it was a “missed opportunity” for both the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup not to partner up in a co-contested year–a move that would effectively increase the audience for the Solheim Cup.)

Let’s rewind back to the question. Its phrasing could have definitely been better, but undeniably, it sought to understand and contextualize Thompson’s mindset. It was almost certainly an attempt to empathize with Thompson, not shame her. It would have been far worse to write that she choked without trying to seek out her perspective.

Nobody is out here deliberately shanking a chip in the Solheim Cup – that’s a given. Generally speaking, golfers cite their mental game at any chance they get, and we’d be remiss to pretend there wasn’t a strategy behind how Thompson wanted to escape a precarious lie and help seal a comeback half-point.

As both a reader and a writer, I’d much rather Thompson address her thought process than whatever split-second observation an onlooker crafts on deadline. No one can speak for Thompson aside from herself. No one in the media center, and not even Thompson’s teammates could ever fully capture whatever heartbreak she felt. The primary source will always be the most valuable one. It’s a journalistic standard.


Vulnerability is difficult for a woman with a platform. Say, do, or act the wrong way, and the ire is oftentimes far more personal than it would be to a man with a platform. I don’t think this moment defines Thompson’s character at all, but I certainly would have loved it if she took the opportunity to let the world in on how she approached and/or subsequently dealt with a difficult moment. 

We culturally set athletes on a pedestal, eagerly awaiting their heroic moments–and in golf, we’re often left waiting for a long time. Their pain points give that journey substance. This is where a good agent or PR person can be invaluable. Before the press conference, someone could have pulled Thompson aside and said “You’ll likely get a question about that chip, here are some strategies or approaches on how to answer.” Coddling her has the opposite effect.

None of us are entitled to Lexi Thompson in her entirety – but on a public stage, a public figure representing her home country in one of the biggest moments in her golf career means curiosity will follow. Especially when the Solheim Cup decorates the early morning weekend TV screens of that home country before it turns on its most major sport – a significant opportunity to further the brand of a sport that needs it.


The hero's (athlete’s) journey is seldom perfect. Who better than the hero themselves to explain it? Give us a chance to empathize with you.

Jessica Korda, also viewing from home, took to X (the artist formerly known as Twitter…) 

 “So sad seeing golf media, yet again, shred Lexi. It’s easy writing about other people’s mistakes. It’s golf, bad shots happen - give the girl a break. She grows the game more than anyone on tour…And she’s a great player!”

If a player is moving the needle, they are allowed to be asked about the moments in which they aren’t, either. The media does not exist to protect athletes – no matter their biases, backgrounds or beliefs. The role of media is to accurately depict what occurred – and a costly moment like Thompson’s shank qualifies. Censoring your questions because you assume it will cause an athlete discomfort would be a dereliction of duty.

She has earned her place in this Solheim Cup – and Captain Lewis’ trust to be the anchor match in Sunday singles. It is hard to deny her history in the event – six Solheim Cups deep, she is factually the most experienced player on Team USA. Her chosen response does not diminish any credibility as one of the great modern players. But with great power comes great responsibility – and her response left me wishing she navigated the moment with more openness.


And if Thompson had addressed it upfront, would we even be fixated on that half-point loss?


But it adds a greater focus to a narrative that Thompson has struggled to shake in her career: How well she withstands pressure-filled moments. Her role in Sunday’s anchor match magnifies that question.

Should the fate of the Solheim Cup be decided by Thompson with her back against the wall, staring down a chip just off

the 18th green at Finca Cortesin, what will go through her mind:

Success? Or the fear of having to talk — yet again — about failure?

Lexi Thompson! Let's Talk

For more content from our week on-site at the 2023 Solheim Cup, check out 

It has become gospel, within the world of golf, to think of Seve Ballesteros as the most important player in the evolution of the Ryder Cup. It was Ballesteros, after all, who instilled in Europe the swagger that turned an exhibition into a genuine rivalry. He did not see the Ryder Cup as a friendly match, he saw it as a street fight, one where his side was trying to earn respect. His inclusion in the event marked a clear division in its history. There was The Era Before Seve, there was The Era After Seve, and no one would argue the former was better than the latter.

You can make a decent case that Suzann Pettersen — who will captain the European squad this week and also at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in 2024 (note: beginning next year, the Solheim Cup is moving back to even years) — has had a similar effect on the energy of the Solheim Cup.

She is the catalyst who changed everything for Europe.


The Solheim Cup, first held in 1990, wasn’t a total walkover for the United States at its inception. Although the Americans won the first clash handily, 11 ½ to 4 ½ , the Europeans won in decisive fashion two years later when the cup was held on their home turf, 11 ½ to 6 ½. But over the next 20 years, Europe slid into a role of the clear underdog. The United States won 8 of the first 11 contests, including three cups in a row on two separate occasions.

There were signs, however, that the talent gap was closing once Pettersen arrived. Though she was never the best player in the world, she emerged as an intimidating match play stalwart with an unrivaled intensity, much like Ballesteros. In 2003, Pettersen won her first four matches to help Europe win the cup for just the third time in the event’s history. In 2011, she went 3-1 and defeated Michelle Wie for a crucial point in singles on Sunday to help Europe snap a streak of three straight losses. Little by little, and with countless icy stare downs, it was Pettersen who helped shift the momentum away from the American side.


Her intensity backfired in a big way in 2015 when, in a tied fourball match, American Alison Lee scooped an 18-inch putt she thought had been conceded, and Pettersen spoke up and pointed out that no such concession had been made. Europe was awarded the hole, an uproar ensued, and Pettersen was widely criticized. A furious American squad rallied from four points down in the singles competition, the biggest comeback in the history of the Solheim Cup, and Pettersen spent the next week apologizing multiple times for what she called a lapse in judgment.

"I've never felt more gutted and truly sad about what went down Sunday on the 17th at the Solheim Cup,” Pettersen wrote 

But in a way, it was classic Pettersen, even in defeat. She was there to win, not to make friends.


Her final appearance as a player, in 2019, offered a healthy dose of redemption. After stepping away from competitive golf for two years to start a family, Pettersen was selected as a captain’s pick by Catriona Matthew and the entire Solheim Cup came down to her singles match against Marina Alex. When Pettersen made a 6-foot birdie putt to win the match and the Cup, she screamed toward the heavens in celebration, then declared it the perfect coda to her career, retiring from competitive golf amidst the celebration. Pettersen finished her Solheim career with a 18-12-6 record, having won four cups.

Europe, once clear underdogs, has now won four of the last six cups, and has a chance this year to win three straight for the first time in their squad’s history. Pettersen believes her team this year is the strongest team Europe has ever fielded, boasting a mixture of experience (eight of the twelve members will be participating in at least their third cup, led by playing vice-captain Anna Nordqvist’s seven previous cups)  as well as a pack of talented newcomers (Maja Stark, Linn Grant, Gemma Dryburgh).

“If you look on paper, we have the strongest team that I’ve ever been a part of, and that’s based on great performances over the last few years from all the players,” Pettersen said. “So with good results, there’s also expectations, but these girls are so up for it, so we can’t wait.”

Maguire was the star of the Solheim Cup in 2021, her first time playing the event, going 4-0-1 as the Europeans won 15-13, capturing their second straight trophy. It also marked the second time in the event’s history the Europeans won on American soil.

“Obviously last time went about as well as it possibly could have, but it's a brand-new event this time, it's a brand-new venue, a brand-new team, both on the Europe and the U.S. side,” Maguire said.

What kind of fire will we see from Pettersen as a captain? Even she isn’t quite sure.

“​​I've thought a lot about this, but obviously my competitive side has kind of changed a little bit after, first of all, becoming a mother and then second stepping away from a competitive life,” Pettersen said. “That feistiness and determination I had inside the ropes is probably still there, but it doesn't come clear as often as it used to.”

As captain, Pettersen says she’s been crunching numbers and poring over spreadsheets to help determine her pairings, but she is not interested in abandoning her instinct entirely.

“Throughout my career, I was somehow into stats, but I was also very much a feel player, and I was a bit of a -- like, I took a lot by instinct,” she said. “But it’s always nice to base your decisions on facts, and then you can kind of take your heart and your gut feel on top of that. So I think it’s a combination of all, but you can’t hide the facts, and I think it’s great to have in your back pocket, but I would say stats are like any rules, there’s exceptions to any rules. This is a game of golf. We’re all human beings. Yeah, you can statistically say these two players should be great together, but they also got to like each other, you got to have the dynamics.”

Pettersen’s counterpart, American captain Stacy Lewis, had her own reputation for feistiness and intensity during her playing career, and she relished playing the role of the underdog. She may need some of those emotions to rub off on her players this week if they’re going to pull off an upset.

“I don’t know what the rankings will show on paper but I mean, I think Europe has to be favored,” Lewis said. “They have won the last two. They have got really great players playing well. We are going overseas. And that’s not to doubt my team. I just think Europe is really, really strong. They have got all the momentum in this event right now. That’s going to be our biggest thing is we are going overseas, and we don’t have the momentum on our side. And so we are going to go try to flip it.”

The United States feels like a team in transition, with its veterans (Lexi Thompson and Danielle Kang) staring down the barrel of perhaps their final Solheim Cup while a big crop of rookies (Lilia Vu, Allisen Corpuz, Rose Zhang, Andrea Lee & Cheyenne Knight) are trying to build a foundation for the future.

“I'm not worried about the chemistry at all,” Lewis said. “These five, they are rookies, but they are so experienced, just as far as the amount of golf they have been able to play. Rose is the only true rookie but she's probably got more experience than a lot of us combined, in big events, that is. So not worried about the rookies at all, to be honest and I love having Lexi, Danielle, those that have been around and played a lot. We are going to rely on them quite a bit just for behind-the-scenes and leading the way there. They have won a couple of these things, and so you know, they really need to lead us in that way.”

As for strategy, Lewis informed her players during the selection process that she wouldn’t be using the “pod system” that’s been popular with recent Solheim Cup captains, one where players are divided up in “pods” based on similarities in their games and personalities. She wants this American squad to lean on each other as a group. Lewis seems more comfortable relying on analytics to guide her decision-making, particularly since the LPGA is partnering with the statistical modeling firm Twenty First Group for the first time. She has access to data no captain has ever had before.

“It’s been my start point for everything,” Lewis said. “It’s not the be all. There’s certainly personalities of people who do or don’t want to play together, maybe it’s a golf ball issue, but analytics are a huge part of what we’re doing and it’s helped justify things to me in my head and it’s helped justify things with the players as well.”

Going away from the Pod System, which has worked for America in the past, is certainly a risk, but it’s one the players seem to support.

“I think it's a new approach. It's a great approach,” said Ally Ewing. “I think, if anything, it's going to bring us together. It doesn't really cluster us or categorize us to certain people that we're around, for the most part, so I think we're going to see even more strength in the team room as an aspect of it. So I think it's going to be nothing but great for us.”

Thompson, who is playing in her sixth Solheim Cup, agreed with Ewing.

“Not that the pod system was a bad thing by any means, but I think Stacy has a great strategy in mind and just all keeping us together and not really breaking us apart,” Thompson said. “We all get along very well and we know each other's games well too, so that always helps. But I definitely believe that Stacy knows what she's doing, so we're excited for the week.”

If the United States is going to win, it could use a strong performance from Thompson, who has fallen to 26th in the Rolex World Rankings, a place she hasn’t been since her rookie season in 2012. In 11 starts on the LPGA this year, she’s missed the cut eight times and has looked lost and disinterested on the course much of this season.

“I'm not focusing on the past,” Thompson said. “I'm here with my team this week and going to represent my best.”

If Thompson needs any inspiration, she might find some in Petterson. In 2019, Pettersen had fallen to 620th in the world. Retirement seemed imminent, and there were plenty of critics who felt she didn’t deserve a spot on Team Europe. No one knew what to expect from her. But when the fate of the entire Solheim Cup rested on her, Pettersen delivered in dramatic fashion.

It was once again proof that, in this event, one putt can change a narrative forever.

2023 Solheim Cup Preview

A few centuries ago, the golf-obsessed people of St. Andrews, Scotland, made a seemingly counterintuitive decision. On Sundays, the historic grounds of The Old Course would outlaw golf and embrace its role as a space for public recreation. The course is open. But the course is closed.

It’s a tradition that – barring tournament play or extenuating circumstances – is still upheld today. Go for a run. Walk your dog. Have a picnic. Huck a frisbee. Do cartwheels over the Swilcan Bridge. Jump the burn. Let your kids build a sand castle in one of the Seven Sisters. Do whatever you want. Just respect the course and respect the rules: No golf.


I’ve been at The Old Course for one of these Sundays and the result is, in my opinion, a bucket list golf experience up there with any in the world. So much of the charm of The Old Course is the way it morphs, evolves and changes as you look at it from different angles. On one of these Sundays, you can grab a coffee, find a yardage book and go get lost out on the most interesting course in the world for as long as you want. No one is playing behind you.

Go look at that green from the other side!

 where Cam putted from on 17. Could I do that? I could do that.

At least for us Americans, the whole day carries with it a surreal feeling that can only be summed up as: “Should we really be doing this?” As you start out down the middle of the first fairway, you can’t help but look over your shoulder, waiting for a sprinting official from the St. Andrews Links Trust to tackle you for a 15-yard loss. But it doesn’t happen. The keepers of The Old Course look the other way for one day a week and trust that you aren’t going to screw it up for everyone else. And, for the most part, no one really has.

The reason I bring all this up is because that feeling is the closest approximation to what it was like last week at the Walker Cup, where fans on-site got an up-close look at the future of competitive golf through a lens that felt much more like the sport’s past.

(Pause: If you’re unfamiliar with the Walker Cup, 

from myself and Wolfie. Despite a great start from the GB&I squad, the U.S. completed a comeback victory on the final day.)


I can’t believe I had never been to a Walker Cup. I still can’t believe they could all be like that – that chaotic, intimate and historic – but the people who make a point to attend each one insist that they are. That’s why they go.


Yes, there are technically ropes, held by volunteers who make sure competitors have enough space to execute shots. But after the ball is away, fans, players and caddies march toward the next shot together, shoulder-to-shoulder, before spectators form an unbroken circle around The Old Course’s massive double greens. You know that feeling of camping out behind a tee box for six groups just to have an eventual view of a Rory driver? At the Walker Cup, you get that view every time you want it.

I can’t believe that’s how golf tournaments used to be. That’s one of the big bittersweet feelings you take back with you. There are no life insurance activations or data-harvesting “fan villages.” You can hear conversations between players and caddies because you’re standing right next to them. There is no hierarchy of hospitality passes dangling from people’s necks – you look to your left and notice the chairman of Augusta National is out walking with the matches between a few St. Andrews University students. The more PGA Tour events you’ve been to in your life, the more surreal it is.

There was one mini grandstand overlooking the 11th tee. Even that seemed like it was there for altruistic reasons; not to sell 

, but to celebrate the fact that people in those seats could simultaneously see the 11th green, the seventh green, the 12th tee, the eighth green 

 the 10th green because The Old Course rules.

From an on-course perspective, the event contains absolutely no B.S. It is as pure-golf as it possibly gets in today’s world. (From a non-golf perspective, I’d listen to an argument that it’s almost entirely B.S. But I’m happy to ignore the hours of weepy speeches and cocktail receptions in exchange for such a fantastic and unique viewing experience.)

This type of atmosphere at a state high school tournament would be enough to make for an enjoyable day for anyone who loves watching golf. The fact that you’re instead watching future major champions dissect the best venues in the world makes it jump to the top of the list of best golf tournaments I’ve ever attended.

Because it can’t be said enough times: The venues leading up to last week’s event at The Old Course were National Golf Links, Royal Lytham, LACC, Hoylake and Seminole. The sites that have been announced going forward? Cypress Point, Lahinch, Bandon Dunes and Oakmont.


I can only speak to the experience I had last week while filming in St. Andrews, a place well-versed in hosting and trusting visitors. Who knows if Cypress Point will have the same laissez-faire attitude toward public fans roaming their hallowed grounds? And as this type of hyper-authentic experience goes extinct in the world of golf, who knows what the USGA will charge for tickets in order to keep it that way? (For what it’s worth, tickets at The Old Course were 20 pounds for the day and 35 for the week for the 14,000-plus that attended.)

But, man. If Cypress in 2025 is going to be one-tenth the experience that The Old Course was this year, it might be time to start looking at flights.

It’s an easy comparison to make, but in a year when so much of the conversation around competitive golf has been about purse sizes, guaranteed contracts, personal brands and congressional hearings, my 

 was it fun to just spend a week with great people watching great players on a great golf course.

Soon enough the bulk of those players will be at the center of all those things that are making pro golf increasingly less fun. But for this week at The Old Course, things remained uncomplicated.


I’m thankful we preserved as much as we could on the hard drives we brought home.

one of the best parts of watching this type of event at The Old Course was score in relation to par was totally irrelevant.


In major championships, we’re lucky to get to see The Old Course every five years or so. But each time The Open arrives, so much of the conversation around St. Andrews is about distance, protecting par and the invisible threat of 59’s desecrating golf’s holy land.

In the match-play format of The Walker Cup, all you really care about is who gets the ball in the hole first. I watched Gordon Sargent go 4-0 last week and have no idea whether he shot 58 or 68 in any of his rounds. I know he was able to use his prodigious length to put an immense amount of pressure on his opponent hole after hole. And I know he was playing a golf course that somehow had about six par 3s. But never once did it cross my mind where he stood in relation to par.


I’m not saying any of this is some solution to the distance discussion – having a little wedge into the Road Hole still evokes quite 

. What I’m saying is that The Old Course might have more thrilling half-par holes than any other course we see regularly and it was a great change of pace to actually see it in a match play context.

I think this, along with the microscopic logistical footprint of the event, is one of the reasons the USGA/R&A feels so confident continuing to take this event to iconic venues that are no longer realistic options for major championships. It seems like as good of a compromise as is possible in modern competitive golf.

I’m not sure what I can tell you that his rèsumè, his ball speed and his 4-0 record don’t say for him, but man it was cool to watch the No. 1 amateur in the world play The Old Course for a week straight.


Yes, the distance stuff was a thrill while he was goofing around in his practice rounds – he hit the stick with his tee shot on 18 one of the days, he drove the 414-yard sixth hole and he had a realistic chance to fly the burn at No. 1 (he came up just short). But once the actual event started, his demeanor, his shotmaking and his quiet confidence really did stand out on a team full of stud Americans.

After winning his match on Saturday evening, he talked about his process leading up to his final tee shot on 18.


“It would have been a perfect 3-wood,” he said. “But I would have had to start it out over the Russacks Hotel.” Instead, Sargent choked off a massive slice driver that rolled up and onto the putting surface to all but secure a point.

I also can’t express to you just how fast he plays. What a dream.


 over the course of the week was 17-year-old Connor Graham from the GB&I team.


Graham was one of the youngest players to ever participate in the event and he had the look to prove it. When sitting his afternoon singles match on Saturday, walking around outside the ropes and watching his team, one fan (it was Randy) mistakenly thought he was a player’s younger brother that had found an extra uniform to show his support.

Graham’s curly blond hair, as well as his jittery demeanor on the course and a knack for holing some big, unlikely putts bore an uncanny resemblance to videos of young Jordan Spieth. It was all I could see after making the connection.


Graham absolutely held his own against some of the biggest U.S. names as well. He and countryman Calum Scott earned the first GB&I point of the week with a win in the first session. They then took the souped-up U.S. duo of Sargent and Nick Dunlap (the recent U.S. Am winner) all the way to the 18th, narrowly losing 1 down.


In a cruel joke from the golfing gods on the final day, Graham was matched up in singles against Stewart Hagestad, the oldest player on the U.S. side and by far the tallest on either team.


If I was going to show you one screenshot to try to explain why this event rules, it would probably be this one.

, but as the Solheim and Ryder Cups descend upon us, I have to think there are some other things to yell besides “come onnnn!” and “lesssss go!” when putts go in.

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