PROTAGONISTS OF THE SOLHEIM CUP 2023
H.M. The King will preside over the Closing Ceremony of the Solheim Cup 2023, the largest women’s golf event in the world, which is being held at Finca Cortesin, in the province of Malaga, on Sunday, September 24. The presence of H.M. The King at the final day of the Solheim Cup represents a further demonstration of the support of the Royal Family for sport in general and women’s golf in particular, as H.M. The Queen holds the honorary presidency of the Solheim Cup 2023.
Warm welcome to José María Olazábal on the 1st teeOne of the surprises of the morning was the arrival of José María Olazábal, Solheim Cup Ambassador, with the cup on the tee of hole 1 before the start of the competition. The ovation was thunderous. Olazábal praised the great work that has been done in Spain to bring the Solheim Cup, the most important women’s sporting event in golf. “All this reminds me of the 97 Ryder Cup, which we played not far from here, in Valderrama. I hope the Solheim Cup will do for golf and sport what that Ryder Cup did not only in Spain, but also in Europe,” he said.
250 information professionals and a giant screenMore than 500 media professionals have been accredited to follow the Solheim Cup 2023 live, and about half of them are working all three days in the huge press tent set up for them. A giant screen allows them to follow the various matches live and simultaneously. In addition, the journalists have all the comforts to carry out their work and a press dining room.
Hotel Finca Cortesín, headquarters of both teamsSince the Solheim Cup players began to arrive at Finca Cortesin, the magnificent resort hotel has become the fortress of each of the teams, with rooms and rooms impregnated with the colors they will defend from tomorrow. Everything is little to encourage team spirit in a tournament like the Solheim Cup where the smallest detail can swing the points to one side or the other.
Lexi Thompson, the first stroke of the 2023 Solheim CupTraditionally, the first stroke of the first match of Foursome, usually corresponds to the visiting team as a sign of courtesy, but there were some doubts about it as Europe is the defending champion team. Finally, it was Lexi Thompson, the most veteran American player and member of the first match along with Megan Khang, who was in charge of opening this edition of the Solheim Cup and, therefore, continuing the tradition.
Second hole-in-one in Solheim Cup historyThe Danish Emily Kristine Pedersen achieved the second hole-in-one in the history of the competition by completing in one stroke and with a 7 iron the 12th hole of Finca Cortesín, a par 3 of 163 meters.The player who inaugurated the Solheim Cup hole-in-one statistic was the Swedish Anna Nordqvist, in 2013, at the Colorado Golf Club (USA), specifically, on the 13th hole, also a par 3, with the same club and almost the same distance as the Finca Cortesín hole, 162 meters. Let’s remember that Anna Nordqvist is also part of the European team of this edition, both as a player and as vice-captain of Suzann Pettersen.
Stacy Lewis, attentive to everythingIn this Solheim Cup we have become accustomed to the captains of both teams being aware of all the details, so it was not surprising to see Stacy Lewis, U.S. captain, counting the clubs in the bags of Danielle Kang and Angel Lee. It should be remembered that according to the rules of golf, if a golfer carries more than the regulation 14 clubs in his bag, when it is discovered, in Match Play the match is adjusted by losing holes with a maximum of two, and in Stroke Play, he will have a penalty of two strokes per hole with a maximum of four holes.
.
AT THE MICROPHONES
Suzann Pettersen:It was a very tough start to start 4-0, we were unlucky but I am tremendously proud of how the team turned it around in the afternoon games, I take my hat off to my players, how they fought and how they defended, it was unbelievable. When you get beat, you have to get up and try again. It was unbelievable.
Carlota Ciganda:Beating the Americans is very complicated. We started very well with those birdies in the first holes, then they hit a “shot” on the 6th where they made birdie, and that’s why it was very important to win again on the 11th. The key was not to give them the option to win more holes, I’m very happy with my game, I got on very well with Linn (Grant) and I’m looking forward to playing again tomorrow, it was important to see the blue colors on the scoreboard. The result this morning was a bit misleading because many matches were decided in the last holes. They were very close. There are still twenty points left, so we are going to fight, we are going to fight and give everything for Europe.
Leave a Reply