It was the ‘gimme’ that never was and an incident that sparked a breakdown in international relations that made the Cold War look cordial.
September’s Solheim Cup erupted when Team USA’s Alison Lee picked up a putt she thought had been conceded by the European pairing of Suzann Pettersen and Charley Hull during a nip-and-tuck fourballs tussle.
Pettersen was adamant it hadn’t been given, though, and stuck by her guns as the stooshie boiled over. Europe were awarded the hole, Pettersen was accused of woeful sportsmanship and both Hull and Lee ended up in tears amid bewildering scenes of finger pointing and bickering.
It was a moment that called for calm heads but in the heat of the golfing battle there weren’t many going around. Catriona Matthew, a veteran of eight Solheim Cup appearances, was on her way back to the clubhouse to prepare for her singles match when ‘gimme-gate’ blew up.
As a calm, considered campaigner, who will be a leading candidate to be Europe’s team captain when the biennial battle comes to Gleneagles in 2019, Matthew continues to take a diplomatic approach to an affair that certainly thrust the women’s showpiece into the spotlight.
“It put a dampener on the event,” she said in an interview with Lady Golfer Magazine as the Scot reflected on the contest in Germany. “Suzann wasn’t going to give the putt and you don’t pick up the ball until it has been given. In hindsight it could have been handled better but, at the end of the day, if they weren’t going to give it they weren’t going to give it. Maybe the captains could have got together.
“In that situation it is such high pressure so maybe you are not thinking as clearly as you might. It is all too easy to say afterwards you should have done this and that.
“Suzann was questioning what she should have done but I stand by her, she is a good friend. To be honest I don’t know what I would have done in the same position.”
Matthew is not competing in the LPGA Tour’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico this week but one Scot who has travelled to the Latin American country is Russell Knox.
Having earned his breakthrough victory in the WGC HSBC Champions in China last weekend, Knox, the new world No 31 from Inverness, has honoured his commitment to contest the OHL Classic, his fifth event of the PGA Tour's 2015-2016 wraparound season.
Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth, the world No 3, will play his first regular European Tour event in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January.
Spieth, who won the Masters, US Open, Tour Championship and FedEx Cup in 2015, will be part of a strong field featuring Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here