Stacy Lewis is returning to her hometown in Ohio for the Solheim Cup, simply not as a participant.
U.S. captain Pat Hurst stuffed out her crew Monday with 4 picks, two of them Solheim Cup rookies who've by no means received on the LPGA Tour.
The 36-year-old Lewis was picked to be an assistant captain and couldn’t have been more thrilled. Lewis was born in Toledo and performed a task in getting the biennial matches in opposition to Europe to be held at Inverness Membership.
The Solheim Cup is Sept. 4-6.
Lewis additionally held out hope of creating the crew or doing sufficient to be a choose. 4 gamers had been forward of her within the Solheim Cup standings, six on the world rating. Lewis has been a part of each crew since 2011, having to sit down out in 2019 with an damage as a captain’s choose.
“It was a little tough but I also didn’t play good enough,” Lewis stated. “If you want to be on the team, you can’t rely on a pick. So I knew I didn’t play the way I wanted to, but to still just be a part of it ... and to know I was a part of why we’re there ... is still going to be a lot of fun.”
Hurst used her three picks on Brittany Altomare, her second time making it as a captain’s choose, and Solheim Cup rookies Yealimi Noh and Mina Harigae, who've but to win on the LPGA.
The 9 qualifiers had been Nelly and Jessica Korda, Danielle Kang, Lexi Thompson, Ally Ewing, Austin Ernst, Lizette Salas, Megan Khang and Jennifer Kupcho.
European captain Catriona Matthew had six further picks. She used them on Leona Maguire, Matilda Castren, Nanna Koertz Madsen, Mel Reid, Celine Boutier and Madelene Sagstrom.
Maguire (Eire) and Castren (Finland) would be the first gamers from their nations to play within the Solheim Cup. Europe is represented by gamers from eight nations.
Europe’s six qualifiers had been Anna Nordqvist, Sophia Popov, Charley Hull, Georgia Corridor, Carlota Ciganda and Emily Kristine Pedersen.
Matthew has solely 5 returning gamers from the European crew that edged out the People within the ultimate match to win at Gleneagles in 2014. Whereas the People have a 10-6 edge in he {series}, Europe has received three of the final 5 within the Solheim Cup.
Boutier went 4-0-0 in these matches. Reid performed on the 2017 crew and was an assistant captain in 2019 to Matthew, who will attempt to change into the primary European captain to win twice.
Hurst leaned closely on Noh and Harigae having performed effectively within the months main as much as the matches. She began paying nearer consideration to Harigae at first of the COVID-19 pandemic. Harigae received 4 Cactus Tour occasions whereas the LPGA Tour was shut down.
“She was kind of on my radar back then,” Hurst stated. “I went out on a limb and invited her to one of our team bonding deals, and she was all in for that. She was totally a part of the team and that was great to see. She kind of took off after that. She played well.”
Castren was a longshot to be on the crew, even profitable her first LPGA Tour occasion at Lake Merced this 12 months, as a result of she was not a Women European Tour member whereas making an attempt to concentrate on the LPGA. However she added an LET occasion in Finland to a crowded schedule and received, incomes membership and making herself eligible as a choose.
Usually, telling a participant she has been picked for the Solheim Cup is a supply of glad news. The awkward second for Matthew was sharing this with Madsen of Denmark. She was tied for the lead on the 18th gap on the Ladies’s British Open till hitting a shank from a troublesome lie in a bunker and making double bogey.
“It was tough telling her afterwards because you could tell she was so disappointed with her finish,” Matthew stated. “I think after a couple hours, she’ll realize she had a great finish and it was her first time really up there with a real chance of winning. The boost of getting into the Solheim Cup will hopefully help.”
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