When Pat Bradley and Dale
Reid, the respective captains of the United States and Europe teams in the Solheim
Cup this autumn, gathered at Loch Lomond yesterday, they anticipated being grilled
about their teams' chances in the event. In fact, talk of the Solheim Cup was
barged to one side by the announcement that Scotland will make a commitment to
try to be the host country of the 2009 Ryder Cup, and that Loch Lomond probably
will be one of the clubs bidding to stage the event.
"The Scottish Executive
is currently working with the Scottish Tourist Board, Scottish Enterprise, sportscotland
and others to put together a bid for the Ryder Cup in 2009," Rhona Brankin, the
Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport in Scotland, said.
The Ryder Cup Committee
will announce the host country for 2009 this year and the successful venue will
be named in 2001. "We are keen to have more major golf tournaments in Scotland,"
Brankin added. "I don't see resources being a problem [for the Ryder Cup]. It
is fitting that Scotland, the home of golf, should hold such events. This [the
Solheim Cup] is a trial run for the Ryder Cup."
That last sentence was
hardly what officials of the Ladies' European Tour wanted to hear. Why does women's
golf always have to be put in the context of men's golf, they thought to themselves?
"I don't want to compare it to the Ryder Cup," Reid said. "I don't like comparisons
between men's and women's golf. There should be no comparisons between the Ladies'
British Open and The Open."
Yet the Ryder Cup has become
so successful and so big that it completely overshadows other team events in
golf and any problems that occur in Ryder Cups invariably are also associated
with other team events. Bad behaviour among players is one aspect that is common
to these events. Many of the memories of the Ryder Cup last year in Boston centre
on the invasion of the 17th green in the singles between José María
Olazábal and Justin Leonard.
By the same token, past
Solheim Cup matches have been marred by what the Europeans felt was excessive
partisanship and bad manners shown by Dottie Pepper at Muirfield Village in the
1998 match. It should not be forgotten that Americans felt disappointed at the
behaviour of some of the European team at Dalmahoy in 1992, when Europe won for
the only time in the five matches staged so far.
Bradley and Reid are aware
of their responsibilities to curb players' excesses in these areas. "I don't
need to tell my players how to behave," Reid said. "The men don't mix as much
as the women. It is friends against friends. There will not be any problems."
Bradley said: "Our players
are aware of what happened at the Ryder Cup. They do not want it to happen to
us. I do not intend to stifle my players' excitement, their competitive spirit
and fire, but they know the integrity of the game and they know the rules."
