Monday, September 25, 2023

Weekend Wrap - Sister-Kissing Edition

It was a grand event, one that Ophelia allowed me to see almost all of.... Quite frankly, the weekend washout ensured that I saw far more of the Solheim Cup than I'm likely to see of that other cup this week.  Just because I hope to be on the golf course Saturday and Sunday morning.

Before we get into our coverage I just want to editorialize on how great these team match play events are.  There is simply nothing comparable in our game to take these players out of their comfort zones and thereby provide us with an unusual golf viewing experience.  There is nothing comparable in this game than watching Sunday singles unfold and looking for that extra point needed by one side or the other.  The ebb and flow of individual matches in the context of the team event is so much more absorbing, especially when there's just a little bit of an edge between the teams.

To The Victors... -Except, yanno, for the fact that there weren't any, but we'll get to that conundrum in a minute.  After giving credit to Spain's conquering heroine:

In the end, no amount of planning and strategizing could stop destiny. Walking down the 16th hole, Pettersen turned to her longtime friend Carlota Ciganda and said, “Is this how you wanted it? It’s all yours.”

The fiery Spaniard, who had just cold shanked a shot on the previous hole, dug deep and told herself that she was going to win it for Pettersen because she loved her and thought that she deserved it.

With the hopes of a nation on her back, Ciganda birdied the 16th and stuffed one inside an already close Nelly Korda on the par-3 17th to win the match and retain the Cup for Europe.

To think that I'd been reliably informed that the hardest shot in golf is the one immediately after a shank..... and that's without a home-country crowd.

Quite dramatic and the girl certainly had a week that will be with her forever, going 4-0-0 in front of her peeps.  Although, I'm not at all sure it was the best comeback for the Euros, and certainly not the most unlikely:

Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, the 121st-ranked player in the world who sat out the first three sessions, put together one of the most inspiring comebacks in Solheim history. Three down with six holes to play, Hedwall made four birdies and a conceded eagle on the final hole to defeated Ally Ewing and give Europe a chance to win three in a row for the first time.

“You know, I never give up, and I showed that today,” said Hedwall, one of Pettersen’s four captain’s picks and her most controversial.

Somewhere in here I needed to work in Geoff's lede:

Shanks, cranks and thanks.

Another team event, another Cup weekend delivering a bit of everything from hosel rockets to smiles induced by stunning performances. The Solheim Cup served up an absurd Hollywood ending, sensational shotmaking, the inevitable Cup-pressure induced gaffes, and several breakout performances. We saw Captain’s being Captain’s. A venue totally ill-suited for the competition. And a new low in television coverage from the people who had already lowered the bar.

We'll get to that TV coverage below. 

The Tour Confidential panel devoted the entire column to this event, awfully gracious until one realizes there wasn't much else to cover.   Now, perhaps they might have done more than phone it in:

1. The Americans and Europeans tied 14-14 in the Solheim Cup on Sunday in Spain, meaning Europe will retain the Cup and deny the U.S. a trophy it hasn’t won since 2017. The U.S. was up 4-0 after the opening session on Friday and the event was tied 8-8 heading into Sunday. What happened? And what was the difference between the U.S. and Euros this week?

Given that the event ended in a 14-14 tie, I'm gonna suggest that the difference was non-existent....

Josh Sens: The oddsmakers had this one right from the start. It was always going to be close. Even that opening session whitewash by the U.S. was tighter than the score made it look. What happened was an event playing out as a lot of people envisioned it would. In the end, that clinching singles match between Ciganda and Korda summed up the razor difference: the flatstick. Hard to remember a Solheim Cup (or Ryder Cup) when that hasn’t been the case.

Jack Hirsh: It’s interesting that one of the differences ended up being putting when this course,
as noted on the broadcast, featured Bermuda grass and is rare in Europe and presumably would give Team USA an advantage. However, in the end, it felt like every crucial putt by Europe went in the heart while U.S. golfers — especially Nelly Korda — were ice cold with the flatstick. Ultimately I think home-field advantage proved the tipping point. When you have a Spanish fan base rally around Carlota Ciganda like they did, that’s tough to beat.

Alan Bastable: All points matter, of course, but hard to overstate the importance of Caroline Hedwall’s point on Sunday, especially given the captain’s pick Suzann Petersen expended on an underperforming Hedwall raised more than a few eyebrows. In the eighth match of the session, she was 2 down to Ally Ewing through 13 holes; lose the match and the U.S. takes a two-point lead. But instead, Hedwall stuck in and won five of the last six holes — which included a closing eagle — to win 2 up and bring the overall score back to a tie. That allowed Europe to need only two points in the final four matches to retain the Cup. Huge pressure-reliever.

That Hedwall rally was really unexpected, though it should be noted that Georgia Hall and Gemma Dryburgh had both gagged horribly towards the finish line, in each case allowing the Americans to steal a half point unexpectedly.  I had noted to the bride that those two girls would be blaming themselves if the trophy ended up over the Atlantic last night.

Much more so than in individual play, that gut-wrenching choking is almost the defining feature of the week.  Sure, it's hard to watch a times and we fear for their psyches, but take a moments to enjoy that palate cleansing aspect of them throwing up over their shoes with no money involved.... At times it's more pressure than any one human should endure, but they're so much more human for the experience.

Grade Expectations -  The TC panel takes a shot at this:

2. Who earned MVP honors for each side, and whose struggling performance were you most surprised by?

Sens: Leona Maguire was a force for Europe, but Ciganda’s week played out so perfectly, it seemed almost scripted. Never trailed in a match. Got the point that secured the Cup. In her home country, no less. Slam dunk. For the U.S., I’ll go with Megan Khang. Came in with a less-than-sparkling Solheim record but was rock solid. Didn’t lose a match and did her best to set the tone on Sunday by going out first and grabbing a full point.

As for struggles, Charley Hull was not the factor she seemed poised to be, but late news of her neck issues helps explain that. On the U.S. side, Lilia Vu won two majors this year but just one match this week, and Zhang’s winless week has to count as something of a disappointing cap to an otherwise epic year.

Hirsh: Ciganda for team Europe isn’t even a question for MVP. For the U.S., I’ll go outside the box and say Angel Yin. As much as Ciganda was the heart and soul of Team Europe, Yin, complete with her Deion Sanders shades and smack talk, was the emotional leader of Team USA, despite being one of the youngest members of the team. She went 2-1-0 in her first Solheim Cup.

In terms of struggling performances, I was surprised to see Charley Hull not only win just one point, but only play in three matches. She’s perhaps the most exciting player in women’s golf and was 11-5-3 in Solheim Cup matches coming in. For the U.S., it has to be Lilia Vu. The top-ranked American player went just 1-3-0 after a season in which she won two majors. Nelly Korda going 2-2-0 with a freezing cold putter wasn’t so great either.

Bastable: Yeah, Ciganda’s clutch home-game performance might be the story of the year. Had chills for her. Also loved European skipper Suzann Pettersen’s steely cool. She didn’t seem to overthink her role, and in an analytics-mad world relied on gut decisions. We also need to talk about Lexi Thompson. With so many questions swirling around her form, she went out and hung up three points, including a singles win in the anchor match. That contest proved to be moot, but the Cup could have oh-so easily hinged on it.

The funny bit is that each MVP survived a critical shank, and that's something I'll bet we haven't seen before....

Care for a digression?  Did you catch that scene after Ciganda's birdie on No. 17?  I made a Justin Leonard reference to Employee No. 2 erven before one of the announcers got there, know that Lexi's match would have been held hostage on the tee.  Geoff, though, has this interesting take:

According to Ryan Lavner’s game story, this was not the first time Ciganda has battled mid-round shanks. Still, she couldn’t believe they reared up Sunday while facing world No. 3 Korda. But Ciganda recovered in mere minutes and wrapped up the tie with an epic shot at the 17th. Bedlam ensued when she made the birdie putt, even with another match coming to the par 3 tee where a teammate was trying to claw back a half point to gain Europe the outright victory.

Such a short-sighted display by Team USA would have—oh you know it—prompted ugly American’s cries and headlines throughout the union. But let’s not make that the defining moment of the contest when there are the usual unsung heroes to celebrate.

Hey, at least CNN tells us it was mostly peaceful.... 

Dylan Dethier's Monday Finish column is up earlier than usual, written in the air from Malaga to Rome, presumably.  He gives the girls letter grades, but it leaves one with the sense that he might not have actually watched the evnt:

GRADE: A

Carlota Ciganda gets a clear and obvious A+ for facing the pressure of being the only Spaniard at the Ryder Cup, serving as enthusiastic host and then delivering an absolute beatdown on the course. Her 4-0-0 record speaks for itself. The fact that her birdies at 16 and 17 on Sunday took down Nelly Korda and delivered the point that clinched Europe’s 14th point? That was almost too good a story.

Megan Khang earned top honors of her own; 3-0-1 including a Sunday staredown of Linn Grant in the first singles match? Hell yeah.

Cheyenne Knight belongs here, too. You can only win the matches you play, and Knight went 2-0-1 including a particularly fun Saturday pairing alongside Angel Yin. Nails.

We’re giving Caroline Hedwall the nod here, too. Sure, she only went 1-1. But she played well in defeat on Saturday, and on Sunday she turned a 3-down deficit into victory on the back nine.

Well, it's not like any of these girls were bums, but Knight only avoided a loss because she was gifted a short miss.  Hedwall's Sunday win might have been the single most important flip of a match but her Saturday strong play was undermined by a series of short misses, so a Jekyll and Hyde kind of day.

But here's where eyes will start rolling:

GRADE: B

European captain Suzann Pettersen earned a solid B+ — perhaps just a point or two ahead of U.S. captain Stacy Lewis. Pettersen finishes the week with a better grade than her American counterpart because the tie goes to the Cup-keeper, but I enjoyed their contrasting styles. Lewis’ approach kept analytics at the forefront, while Pettersen seemed determined to shoot from the hip. It’s tough to say one worked better than the other, given each side claimed 14 points, but Pettersen was the one who got to celebrate.

Oh, and their captain’s picks went fairly well, too: Ewing (1-3-0) Yin (2-1-0) and Knight (2-0-1) combined for a 5-4-1 record for the U.S., while Pettersen’s Sagstrom (1-1-1), Hedwall (1-1-0), Dryburgh (0-0-2) and Pedersen (2-2-1) each (remarkably) won exactly 50% of her matches.

Leona Maguire, Linn Grant and Maja Stark all belong in the “B” grade and perhaps higher; these three felt like the current and future stars of this team. Maguire made five birdies and an eagle in Sunday singles to take down Rose Zhang and improve her record to 3-2-0. Grant lost her first and last match of the week but won the three in between. And Grant, her countrywoman and partner, went 2-1-1.

If you're giving Cheyenne Knight an "A" and Leona Maguire a "B", you might want to be looking for another job, because that just doesn't reflect reality.  Maguire had one clunker out of five, losing a second one when she played well.  But there was no stronger force on either team and she is clearly the heart and soul of the Euros... In fact, while I didn't feel compelled to blog this story, I thought this meme was pretty funny and captures her status in this event:

He does at least not hold back for these gals:

GRADE: D/F

Look, we take no pleasure in putting anybody down here! But the Monday Finish can’t be accused of easy grading or people will start to talk. Not everybody’s Cup can be above average.

Ally Ewing‘s week started hot; she and Knight led a preposterous 6 up through nine holes on Friday morning. It was all downhill from there, though. Ewing’s next two team matches were 4 down losses — and in Sunday singles she was 3 up with six holes to play but lost five of those six to suffer a disappointing defeat.

Lilia Vu entered the week as the highest-ranking member of the event; the two-time major champ is also No. 2 in the world. She didn’t make enough birdies in her three team matches to stay competitive but seemed to get ’em all out on Sunday instead: she birdied five of the first six holes en route to a romp over Sagstrom.

Like Vu, Anna Nordqvist got off to a distressing 0-3-0 start in team matches before rallying with a commanding showing on Sunday; she beat Jennifer Kupcho 2 and 1 to salvage a point. As for Kupcho herself? She earned just a half-point in three matches, though a half-point is notably better than no points at all.

Rose Zhang finished the week at 0-2-1, too. It was a bit surprising to see the talented rookie only play three of five sessions. It was even more surprising to see her a bit out of sorts. It’s tough to blame her for a Sunday singles defeat, given Maguire was on the other end. But I’m betting Zhang is already looking forward to the next Solheim Cup; she’s not used to losing. (Nor bad grades.)

Celine Boutier was the only pro on either side to finish the week without at least a half-point. That was a particular shock because she entered the week as Europe’s top-ranked pro (Boutier is World No. 5) and played just three times. She led 1 up with five holes to play on Sunday before Yin chased her down.

I don't know how you give a "D" or "F" to a woman like Lilia Vu who kicks ass in singles.  Part of it is we credit the same points for team wins as single wins, which is quite obviously silly.   Obviously Vu made a far larger contribution than Jennifer Kupcho, who missed as many short putts in one fourball match as I might have ever seen, at least that didn't involve Mark Calacavechia.

In general, as supportive as I'd like to be, the girls missed a million short putts, one of the downers of the week.  No doubt the graininess of the Bermuda greens was a factor, as well as the unique pressure of playing with a partner.  But it's also one of the areas in which the ladies just aren't as good as the men, and I frankly doubt we'll see anywhere near as many misses this week in Rome.

I will say that the concessions were really weird, although I'd need to check the video to cite specific instances.  In general. concessions seemed to be on the stingy side, which I liked (especially given the slopes and aforementioned grain).  That said, there were at least a couple of bizarre concessions to end matches that were highly debatable, putts that had been missed in other matches.  It looked very strange form y easy chair.

A few other bits.....

Shanks For The Memories - I'm having trouble understanding Lexi's gripe here:

3. In an afternoon four-ball session on Day 1, Lexi Thompson needed to get up-and-down for birdie from off the green to tie the match (or have her partner, Lilia Vu, make a long birdie putt), but Thompson shanked a chip and made par, as the Europeans won the match 1 up. Afterward, things got awkward when a reporter asked Thompson about it: “I don’t need to comment on that,” she said. U.S. captain Stacy Lewis added: “That’s a terrible question.” The internet, and players like Jessica Korda, had lots to stay about this situation. How would you unpack it all?

Sens: The question wasn’t terrible but Thompson’s response and the general defensiveness around it were. That’s the price that comes with being paid well to play a game for a living. You get asked about your triumphs. And your trials. Some commentators suggested that the question had sexist undertones. But a male player in that same situation would have gotten the same question, and that, too, would have been perfectly fair.

Hirsh: Well said, Sens. Our colleague James Colgan eloquently summed up the situation here too. To Thompson’s credit, she didn’t have to speak to the media at all and that would have been fine and understandable. But the fact she decided to talk meant she would have had to figure she was getting asked the question. To echo Sens, it’s a perfectly fair question and should have been answered if she was going to be there.

Bastable: Stacy Lewis is a pro, but the “terrible question” jab was amateur hour. What would have been terrible is not asking the question. When a world-class athlete’s skill caves under intense pressure, fans want to know what went wrong. As Colgan pointed out, Thompson and Lewis’ edgy response made the whole episode a bigger deal than it would have been or should have been.

No, Jack, not speaking to the media isn't "fine and understandable".  I've seen this from Stacey previously, and she's prone to the whining.  Here's an idea so crazy it just might work.  How about if Lexi admits she hit a clunker and takes it like a man..... Strike that, how about she takes it like a professional.

Stacey has often whined that the girls are just as good as the men and deserve equal treatment, an argument that I hate.  Here's the thing, girls, you have to earn your audience.  If Lexi can't take the heat of one gentle question about one horrible shot, well then she's just too emotionally g=fragile for her chosen career.

But do you know who can deal with her bad shots?  That would be those ladies holding onto your precious trophy, because this was Ciganda's take:

“Carlota just shanked one,” he told Euro player-captain Anna Nordqvist. It was a “proper shank” Ciganda said later. Chunky from the fairway and exiting on a beeline toward a town called Lost Hole.

Let's see....  Carlotta calls it a "proper shank" and gets on with her business, whereas Lexi curls up in the fetal position..... Kinda tells us all we need to know, eh?

About That Ending - Doesn't there have to be a better way?  First, the case for the status quo ante:

You sure about the Americans?

Throughout a seemingly endless Sunday singles session of fluctuations, both teams led more than once before the eventual climax. Some may say that a draw is unsatisfactory. But in this case, they would be wrong. For the third time in succession (after Europe’s narrow wins in 2019 and 2021), the Solheim Cup provided the sort of excitement that puts the recently predictable and rather pedestrian Ryder Cup to shame.

“My team played their hearts out,” Lewis said. “Just so proud of 'em, the way they fought. We played the back nine better all week, and they just hung in there and hung in there with every match. I just told 'em, we didn't lose. It was a tie and there is so much to build off this week. I think the rookies learned a lot and that's what it's about. All week I thought we made really good decisions. These things come down to one shot or one putt, and it's just amazing of all the matches that we played, that's what it comes down to.”

OK, but that's not much of an argument... Oddly, this is as close as he gets (he being Scotsman John Huggan) to the actual issue from the header:

And the eternal question as to whether or not a draw is best left as it turns out, or should it be settled with some sort of playoff?

“At the closing ceremony we were talking about whether it should be a tie,” Lewis said. “Maybe it would be a better experience for the fans if there was some sort of playoff. But I don’t know. All I can say is that this feels like a win. Look at where we were two years ago in Toledo and where we are now.”

Look, Stacey is being gracious and accepting the rules under which the event was contested, but it's hardly responsive to the question begged by this result.   

Dylan Dethier tales on that finish, and the arguments are logical:

For the first time in Solheim Cup history, the event ended in a 14-14 deadlock, which meant the defending Cup-holders — in this case, Europe — retained the prize. The Ryder Cup follows this same format (the event has twice finished in a tie), and it’s a shame, because after three days of riveting competition and players leaving every ounce of themselves on the course, as a golf fan you couldn’t have been blamed for wanting to see a winning team that actually, you know, won.

Sour grapes? Nah. I would feel no differently if the Americans had retained the title by the same manner. It’s merely the opinion of an interested observer left feeling a bit unsatisfied at the conclusion of a heated contest.

Imagine if the New England Patriots had tied the Philadelphia Eagles in regulation at Super Bowl XXXIV, and Brady and Co. had been declared the winners only because they were the defending world champs. Or if the United States women’s national soccer team had tied Germany in regulation at the 2003 World Cup final and been awarded the trophy merely because they had won the Cup four years earlier. Fans would be aghast.

Yes, on paper the Solheim and Ryder Cups are only “exhibitions,” but that’s a woefully inadequate descriptor for the magnitude of these events. To most players and fans, these biennial international match-play showdowns mean as much, if not more, than major championships.

He even cites the Golf Channel commentary:

“I get the celebrations from Europe,” Golf Channel broadcaster Tom Abbott said from the booth, “but it doesn’t always sit well for me that the teams celebrate and it’s going to be a tie. I don’t know about you at home.”

Added his boothmate, Judy Rankin, a Hall of Famer who has captained two U.S. Solheim Cup teams to victory: “It has always been awkward and a bad ending when players have to finish when the match has been decided. But a lot of players — not every player — but a lot of players are so interested in their record when all the dust clears.”

Abbott: “But I think the point is, it really hasn’t been decided.”

Rankin: “True, I understand.”

Abbott: “You know what I mean?

Rankin: “I understand what you’re saying.

Abbott: “We’ve gotten to this point now where we celebrate tying the Ryder Cup or the Solheim Cup when, to me, both teams have played equally well.”

Yes, but as weird as this one was, does anyone remember the even more bizarre scene with Tiger in 2012?  One in which Tiger was so clueless as to how to react, that he turned a tie into a loss.  But here we venture into the amusing, because his example of what to do is curious in the extreme:

Amen, Brother Abbott! And it doesn’t have to be this way. Witness the Presidents Cup, which until 2005 had in its bylaws the most inspired of tiebreakers: a sudden-death playoff between two players “in the envelope,” meaning each’s team respective captain had chosen their playoff participants in advance.

Oh, the drama! Imagine, say, Megan Khang and Leona Maguire going toe-to-toe in bonus golf to decide a team winner. Or Ciganda, with the will of her home-country fans behind her, and Lexi Thompson staring each other down as they prepared for a do-or-die hole, tens of thousands of fans packed around a single green.

Don’t like the notion of matches being decided by only one player? OK, pick two representatives from each side and send them out in a sudden-death fourball match. Or have six players across three singles matches. First side to win two holes wins. Smarter people than me will have better ideas than those. Take NBC analyst John Wood, who tweeted on Sunday: “In my humblest of humble opinions, the ‘Retain’ needs to go in all of these competitions. Send out all 12 from both sides go play one par 3. Total strokes wins.”

Only once did the Presidents Cup employ a playoff, and it resulted, in 2003, in arguably the greatest Presidents Cup moment ever: Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, then numbers 1 and 2 in the world, respectively, duking it out mano-a-mano for the Cup in Els’ native South Africa.

Wow, that sounds epic as a way of avoiding it ending in a tie, but remind me how that Prez Cup finished?

Three holes later, with Woods and Els still tied and dusk settling in, U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus and his counterpart Gary Player agreed to call it a tie. But, hey, at least they had tried to settle the contest. (Darkness, by the way, would not have been an issue in Spain, where the matches ended with at least three hours of remaining sunlight.)

OK, so the example of how to avoid a tie ended in, checking notes, a tie?  The TC panel had similar thoughts: 

6. This year was the first time the Solheim Cup has ever ended in a tie, which isn’t exactly the most fun thing in the world. Quick: you have been selected to figure out how to properly end Solheim Cups and Ryder Cups that are all square after regulation. What’s your solution to crown a winner?

Sens: Take a page from soccer and go to a penalty shootout. Each team sends out 5 players, one at a time, to play a short par 3. If the teams are tied after that, it goes to sudden death.

Hirsh: Select two players from each team for a chip-off. Two balls each and you aren’t allowed to watch anyone else’s attempts. Team with the closest ball wins. I’m also going to use this opportunity to point out how egregious it is that in 2023, NFL games can still end in ties.

Bastable: It’s a deeply unsatisfying way to conclude three days of hard-fought competition. I loved what the Presidents Cup had in place until 2005: before the singles matches, the captains each put one player’s name in an envelope. If the overall score was tied at day’s end, those players faced off in a sudden-death playoff. You’ll remember that’s the format that gave us the epic Tiger Woods-Ernie Els showdown in 2003. Darkness eventually forced the captains to agree upon a tie, but the three holes before that accord were a blast. Time to put that format back in play in all the big team events.

I agree strongly that the retention of the cup BS should go, as it's just not kosher to allow one team with "win" a tie.... That said, let's not pretend that a playoff will be satisfyingly or feel like a proper resolution, just like penalty kicks and sudden death playoffs after 72 holes seem insignificant and gimmicky after long competitions.  The more players involved the better, but when the event is based in the U.S. (and these things are always in the Fall with shorter days), let's not pretend that these idiots will leave enough daylight for much more than a few holes.

I Saw It On TV - I'm still in shock at how bad the coverage was, and searching for a reason why.  The shot selections to be shown live were bizarre, although that's something always prone to second-guessing.  But the absence of taped shots to fill in what was missed seemed inexplicable...

The broadcast was also notably cheap, with limited shot tracers and other bells and whistles, but nothing was as objectionable as the clunky graphics that made following the competition so impossible.  Here was Dylan's take, including some other citations:

I also would like to speak for you, my sports-viewing people, when I say the quality of the event was not matched by the quality of the broadcast. The commentators were clearly frustrated by it; they weren’t in control of the feed and the provided feed wasn’t good enough. We missed crucial storylines, we lacked context from scorekeeping graphics, we spent too much time some places and far too little others. The gripes of Meghan and Tron below seemed to resonate with those watching…


The graphics were terrible beyond belief.  The single biggest issue was that, presumably as a cost-saving move, they didn't take the concluded matches off the summary graphic and failed to summarize how many matches each team was leading in.  This is so basic and has been done for so many years, that it almost seems like willful indifference to the viewing public.

I do hope that heat is brought to those responsible, because it's a great showcase and the feed was really that bad....

I'll save our coverage of that other cup for the coming days.  Have a great week and pray that the rain stops at some point.

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