Not a few eyebrows were raised when Europe captain to the Solheim Cup Catriona Matthew used one of four at-large selections on Suzann Pettersen. After all, the latter was just eight weeks removed from a long — okay, extra-long, at north of 600 days — lay-off due to pregnancy and childbirth. Parenthetically, nothing in those eight weeks suggested the 38-year-old Norwegian’s form was ready for the rigors of match play in the sport’s preeminent team-based spectacle; to the contrary, two missed cuts and a 59th-place showing in three events gave all indications that rust remained a factor for the two-time major winner.
Still, Pettersen was confident she would be able to withstand intense scrutiny arising not just from circumstances inside the ropes at the Gleneagles PGA Centenary Course in Scotland. She was ready and willing to take in the pressure that awaited her, she said. When she last wore Europe’s colors at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot in Germany four years ago, she stoked controversy when she refused to concede a putt United States rookie Alison Lee wrongly picked up in a crucial fourballs session. She got the point she wanted, but likewise absorbed the disapproval of just about everybody outside her team. Defeat was then snatched from the throes of victory, with her faux pas becoming a rallying point for the opposition.
Criticism again enveloped Pettersen in the run-up to the 2019 Solheim Cup, but, at least outwardly, Europe expressed the belief her pluses more than offset whatever handicaps she brought with her. And, if nothing else, she had experience borne of a sterling 15-7-3 slate in best-ball and alternate-shot formats. As Matthew noted, “she will be my playing lieutenant on the course. She will be bring an important calmness to the proceedings, even in the practice rounds. All of which will be a big help to the [three] rookies.”
As things turned out, calmness was precisely what Pettersen brought, and exactly at the right time, en route to clinching the Cup for Europe. With the score tied at 13.5 points apiece and her match at all square, she had in her hands the fate of the competition. With an eight-foot putt for birdie awaiting her on the 18th green, the stage was set. Miss, and the US would retain the trophy with a tie. Make, and redemption awaited. She faced a one-or-the-other moment separating heroes from heels. No matter. Proving that she had ice running through her veins, she stroked her putt dead center into the hole.
In retrospect, not even in Pettersen’s wildest dreams could she have concocted an ending as fit for a storybook as the one she crafted. With her steely resolve, she finally put to the past her display of poor sportsmanship in 2015 and capped her career with what can reasonably be deemed Europe’s finest Solheim Cup triumph. It was certainly the most dramatic, and made even more memorable by her shocking decision to retire right then and there. “This is a perfect closure,” she disclosed. “The end for my professional career. It doesn’t get any better.” Indeed.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
