Written by Stephen Moloney (www.twitter.com/TheCheeky9)
I was convinced Tiger had it. Like, 100%; done and dusted; alright, everyone, chairs up on the tables; valiant effort, Mr. Lowry, but that silver medal will just have to do; CON-VINCED … he was a lock, for me, to take ‘Moment of the Year’.
I mean, that Sunday at Augusta back in April had everything you could possibly want. The looming threat of an incoming storm? Check. More drama on the back nine than you’d get in an episode of “Home & Away” that’s one of those special two-parters? Check. An electric crowd sending roars echoing around the course reminiscent of those heard back in the early 00’s? Check. And the fallen phenom who, at one point, looked like he’d never swing a club in competition again, never mind have a chance at winning a Major, doing exactly that and completing, not only the Hollywood ending to that Sunday, but one of the greatest comebacks in sports history? Check and … just let me see … yeah, that’s another check.
Like, that’s just unbeatable, right?
Well, I’d have thought it would have been too … but then Sunday at the Solheim Cup happened. And that finish with Suzann Pettersen on the 18th, combined with all the other action from Friday and Saturday? I think it’s just dethroned Tiger from that number one slot in my head.
Because from the second those opening tee shots were struck down the fairway on that sun-drenched Friday morning to the second Pettersen’s ball dived those four inches below the surface of the 18th green on that equally sun-drenched Sunday evening, this Solheim Cup delivered in every way imaginable.
You’d two fantastic teams filled with some of the best players in the women’s game going out toe-to-toe in every single session and just slugging it out. You had the emergence of rookies on both sides who looked as though they have the potential to become Solheim Cup stalwarts for years to come. You had multiple fightbacks from 4DN and 5DN to salvage precious halves and sometimes even complete turnarounds to grab a full point. You had heartbreaking lip-outs, balls falling agonisingly short and balls creeping frustratingly past the hole to leave knee-janglers back for a half. You had matches sitting on a knife-edge and turning on a dime. You had howling winds and sideways rain making every single shot from tee to green exponentially more difficult in an already high-pressure situation.
And that was just Friday and Saturday.
Come Sunday, however, everything got notched up to another level. The relatively benign conditions, coupled with the bumper crowds crammed onto the picturesque Centenary Course at Gleneagles set the stage for potential fireworks and every single one of those twenty-four women who made up those twelve singles matches came out and, not only lit the fuse, but lit it with a bloody flamethrower.
Matches were switching back and forth between red and blue faster than you could keep up with. One minute momentum was surging the way of the Americans and then, out of nowhere, suddenly back the way of the Europeans. Roars rang out for holes won, worried groans for ones lost and tense inhalations through pursed lips for mistakes made. It was enthralling.
But then the points began to roll in.
And, like the entire weekend had been, there was no separating the two teams. It was like two exhausted heavyweight boxers going for broke in the twelfth round and just swinging for the fences. We’d land one on them, but they’d come right back and land one of their own. We’d throw another one, but then they’d come back with a two-hit combo to leave us reeling. There was nothing in it.
But then, out of nowhere, in the most extraordinary set of circumstances I’ve ever seen happen on a golf course, it all came down to one single putt. The final stroke that would be made in the 2019 Solheim Cup and decide who would get to hoist it aloft as champions. And it would be Suzann Pettersen to make it. The 38 year old Norwegian stalwart of so many European Solheim Cup teams in the past. The woman who’d played only two events in the last two years. The wildest of wildcard picks by the European Captain, Catriona Matthew, whose selection was widely questioned.
And she drained it.
Now, in the hours since the ensuing pandemonium which descended on the 18th once that putt dropped, we’ve, of course, seen how Suzann Pettersen has announced her retirement from golf – which, let’s be honest, just adds another coat of gloss to this most “Hollywood” of stories – and, you know what, it’s hard to blame her. Because you can’t top that finish on Sunday – you just can’t.
I mean, everyone remembers when Martin Tyler uttered that, now famous, line when Sergio Aguero won the Premier League for Manchester City against QPR with, pretty much, the last kick of the game, right? “I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again.”?
Well, what we saw on Sunday? I swear you’ll never see anything like that ever again.
So, sorry, Tiger, but the Solheim Cup gets the nod from me.
Still, I guess that green jacket is some consolation all the same.