The 2024 Solheim Cup — Team U.S.A.’s “unfinished business”
The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, Sept. 12, 2024
Ah, September. A new month filled with new golf news and a new voice at The IX.
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I want to extend my immense gratitude to the indelible Addie Parker, whose smile and story have brought me here to Howard and The IX. As a recent college grad, writer, reader and golfer, I’m thrilled to embark on this journey in my journalism career. Golf Thursdays will continue to be in the hands of someone with a contagious smile and an enduring love for golf.
Addie, you are inspiring to the nth degree, and I can’t thank you enough for paving the way for journalists and golfers like me.
With that, welcome back to Golf Thursday, golf fans, and happy Solheim Cup week!
A few days short of two weeks have passed since Haeran Ryu’s recovery win at the FM Championship. But a new game is on the horizon: the coveted Solheim Cup.
The women’s international team duel is staged for Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., and you can’t help but think, “Will the Americans win it back?” Dominant Lilia Vu. Six-wins-in-seven-events Nelly Korda. Rose Zhang. Andrea Lee. Veteran Lexi Thompson. Captain Stacy Lewis. The star-studded roster list goes on and on.
Though fan support, weather conditions and the like can increase the odds of the home team, the cup has not always been won by the players on home turf. Team Europe kept possession of the Solheim Cup with a win in 2013 at Colorado Golf Club, but Team U.S. snatched it right back in 2015, winning at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot in Germany.
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Team Europe still has rights to the trophy, after three straight wins in 2019, 2021 and 2023 at Gleneagles, Inverness and Finca Cortesin, respectively. The most recent: Team Europe held onto the cup with a historic 14-14 tie.
But now to 2024. Robert Trent Jones Golf Club has been the host club for the first four Presidents Cups in the United States and saw only American victories. If the course has a mind of its own, it might treat Team U.S.A. more kindly, based on mere superstition.
Northern Virginia news source InsideNoVa dug deep, finding an 1994 article in the Washington Golf Monthly Magazine’s inaugural issue that poetically described Robert Trent Jones’s creation of the course. It said that the father of modern golf course architecture “kneaded the luscious, Bentgrass valleys and heaven-sweetened contours into a 7,238-yard canvas of world-class demand.” And demand it will.
The narrow, dog-legged track will tempt Charley Hull to cut the corner and rip driver, but the tight fairways might cause her ball to run long into the fairway bunker. And although the number two and number four most accurate drivers Allisen Corpuz and Megan Khang will surely hit fairways, they still might find themselves face to face with a tree. ‘Tis the nature of RTJ’s limb-lined golf course.
Robert Trent Jones is situated on Lake Manassas, which fosters a pretty hefty breeze that the players will have to endure on at least the last 10 holes. This lakeshore wind can quickly change, leaving players with club and alignment alterations for distance and direction.
It’ll be a true test, but these players recently withstood the 45 mile-per-hour gusts that the North Sea had to offer a few weeks ago in St. Andrews. They’re accustomed to not only windy conditions but constantly changing ones as well.
And of course the mentioned Lake Manassas presents itself on some signature holes at RTJ. The par-3 9th is downhill, ending at a “peninsula green,” and the par-3 11th forces players to carry a shot over the lake itself. At the Prince William County track, it might not be in play all the time, but Lake Manassas sure is daunting.
As golf becomes more global and players continue to compete at the highest level, sometimes at courses different from their home, there’s no telling who will come out on top in international competition. These players are just unbelievably good.
The drama starts now.
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This week in women’s golf
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All 24 players competing in the 2024 Solheim Cup, ranked
Take a look back at all 18 past Solheim Cups
Sarah Schmelzel bringing grit, resiliency to U.S. Team as Solheim Cup rookie
Pettersen hoping to create history in the U.S.
Esther Henseleit | The LET Golf Podcast | Solheim Cup Special
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Fatima Fernandez Cano secures her third Epson Tour victory at the Guardian Championship
Junior/Amateur News
United States wins 2024 Junior Solheim Cup in record-setting fashion
Great Britain & Ireland claim first Curtis Cup victory since 2016
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Five at The IX: Team U.S.A. stars weigh in on what the Solheim Cup means to them
Nelly Korda, Megan Khang and assistant captain Paula Creamer spoke with the media on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 at the Solheim Cup. They shared comments about past tournaments, historic milestones, bittersweet endings and first impressions of RTJ.
Q. Nelly, you mentioned how crazy and long the year has been already. How does this experience this week impact you as a player and a person at this stage of the season?
NELLY KORDA: It’s such a fun event. There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like walking onto that 1st tee and feeling all those nerves. I think it’s something super exciting too and refreshing to have a teammate, have teammates and captains and people to lean on when you normally don’t.
Every experience that I’ve had — obviously haven’t been on the winning side, but every experience I’ve had in the Solheim Cups has been an amazing one, and I always strive to make the team.
Q. Paula, you’ve played with Lexi throughout the years. This is likely her final Solheim Cup as she’s hoping to step away. What has Lexi meant to the U.S. side all these years and this season in particular?
PAULA CREAMER: Lexi has definitely changed women’s golf. I actually got to play with her her rookie year at Solheim in Colorado. I believe that was her first one. To see how far she’s come from there until now.
You can tell she’s so happy right now. I think that making that decision earlier this year has definitely helped her enjoy these moments and enjoy being on a team right now. She has definitely made a huge impact on the game of golf for the juniors and everything.
She’ll definitely be missed, but she’ll always be there, that’s for sure. I don’t think she’s going too far away from the game, just not out here.
Q. Nelly and Megan, could you compare RTJ to Finca Cortesin last year? How much more of your game will be testing here than out there?
NELLY KORDA: They’re so different, these two golf courses.
MEGAN KHANG: It’s a much easier walk this week.
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, it’s a completely different grass too. I don’t know, I feel like maybe there will be more birdies out here.
MEGAN KHANG: Definitely. I think the greens here have a little more undulations to them. As big as they are, they kind of have little pockets, I would call it, on the greens. Because if you’re kind of on the wrong side of those pockets there are going to be some tough putts out there. So it looks like you’re ball striking is really going to have to be on point.
I think the majority of the par-5s are reachable. We played the back nine today and I know the two on the back were.
Finca was obviously a very beautiful golf course, the scene and everything. But obviously being on home soil we’re kind of biased, so hoping RTJ ends up in our favor this week. I know we’ll have the fans on our side a little louder than we did over there.
Overall, both golf courses are amazing, and we’re very happy to be here playing on these beautiful courses, but we’re hoping we have a little more luck here.
Q. As you’re kind of alluding to, both of you in your fourth Solheim; haven’t seen a win yet. What’s the pressure like this week to end that streak now?
NELLY KORDA: We got some unfinished business.
MEGAN KHANG: That’s kind of been the motto of the team this year, unfinished business. Some people have asked me what one word would be to describe Team USA this year, and I’m just going to say “hungry” because Nelly and I obviously being on the same amount of Solheim Cups and not necessarily getting the job done last year kind of leaves not necessarily the best taste in your mouth.
Luckily we didn’t have to wait two years. We have this year to kind of get back at it, and I can tell you now we’re more hungry than ever.
Q. Nelly, this Washington D.C. region has been very kind to your family. Your father won the tennis tournament here 32 years ago. Your brother had a big breakthrough this summer at the tournament. Do you feel like you’re due for a big win here in this region, and what brings out the best in the Korda family here?
NELLY KORDA: Definitely. We’ve had some luck in the D.C. region. Yeah, Seb finally had a breakthrough win. I was so nervous for him. I get more nervous watching him than anyone else. It was nice seeing him with all the work he’s been putting in to succeed.
We have a great group of girls. We have a great group of guys. We have a great captain. We have really great assistant captains. Hopefully it all falls into place and we play some really good golf for the fans out here this week.
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