Friday, August 21, 2009
Writing from Sugar Grove, Ill.
They came, they saw, they chanted, they yelled, they sang, they roared.
The story of the first day of the 11th Solheim Cup Match was as much the gallery – the 30,000-strong gallery that came to Rich Harvest Farms, the ultra-private course an area code west of downtown Chicago – as it was the competition itself.
Friday’s eight matches decided little. The U.S. LPGA squad has a 4 1/2-3 1/2 over the representatives of the Ladies European Tour advantage entering Saturday’s eight matches, which, like Friday’s, will be split evenly between best-ball and alternate shot affairs.
“One point is nothing,” said American veteran Juli Inkster, whose alternate-shot victory with Paula Creamer in the afternoon made her the leading U.S. point-winner in Solheim Cup history.
After all the birdies and brilliant approaches and creative recovery shots, it was the crowd that impressed. Fans from two continents and all 50 states arrived early and stayed late. They created the largest traffic jam in the history of Sugar Grove, one that delayed arrivals for as much as two hours. Then they whooped it up.
How loud was it? Michelle Wie’s goosebump meter went on tilt.
“It was like walking down the 18th in contention in a major, times 100,” quoth Wie, golf’s teen queen.
Fellow American Brittany Lang agreed.
“It was nothing like a major, like the U.S. Open,” Lang said. “I enjoyed every second of it, took it all in. I think the crowds make the event.”
They galleries certainly made it loud. The first tee was like an Alabama-Auburn game, with the U.S. and European fans alternately singing and chanting. And that was an hour before the first tee time.
“It was 7 in the morning, I was putting on my shoes (in the lodge adjacent to the practice range), and I heard chants from the first tee,” said American Morgan Pressel.
This feast of golf was expected to be interesting, with the U.S. team dominating, and at least moderately popular. Until about a month ago, half the tickets had been sold to people far from Chicago. Since then, the local crowd came around, and the split was 70-30 in favor of area residents. And that didn’t count Friday’s walkup, which was considerable.
Plus, the hosts didn’t romp, even though Europeans Suzann Pettersen and Sophie Gustafson, billed as the can’t miss visitors, missed twice. Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr scored a 1 up victory over them in the morning best-ball match, while Natalie Gulbis and Christina Kim beat them 4 and 2 in the afternoon alternate shot competition.
Creamer, one of four U.S. players to play twice, was the only one to win twice. She teamed with veteran Juli Inkster to beat Catorina Matthew and Janice Moodie 2 and 1 in alternate shot. Creamer sank a 20-foot putt on the 17th hole to win the match after dropping a 30-footer on the seventh hole in the morning to halve a hole against Gustafsson and Pettersen, and rouse the natives.
“It’s pretty easy to ride a stallion,” Inkster said of her 3-0 record with Creamer.
The Americans had a one-point lead after the morning matches largely because Creamer sank a birdie putt on the 16th hole for a 1-up lead on Gustafsson and Pettersen, which proved to be the difference in the match, and because Morgan Pressel and Michelle Wie came back from a 2-down situation to post a halve against Catriona Mathew and Maria Hjorth.
Meanwhile, the two Brittanys, Lang and Lincicome, dominated their morning match against Laura Davies and Becky Brewerton. Lincicome’s 60-footer to win a hole was part of the 5 and 4 rout.
“It was a tough morning, but the girls hung in there,” European captain Alison Nicholas said. “It was looking good early on, and suddenly, it just swung around.”
Which allows U.S. captain Beth Daniel to stick to her plan of sitting all 12 players out of one of the four team matches, to make certain everyone is fresh for Sunday’s singles. That includes Creamer, who has played all five matches in each of her two previous appearances.
“Paula’s a team player,” Daniel said. “I don’t want anybody to play five matches. There are long distances between greens and tees here. Paula said she wanted to play five, and I sat her down and said, ‘Paula, I want you to have some legs left on Sunday.”
Creamer sits out on Saturday morning. But, if Friday is any indication, some 30,000 people will be on hand to hoot and holler anyway.
– Tim Cronin
Golf In Chicago 
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