Facts: Today’s singles in the Solheim Cup
11.10: Linn Grant-Megan Khang.
11.22: Leona Maguire-Rose Zhang.
11.34: Charley Hull-Danielle Kang.
11.46: Anna Nordqvist-Jennifer Kupcho.
11.58: Georgia Hall-Andrea Lee.
12.10: Gemma Dryburgh-Cheyenne Knight.
12.22: Céline Boutier-Angel Yin.
12.34: Caroline Hedwall-Ally Ewing.
12.46: Madelene Sagström-Lilia Vu.
12.58: Maja Stark-Allisen Corpuz.
13.10: Carlota Ciganda-Nelly Korda.
13.22: Emily Kristine Pedersen-Lexi Thompson.
It is 8-8 before the final singles matches of the Solheim Cup at the beautiful Spanish golf pearl Finca Cortesín.
After Europe rallied from a 0-4 deficit, it’s back to square one, but captains Suzann Pettersen and Stacy Lewis have matched their teams differently en route to the decider.
The Norwegian European captain has had three players play in all four games so far. Including the Swedish debutant Linn Grant, who basically played golf from sunrise to sunset for two days.
How does Grant reason about the fatigue?
— I try to tell myself that it doesn’t exist and just keep playing well, says the 24-year-old who has won three of his four matches.
— Today I had momentum (with two victories on Saturday) and it’s just a matter of bringing that feeling to the singles and being one with the crowd.
Worked well
Suzann Pettersen has also let Emily Kristine Pedersen and Leona Maguire play all the matches. While Gemma Dryburgh and Caroline Hedwall have been rested completely each day and only played one match each.
— These girls are here to play. So they’ve said that “whatever you want, we’ll do it”. I think it has worked well so far, says Pettersen.
USA captain Stacy Lewis has coached the team more traditionally. All twelve players have been allowed to play at least one match a day. And got to rest at least once during the two days on the hilly and quite demanding course on the Spanish sunny coast.
— It is always decided on Sunday and we want our players to be fresh then. This golf course is brutal. It doesn’t matter what shape you’re in, it’s a tough walk, says Lewis.
— We were lucky to get a good start on Friday and have not felt forced to let anyone play all five games.
Very Swedish
Five Swedes are in the team that will try to win the Solheim Cup for the third time in a row, something Europe has never succeeded in doing. Linn Grant plays in the first match, against Megan Khang at 11.10am.
— We are trying to start strong. It will be important to get points early and give ourselves a chance. Then we have a pretty good line-up at the end to row it into port, says Suzann Pettersen.
Caroline Hedwall, Madelene Sagström and Maja Stark play match eight, nine and ten and can all in theory be the one who gets the decision of the entire Solheim Cup in their hands.
The team needs another 6.5 points to win. Should the match end 14–14, Europe will retain the title as defending champions.