Alison Lee’s Solheim Cup debut was outlined by controversy.
Getty Pictures
GAINESVILLE, Va. — The Solheim Cup is not like every 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 appear 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 environment will rival that of a soccer stadium.
As soon as these first tee balls are within the air, the whole lot will really feel completely different. The gamers may even act in another way, too.
Ask Alison Lee. Though she’s performed in just one Solheim Cup group earlier than this week, her rookie look was per 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. Though she was only a beginner, her play earned her a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup group.
The week was a historic one for the People as they stormed again from a 10-6 deficit to win the Cup in Sunday singles, thanks, partly, to a vital level from Lee. However the day earlier than, the American rookie had unwittingly discovered herself on the middle 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 aspect 1 up. Her try slid 18 inches previous the outlet.
Lee, pondering she’d heard the Europeans concede the brief 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 outlet had not been conceded. The following moments have been equal components emotional and tense, with each Lee and Hull shedding tears.
Hostile Solheim Cup crowds? Charley Hull says convey ’em on
In the end, a guidelines official determined there was no concession, and the Europeans gained the outlet, making certain them of a vital 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 mentioned. “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 group, both. I wasn’t actually good associates with them.”
Workforce USA rallied across the rookie after the controversy. U.S. captain Juli Inkster known 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 mentioned 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 mentioned. “I haven’t actually talked to her in any respect since then.”
