Nancy Lopez captains U.S. to Solheim Cup win -- what say her critics now?

Good thing the US had Creamer...Wie would probably have "CHOKED".

Nancy Lopez's team tied the record for the worst performance ever by an American Solheim Cup team on American soil. The American team has always won on American soil, but this ties the narrowest margin of victory.

The players that Nancy did not pick won 14.5 points all by themselves, enough to win the cup without the dubious help of Nancy's captain's picks. Creamer and Inkster both halved matches with Daniel. Other than that it was all losses for Nancy Lopez's choices. Altogether the captains picks were 0-2 in singles, and 0-1-1 in both foursomes and four ball matches.

Paula Creamer was great but Meg Mallon clinched it. What has that got to do with anything? Paula Creamer was in the 2nd mathchg of the day. It wasn't her job to clinch the thing; it was her job to put up points early which she did in fine fashion.

Paula's performance suggests that another young golfer, Michelle Wie, might have done similarly. But Meg Mallon's fine performance says nothing meaningful about how Beth Daniel might have done, since Beth was on the team and we can see how she did.

The American team should be given credit for their improved performance on the first two days(8-8). I don't know how much of the credit should be given to Nancy, and how much of the credit should be given to the team members for being willing to put in the time working together. But I do know that all of the crdit for the two captain's choices goes to Nancy.

John D.

Excuse me, if the US had had Wie, she would have been there in place of Daniel or Ward who were both winless. Ward was 0-3. Daniel wes 0-1-2, and when she halved her first match with Creamer, Daniel did CHOKE at the end TWICE: The missed putt at 17 and the ball in the sand trap at 18. Why do you speculate on a possible captain's pick who might have choked, and ignore one captain's pick who was winless and another who did choke. Is it because you like to bully 15 year old girls?

It was obvious to almost everyone that Wie would have been a better pick than Ward. They were lucky that they didn't require her to earn any points.
I assume Nancy won't be given this job again. She didn't do very well this time.
Hats off to Creamer she did a fantastic job.

Alan M

First of all, how about that Paula Namath?

Paula guaranteed victory. Then she backed it up all weekend. Where's Earl Morrall when you need a patsy?

And Paula capped it off with a record-setting nine-hole clinic that demolished one of the U.K.'s best-ever players before they had a chance to finish their tea and scones in England.


Comment from: alan [Visitor]

** It was obvious to almost everyone that Wie would have been a better pick than Ward. **

Chris Baldwin would have been a better pick than Ward.

If there's anybody else they should have added rather than the one of the captain's picks, it should have been Morgan Pressel. Pressel at least actually won the Jr. golf championship this year.

In reality, there's an argument that in the future, there should be no more than 1 captain's pick. As it turns out, the players who did the best were the ones who earned their way onto the team, by scoring enough points.

** I assume Nancy won't be given this job again.**

That's likely true, but not for the reasons you think. There is a long enough list of late-40s players out there likely to retire or scale back in the next few years that they will no longer allow any repeat captains.

** She didn't do very well this time. **

You have a strange definition of winning.

** Hats off to Creamer she did a fantastic job **

Behold the voice of reason! Let us all work together to preserve such a rare flower of sanity on this blog!

-George

Thank you Paula, Natalie and Christina. Paula especially did a great job with her superb play, spirit and determination. If it was not for these girls Meg Mallon would not have clinched anything.

Nancy Lopez did a great job
and I hope the men learn from her on how to lead a team of individual stars.

Wie and Pressel were not eligible for this team so please give up all the nonsense about them especially Wie. At least Morgan Pressel led the team she was eligible to play on. No doubt MP will be a leader on the next Solheim Cup team. Michelle Wie may still be wandering around trying to figure out how to play in the Masters. I have met, watched and like MW. I look forward to her playing LPGA and Solheim in the future but I question if she will be good at any format other than singles.

Beth Daniel disappointed on the course but if you listen to the comments of the rookies she was a positive influence in preperation for them.

In any event lovers of GOLF were the big winners this was the most exciting event in golf since the Ryder Cup 1999.

Thank you ladies!!!!

George
*In reality, there's an argument that in the future, there should be no more than 1 captain's pick. As it turns out, the players who did the best were the ones who earned their way onto the team, by scoring enough points.*

Yes the picks did very bad, but that doesn't not mean that having captains picks is a bad thing.
It simply means that the captain on this occasion picked BAD choices.

Captains picks are very valuable, eg to pick players on recent great form, or players who were injured and thus missed points due to that.

Nancy was very LUCKY. She picked lame ducks who could only get half a point out of a possible 4. That is dreadful. Nancy nearly cost the US the win.

George
*** In reality, there's an argument that in the future, there should be no more than 1 captain's pick. As it turns out, the players who did the best were the ones who earned their way onto the team, by scoring enough points.***

**Yes the picks did very bad, but that doesn't not mean that having captains picks is a bad thing.
It simply means that the captain on this occasion picked BAD choices.

Captains picks are very valuable, eg to pick players on recent great form, or players who were injured and thus missed points due to that.

Nancy was very LUCKY. She picked lame ducks who could only get half a point out of a possible 4. That is dreadful. Nancy nearly cost the US the win.
**
Maybe.

But Lopez may have engineered the win by making sure the women bonded as a real team, with the dinners, hanging out, the practices, and so forth.

Didn't the U.S. start its rally at a surprising point? Where they were playing alternate ball? That was supposed to be a weakness. Instead it became a strength, and it caught the Euros by surprise.

Perhaps Lopez's wise strategy of the women practicing together helped to overcome what had been a weakness in the past.

And perhaps most brilliant of all was sending out Paula Creamer early. That worked out perfectly when Creamer put red on the board right off the bat after she obliterated Laura Davies.

By the time Kim, Gulbis, Inkster, Diaz and Hurst had followed suit to put more red on the board, the Euros knew they had no margin for error.

-George

Wie would have been an illegal pick.
Only LPGA tour members can be on
the USA Solheim Cup team. Wie is an
amateur.

Alan: "It was obvious to almost everyone that Wie would have been a better pick than Ward. They were lucky that they didn't require her to earn any points."

Let's get one thing straight.

Yes Wie is better than the two picks by far.

But she would indeed have been an illegal pick so she shouldn't / couldn't have been in the team.

So yes she is better than the two lame ducks but no she couldn't have been put in instead.

Wonder who will win out of Wie and Creamer at the Samsung World Championships.

Of course the anti-Wie people will call her a failure if she doesn't win, even if she finishes well ahead of the Creamer, YET AGAIN.

To Wie Warriors such as Norman and James C. ...

I was looking at the Golf Channel's preview of this week's tourney in Oklahoma. There was one, and it including a fascinating section.

This should drive you and the other Wie Warriors (even more) bonkers!

***
Sorenstam, with six wins this year, is the favorite this week, but for the first time in many years, a few players have emerged to challenge the world No. 1 and have the confidence to not only play against her, but also beat her.

Paula Creamer, the fresh-faced 19-year-old rookie with a have-no-fear attitude, has come a long way since she played in the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic last year as an amateur via a sponsor exemption.

Creamer tied for 59th then, but has since become golf's Next Big Thing, winning twice on the LPGA Tour and taking another title in Japan.

Creamer has already clinched the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award and has crossed the $1 million mark in season earnings, becoming the youngest and fastest in LPGA history to do so. She also went 3-1-1 at last week's Solheim Cup, which included a 7&5 thumping of legendary Laura Davies in the Sunday singles.

Those are all impressive feats, but has Creamer beaten Sorenstam? That answer is a resounding yes. This year at the Evian Masters - a tournament Sorenstam has won twice - Creamer routed the field and rolled to an eight-shot victory. She played with Sorenstam in the third round and put up a 66 against the Swede's 72.

***
The only thing left now is to watch the pot boil over around here!

-George

Annika finished ahead of Wie 3 times, tied once, and finished behind her twice. Annika finished ahead of Paula 9 times, tied once, and finished behind Paula twice. Annika has not really dominated Michelle this year, but she has dominated Paula. Be serious. Do you really think that Paula with two wins so far is likely to finish ahead of Annika in wins for the season when Annika has 6? Oh anbd don't forget Annika has two Major wins this year to zero for Paula. It would be hard for Paula to catch Annika in that category with no Majors left this year. Who will be the player of the year? Annika or Paula? Oh and lets not forget the last tournament where Paula blew a 4 shot lead with 20 holes left, a 2 shot lead entering the final day and wound up tied with Annika for second. Paula Creamer is not even close to replacing Annika as the Big Thing in women's golf. Oh and is this legnedary Laura Davies the same Laura Davies who shot an 83-80 for the first two rounds of the US Open?

James and George et al...Who finished ahead of whom and how many times is irrelevant. Womens golf...and golf as we know it...is going to evolve in the next 10 years into something only a few imagine. Michelle Wie is the canary in the coal mine....She will do what Babe Zaharias, Mickey Wright and Annika may have only dreamed of...change the face of the game.
Equipment has outstripped the abilty of golf course architects to bastardize courses to keep one step ahead.
It will come down to whether women players who think outside the box (Wie...Pressel?) can also make their short games into defining competitive instruments.
Golf may well become the most interesting game in the world very soon for people who never thought they'd care a damn about it. I've got my tickets for the World Championships at Harding Park in October...in 5 years we'll be going to watch a woman play in this event.....Get used to the idea.

Quite a prediction there, Greg. While I think you've gone a little overboard, I have to agree that it WOULD be an amazing sight.