2002 EUROPEAN SOLHEIM CUP TEAMPLAYER PROFILESCaptain: Dale Reid Home: Ladybank, Scotland Vice Captain: Pamela Wright Home: Aboyne, Scotland LAURA DAVIES (England) There was little doubt that Laura Davies would make the 2002 team for a record equalling seventh successive time. Davies, renowned for her power game, also brings an deft touch on and around the greens and it comes as no surprise she leads the total points tally alongside Dottie Pepper with 14 points from six previous encounters. At 38, England's finest ever woman golfer brings a wealth of experience and inspiration for the European team. Her singles record reads 3-3-0 and in pair's confrontations, her record is equally envious at 10-5-2. Despite going nearly two years without a victory, Davies bounced back, firstly with her win at the Wegman's Rochester Invitational on the LPGA in 2001, and went on to beat teammates Sophie Gustafson and Janice Moodie to win the WPGA Matchplay Championship at Gleneagles on the Evian Tour. Stating her case with a win at the P4 Norwegian Masters and a seventh place finish in the Compaq Open, Davies has shown good form leading up to the Solheim announcement. Davies thrives when it comes to head to head golf and when the two teams meet at Interlachen, she is sure to be "up for it", in her own words. HELEN ALFREDSSON (Sweden) Helen Alfredsson is one of the most enigmatic and determined players in Women's golf, and with it, brings an air of grace and charm wherever she goes. With a Solheim Cup singles record of 4-2-0 and a parings record of 5-8-2, it was hard for Dale Reid to omit her from the team. While the flame-haired Swede was a controversial choice for the 2000 meeting at Loch Lomond, she was again this year, much to the chagrin of Catriona Matthew and Janice Moodie. But in 2000, on the final Sunday, the former model had played her part in Europe's victory, earning two out of three points including a vital singles win against the experienced Beth Daniel, silencing all critics in one fell swoop. 'Alfie' is one of the most popular members of the Evian Ladies European Tour and she too will be competing for a record seventh time in the Solheim Cup alongside Davies. Her experience will prove vital as she chaperones the rookies and, like Davies, will provide a wealth of experience to the younger members of the team. Alfie is close friends with Norwegian rising star Suzann Pettersen, having beaten her at the WPGA Championship of Europe in 2001 - If paired together, there are sure to be passion-fuelled Scandinavian fireworks. Alfredsson's strengths have been in four-ball and singles, where her record is 3-2-2 and 4-2, respectively. RAQUEL CARRIEDO (Spain) It took seven years of toil, dedication and the frustration of reaching double figures of runner-up spots before Raquel Carriedo finally entered the winner's circle on the Evian Tour. Her gritty consistency, yet winless performances, won her a berth in the 2000 Solheim Cup team and after gaining that experience against the best players in women's golf, the 31-year-old Spaniard racked up three wins in the 2001 season. Carriedo came into the 2002 season amidst rumours of quitting the game, but they were quickly pushed aside when she won her fourth title in the Ladies Tenerife Open, and went on to finish fourth in the US Women's Open at Prairie Dunes behind winner Juli Inkster. Renowned for her unerring accuracy with both woods and irons and an uncanny ability to hole out regularly from within ten feet, the Spaniard has a truly all round game and proved this summer that the once shy and nervous newcomer to the Solheim Cup, can mix it with the very best players in the World. ANNIKA SORENSTAM While the current Women's world number one might be resident in the USA, at heart, she is a true blue and gold European, funnily enough, the same colour as her national flag, so the 31-year-old Arizona resident will again feel at home in the traditional European uniform. Her record speaks for itself; Annika is dominant on the LPGA, the first woman to shoot 59 and winner of eight events already in 2002, including a win over Karrie Webb at the ANZ Masters and the Compaq Open in her homeland. Sorenstam is head and shoulders above anyone else in the game in this modern era and while not yet a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, she is the finest player in the world. Dale Reid is thankful she is European! Annika makes her fifth visit to the Solheim Cup arena and aims to improve on her 2-2-0 singles record and 6-4-1 pairings score and she owns the best European record in foursomes, going 5-1-1. After the unsavoury episode at Loch Lomond when she was asked to replay a holed chip while playing with Kelly Robbins and Pat Hurst, Annika will have an extra motivation to winning for the first time on American soil. PAULA MARTI (Spain) Paula Marti is a vivacious 21-year-old from Barcelona with catwalk good looks and a cavalier approach to the game, much like her hero Seve Ballesteros. Having won twice in her rookie season, Marti set the stage for an amazing year for the rookies and helped revitalise the LET, giving it a healthy PR boost. She burst onto the scene in only her fifth professional event, winning a playoff at the La Perla Italian Open and continued her meteoric rise by hitting a driver and a five iron to make eagle at the 552-yard final hole and win the Ladies British Masters. Similarities have been drawn between European golf's new pin-up girl and Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova. However, Marti can claim two winner's checks, while Kournikova cannot describe what victory tastes like. Her berth into the top seven automatic places for The Solheim Cup is deserved and performance based, securing an automatic place when she finished second at the Weetabix Women's British Open at Turnberry shooting four rounds in the 60's, the only player to do so. With a sharp short game and cavalier attitude to her golf, and fear of no one, Paula may be a rookie on the team, but she is one player the American team should notice when it comes to matchplay. Paula has four other top-five finishes this season and as an amateur, she was the 1996 National Spanish champion and played at the University of Florida. SUZANN PETTERSEN (Norway) At only 21-years-old, Norway's Suzann Pettersen has come along way in a short time in her youthful, yet explosive career to date. Not only did she win at her second professional event in her rookie season, going on to win the rookie of the year award, this feisty powerhouse from Oslo began the 2002 season by taking on incumbent world number one Karrie Webb in the Women's Australian Open, almost upsetting the locals when she forced Webb into a playoff. Big hitting, aggressive with her putter and fearless on the golf course, the former World amateur champion has been a breath of fresh air to the European Tour alongside Marti and Icher. In matchplay, she proved her worth, taking Sophie Gustafson through 19 holes before losing in the WPGA Matchplay Championship. The 2002 Solheim Cup was her goal when she turned professional and while she had many critics when she announced her intentions, no one can deny that she has the ability to succeed at the highest level. This season she has three top 10s and earned her spot through the points standings. As an amateur, she was the 2000 World Amateur champion, the 1999 British Girls champion and five-time Norwegian champion (1996-2000). IBEN TINNING Denmark is becoming the emerging nation of Scandinavia with World class players on the men's Tour, such as Thomas Björn and now Anders and Soren Hansen, now it's the ladies turn with Iben Tinning leading the way. Two wins in 2002 at the Irish Open and Italian Open and two other top-five finishes catapulted the 28-year-old from Copenhagen into the top seven automatic spots for her rookie appearance in Minnesota. Yet she did have to endure a stressful time at the WPGA Championship when she eventually tied in seventh spot with Swede Maria Hjorth for the last automatic spot. Iben possesses a solid golf swing allied with controlled power and is one of the biggest hitters in women's golf today. Her third place finish in the 2001 Weetabix Women's British Open is testament to her ability to handle the most pressure filled situations. Her goal at the beginning of the year was to play her way into the team and she admits that the wins were just by products. Much has been written about Iben in her homeland after her back-to-back wins and she is now a household name, such was her media coverage in Denmark. Also, because of her, and the great play from her compatriots, there is much talk of an event in Denmark leading up to the 2003 Solheim Cup. KARINE ICHER Captain Dale Reid says of Karine, a 23-year-old Solheim Cup rookie, 'Her short game is so good, she could get up and down out of a ball washer!' Therefore, it should come as no surprise that we have another rookie star emerging from Europe whose game is ideal for the traditional style of course that is Interlachen GC. Karine is a quiet, unassuming individual with an 18-month-old professional career spanning three wins in exalted company. Karine proved that she could handle pressure after both her dramatic wins in 2001 at the German Open and Mexx Sport Open in Holland. And in the Spanish Open earlier this year, she upstaged Raquel Carriedo on home turf to sneak her third career victory. A good performance at the Evian Masters against a truly World class field assured her of a place in the team. If she can lead halfway at the biggest event outside the USA, she is surely ready to take on Solheim responsibilities.CARIN KOCH When Carin holed the 12-foot putt to seal victory at Loch Lomond, she became an overnight star and in turn elevated her game to the next level. The glamorous Swede made a clean sweep of her matches at Loch Lomond with victories over Michelle Redman in the final day singles and two pair's wins allied with compatriot Catrin Nilsmark. Three points out of three, you can see why Carin is part of Europe's plans this year. The 31-year-old from Kungalv, who plays mainly on the LPGA, is one of the most dogged, yet amiable competitors and her year to date consists of a tied for second at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, placed fifth at the Asahi Ryokuken Championships, tied fifth at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and sixth at both the McDonald's LPGA Championship and the Takefuji LPGA Classic, eighth at the Longs Drugs Challenge and ninth at the LPGA Corning Classic. With this consistency, six top tens in 13 starts, nobody would deny her a place against her fellow LPGA players. She also led after three rounds of the Weetabix Women's British Open. It would be hard to improve on her Solheim statistics, but if she did, she would be the only player not to have lost a match in two trophies and Dale Reid would be smiling all the way back to Scotland. MHAIRI MCKAY (Scotland) Mhairi grew up playing golf on the most traditional of courses on Scotland's western coastline and like compatriot and fellow junior golfer Janice Moodie, the 27-year-old from Glasgow has now based herself in the USA. Her consistency has earned her a pick in the team having tied for second at the Kellogg-Keebler Classic and finished in a creditable sixth place at the U.S. Women's Open. Mhairi also tied for seventh at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic and tied ninth at both the Takefuji LPGA Classic and the Chick-Fil-A Championships. Back home on the Evian Tour, McKay made good headway during the first two rounds at Turnberry and finished tied for fourth spot at the Compaq Open in Sweden. While she will count as a rookie in the Solheim team, nobody can deny her experience at the top level and ability to emulate her compatriots before her. Mhairi joins fellow Scots Dale Reid, Catriona Matthew, Kathryn Marshall, Janice Moodie and Pam Wright as Scottish Solheim Cup players Mhairi is one of the bigger hitters on Tour and is lead the birdie count on the LPGA Tour for a while. She is also in the top twenty in the putting average and in the top thirty of greens in regulation. Reid picked her for precisely those qualities, ideal for foursomes play. McKay is familiar with the team atmosphere and match play, having been on two Curtis Cup teams ('94 and '96) and was an All-American at Stanford University from 1994-97. MARIA HJORTH (Sweden) 'Mimi', as she is affectionately known on Tour, is a powerhouse, and with an accurate display of driving, can, when she is in the mood, reduce any course to its knees. Maria is regularly in the top five eagles made on Tour, always in the top ten of birdies made, ranked in the top ten of both driving distance and accuracy, which makes her an imposing player to be pitted against and begs the question as to why she has never been in a European team beforehand. Despite being able to give the ball a good whack, the 28-year-old from Falun, who graduated from Stirling University in Scotland, has a silky short game and has won five times Worldwide including twice on the LPGA Tour. In 1999, Mimi led the LPGA Tour in birdies, amassing 408 and also in eagles, a whopping 13 and marked the first time a player has recorded more than 400 birdies in a season. Definitely a matchplay kind of statistic for any captain to consider. Only sterling performances from both Rachel Teske and Annika Sorenstam have prevented her from winning the Evian Masters in 2001 and 2002, but around a course where you need everything in your game, Mimi Hjorth has only been beaten by two of the World's great players. Hjorth earned her spot on the team at the last minute by moving into a tie for the seventh spot in the points standings. She's had two runner-up finishes this season - at the Evian Masters and most recently at the Wales WPGA Championship. She has two LPGA Tour victories and won 23 events as an amateur. SOPHIE GUSTAFSON (Sweden) Sophie Gustafson has all the qualities needed to become the next dominant Swede in women's golf. She has power, finesse, talent, determination and above all, a good sense of humour and a personable approach. Despite suffering with a debilitating stammer, Gustafson lets her clubs do plenty of talking on the golf course and when on form, the clubs are screaming on her behalf. Usually dramatic and breathtaking to watch when in full swing, the 28-year-old from Saro has struggled on the LPGA in 2002 and made a return to Europe in a last ditch bid to secure her place in Team Europe. After teaming up with the experienced caddie Mark Fulcher at the beginning of the year, the pair now want to improve on her three Solheim points earned in 1998 and 2000. Having not won at singles yet, Gustafson hopes to amend that fact. But her fourball and foursomes play suggest she is a great partner to be with, possessing a 2-1-1 record in two Solheim encounters. Sophie was also voted players player of the year in 2000 on the Evian Tour and with her presence at Interlachen, she is sure to inspire others with her aggressive style of play. |
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