European octet opt to fine tune in US rather than Spain

NO FEWER than eight of European captain Alison Nicholas’s team have opted to play in this week’s Navistar Classic on the LPGA Tour in the United States – rather than the closer-to-home Spanish Open on the Ladies European Tour – ahead of next week’s Solheim Cup at Killeen Castle in Dunsany, Co Meath.

Rather than fine-tune in Spain, the octet – headed by world number two Suzann Pettersen – will compete in the heat of Birmingham, Alabama, before boarding a special charter flight on Sunday night that will head directly to Dublin, arriving next Monday morning when Nicholas’s team formally meets up to finalise preparations in their attempt to win back the prized crystal trophy.

Pettersen will be joined in Alabama by Karen Stupples, Anna Nordqvist, Azahara Munoz, Maria Hjorth, Sophie Gustafson, Christel Boeljon and Sandra Gal, who showed her return to form with a top-five finish in the Walmart Championship in Arkansas last Sunday. Gal shot a closing 64, the low round of the tournament.

All 12 of the United States team – seeking to win a fourth straight Solheim Cup – will be in action in Alabama and will actually share the same charter flight across the Atlantic.

While the majority of Nicholas’s team have opted for a transatlantic tune-up, Laura Davies has decided to use the Spanish Open as her last outing before the Solheim Cup.

Davies, the defending champion, will be joined in the field by impressive “rookie” Caroline Hedwall from Sweden and England’s Mel Reid.

Hedwall – a three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour in her first year as a professional – has an outside chance of completing a double last achieved by Davies in 1985: to win the rookie of the year accolade and to also top the order of merit.

The 22-year-old Swedish player is currently ranked second on the European Tour money list, behind Japan’s Ai Miyazato. Reid is currently positioned in third place.

Wins in the Slovakia Open, the Finnish Masters and the Austrian Open have made Hedwall – who makes her Solheim Cup debut next week – the hottest player on the European Tour.

“I strongly believe in destiny,” said Hedwall of her chance to emulate Davies’s double of 26 years ago. “If it has to happen, it will happen. I am not putting any extra pressure on me. It has been a great year and I would like to keep the momentum going.”

While the European team won’t officially get together until next Monday, with official practice due to begin on Tuesday next, captain Nicholas and vice-captain Joanne Morley are scheduled to fly in on Monday. Annika Sorenstam, who is fulfilling a vice-captain’s position, is due to arrive in Ireland on Sunday.