2013 LET Tour Guide (pdf) - Ladies European Tour

Sorenstam 18 holes, earned a key half-point. In the final match of the day, Rosie Jones clinched
The Cup for the US Team with a par putt on the 15th hole.
Laura Davies earned two points for the European Team and stood as the all-time points’ earner
in Solheim Cup competition (16) over Dottie Pepper (14), who qualified for the U.S. Team but was
unable to compete due to injury. Carin Koch continued her stellar Solheim Cup play, posting a
4-0-1 record to compliment her 3-0-0 record from the 2000 event. Koch’s only blemish on a perfect
record came in the singles matches when she halved with veteran Beth Daniel after the outcome of
the event was already decided.
The Solheim Cup moved dates from the scheduled 2004 to 2003 due to The Ryder Cup matches
moving into the same years after the September 11 atrocities and were played at Barsebäck GCC
near Malmö in Sweden.
The European Team dominated the matches from start to finish. They were led by Swede Catrin
Nilsmark, who captained her team from crutches due to a ruptured disk in her back that made
walking almost unbearable.
The superior shot making exhibited by both sides delighted the first sold out crowd in Solheim
Cup history and almost 100,000 fans had much to cheer about right from the start as the European
Team won three of the four morning foursome matches on day one and halved the fourth.
As in years past, however, the US team rallied in the four-ball format that afternoon to close the
gap to 4 1 ⁄2 to 3 1 ⁄2. But as the sun rose over the shores of Öresund on day two Europe blazed a trail.
The home team won three of four points in the morning foursomes matches, then pounced as the
US team uncharacteristically struggled in the afternoon fourballs, earning two crucial points to take
a 9 1 ⁄2 to 6 1 ⁄2 lead.
The final fourball match was one of the most competitive and memorable matches in Solheim Cup
history, with Suzann Pettersen and Annika Sorenstam carding two dramatic birdies on the final two holes
to defeat Kelly Robbins and Laura Diaz, 1 up. The media coined it one of the best fourball matches ever
in the history of the sport and it will long be remembered as both a classic and as the catalyst to
Europe’s victory heading into Sunday’s singles matches, now three points ahead of the USA.
Needing to win only five of the 12 singles matches in order to reclaim the Cup, Europe wasted no time
on Sunday morning. Janice Moodie, Sophie Gustafson, Iben Tinning and Annika Sorenstam all posted
European blue on the leaderboards by winning their matches. The 2003 Solheim Cup ended when
Catriona Matthew defeated Rosie Jones on the 17th hole of only the sixth match. Five more matches
were still being completed, but once Jones missed her birdie try and then conceded Matthew’s 9-foot
birdie putt, it was all over.
Three of the five remaining matches were conceded to the European Team once the Cup was
secured, giving the Europeans the largest margin of victory since the competition began in 1990,
17 1 ⁄2 - 10 1 ⁄2.
In the USA in 2005, Europe attempted to reclaim The Cup at Crooked Stick GC under the leadership
of Catrin Nilsmark. It was a tight competition, with several sudden lead changes. Europe won three
points out of four in the Friday morning foursomes matches. They had trailed in three matches
entering the final stretch but the biggest comeback of all came in the final match. Annika Sorenstam
291 Ladies European Tour 2013