Alison Lee’s Solheim Cup debut was outlined by controversy.
Getty Photographs
GAINESVILLE, Va. — The Solheim Cup is in contrast to some other occasion in ladies’s golf.
You discover that the primary time you step on the primary tee field. The grandstands surrounding the teeing space stretch endlessly towards the sky, making golfers pegging the ball seem like gladiators in a coliseum. The noise is the following giveaway. Come Friday morning when Workforce USA and Workforce Europe arrive for his or her crack-of-dawn tee occasions, the ambiance will rival that of a soccer stadium.
As soon as these first tee balls are within the air, all the pieces will really feel totally different. The gamers may even act otherwise, too.
Ask Alison Lee. Though she’s performed in just one Solheim Cup workforce earlier than this week, her rookie look was every week to recollect.
Lee had a stellar rookie marketing campaign in 2015, making 19 cuts in 23 begins. She completed inside the highest 10 six occasions, ranked 14th in scoring common and completed inside the highest 25 on the cash checklist. Although she was only a beginner, her play earned her a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup workforce.
The week was a historic one for the Individuals as they stormed again from a 10-6 deficit to win the Cup in Sunday singles, thanks, partially, to an important level from Lee. However the day earlier than, the American rookie had unwittingly discovered herself on the heart of controversy.
Paired with Brittany Lincicome in a pivotal four-ball match on Saturday afternoon, the duo got here to the seventeenth gap tied with Suzann Petersen and Charley Hull. After the Europeans holed out, Lee confronted a putt to place her facet 1 up. Her try slid 18 inches previous the opening.
Lee, considering she’d heard the Europeans concede the quick putt and seeing Hull strolling off the inexperienced, picked up her ball. That’s when Pettersen returned from off the inexperienced and asserted that the opening had not been conceded. The following moments had been equal elements emotional and tense, with each Lee and Hull shedding tears.
Hostile Solheim Cup crowds? Charley Hull says deliver ’em on
In the end, a guidelines official determined there was no concession, and the Europeans gained the opening, making certain them of an important level.
At Robert Trent Jones Golf Membership on Tuesday, Lee was requested to revisit her spot of awkwardness with Pettersen.
“I’d say within the second it was powerful,” Lee stated. “I used to be very intimidated on the time. I used to be a rookie on Tour. I didn’t actually know any of the ladies on my workforce, both. I wasn’t actually good pals with them.”
Workforce USA rallied across the rookie after the controversy. U.S. captain Juli Inkster referred to as Petterson’s conduct “B.S.,” and even European stalwart, Laura Davies, predicted Pettersen would “remorse” her actions. Pettersen apologized the next day, however the messiness would linger.
Lee stated Tuesday she doesn’t take into consideration the second usually, however there additionally seems to be no love misplaced between her and Pettersen.
“I’m not going to lie,” Lee stated. “I haven’t actually talked to her in any respect since then.”
