Magazine 2005 Solheim Cup

Volume 3, Number 10, October 5, 2005

2005 Solheim Cup

Pages 1, 2, 3, Gallery, Results

Christina Kim becomes the first Korean-American to play in this prestigious event

Every two years since 1990, a special team event occurs in the women's golf world that is unlike any other. The Solheim Cup was created by the founder of Ping Golf, Karsten Solheim, as a way to bring the best of the American golfers and the best of the European golfers together to compete in a Ryder Cup like team golf match. Over the years, the rivalry between these two teams has grown, until the intensity of these matches has come to rival that of any golf tournament on the schedule. People might get tense when they have a chance to win a Major, but nowhere else will you see crowds get this loud and raucous during an event. Although they tend to be generous to both teams, most of the spectators are clearly partisan, rooting far more for one team than the other. They will chant players' names, cheer wildly whenever the player they like does something well, even invent songs to help get the rah rah spirit going. It's more like a college football game than a women's golf tournament.

Ever since she joined the LPGA in 2003, Christina Kim has wanted to play on the Solheim Cup team. When this magazine interviewed her at the Safeway Classic in her rookie year, she did not have enough good finishes to qualify for that year's team, but was looking forward, even then, to the chance to be on the team in 2005. (Her exact quote was: " I would kill to get a chance like that! I would... kill..."). The next year, she won her first tournament, and in the end she managed to accumulate enough points through good finishes on tour to wind up seventh on the list. Since the top ten automatically qualified, she was going to be on the team. She couldn't have been happier. She was so psyched that, even with just a few weeks to go before the team was finalized, she was still worried about accumulating points, even though she was all but certain to be on the team.

Christina Kim and Beth Daniel practice before the
Solheim Cup

Christina is known for her flair on course

The Solheim Cup was contested September 9 - 11 at the Crooked Stick Golf Club in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event alternates each time between being played in America and in Europe. Generally speaking, when the event started, the American team was far superior. But as time has gone on, the balance of power has shifted more towards Europe. For the most part, when the Cup is contested in Europe, the Europeans win, and when it is played here, the Americans triumph. But at the last Solheim Cup, which took place at Barseback Golf Club in Sweden, the Europeans really drubbed the Americans. Generally speaking, until then it had been a pretty close affair, even when one or the other team won, but this was downright humiliating. Afterwards, there was a lot of wringing of hands, as people wondered what would happen to the American team. Most of their stars were now in their forties, and no young players had really stepped up to take their place. If the American team was getting destroyed with those old time stars still around, what was going to happen when they retired?

In the intervening two years, of course, a lot has changed. A new generation of young American golfers has risen up that are brash and talented. The most famous of these are Paula Creamer, the 2005 Rookie of the Year on the LPGA tour; Morgan Pressel, who finished second to Birdie Kim at this year US Women's Open; and Korean American teen sensation Michelle Wie. But the Americans have more to offer than just those three, two of whom would not even be able to play at the Solheim in 2005 (only professionals are allowed to play, and Wie and Pressel were both amateurs). Jane Park, who won the US Amateur in 2004, is another Korean American star who does not get a lot of press; and Brittany Lang also finished tied for second at the US Women's Open in 2005. But the LPGA also has a number of strong young American pros who have made their presence felt since Barseback. Among them are Stacy Prammanasudh, the Thai American star who had won the Franklin American Mortgage Championship in 2005; Heather Bowie, who won the Jamie Farr Classic in 2005; four time tour winner Dorothy Delasin; and the three young Americans, none older than 22, who did make the team: Creamer, Natalie Gulbis (who hasn't won yet but is still in the top ten on the money list in 2005); and Christina Kim.

Christina practices at the Solheim Cup

The Cup matches are broken up into three days. During the first two days, four matches are contested in the morning, and four in the evening. The morning matches are played in the foursome format; two players on each team hit alternate shots with the same ball. To do well in this format, it really helps if both players are playing well, because if one is screwing up, the other probably cannot make up the difference by herself. In the afternoon, the matches are played in the four ball format. In this format, each team has two members, and each plays her own ball. The lower score on that hole is counted as the team's score. In this format, one player can carry the team if the other player is having problems. Finally, on Sunday, all 12 players from each team play singles matches against the 12 players of the other team. All the matches in the Solheim Cup use match play scoring. A win is worth one point for the team, while a tie gives each team half a point. If the team holding the Cup gets 14 points, they retain the Cup; the team that doesn't hold the Cup has to accumulate at least 14 1/2 points to get the Cup back.

Christina at the opening ceremonies

Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez was chosen to be the captain for the American squad this year. She realized that one of the biggest problems the American squad has had in the past has been that they do poorly in the team portion of the event, even when the Cup is played on home soil, but tend to dominate at the Singles portion. In particular, the alternate shot version of the team match has been a real problem for the Americans. So this year, she held several practice sessions where she had the players specifically play foursome and four ball matches, to see who made a good pairing with whom.

Lopez also realized that, if the team were going to win and retake the Cup, they would have to get great play from their rookies. She put all three young American rookies in key matches early and often, and gave them a chance to shine. Which they by and large did. They were especially successful when compared with the European rookies, whom their Captain Catrin Nilsmark kept out of play when she could. It was the key difference in the American team's favor.

Another factor that definitely helped the Americans was Christina Kim's personality. Christina has always been one of the most excitable, passionate pro golfers on the planet. Few can forget the way she got the galleries on her side during her win at the Longs Drugs Challenge in 2004, or when she fell just short of winning at the State Farm a few weeks before that. But the Solheim Cup brought out a new level of passion in Christina that few had dreamed was there. When she wasn't playing, she was shouting herself hoarse rooting on her compatriots or trying to rouse the crowds into a frenzy. And when she was playing, she paired her every great play with a shout, a fist pump, a dance, a cheer or even a jump. The crowds, predictably, quickly embraced Christina, and her rah rah attitude never failed to get them even more jacked up than they already were.