How the Solheim Cup Will Be Won or Lost, with Sophie Walker – Sky Sports Golf Analyst

Nish 0:36

Every good story is about the journey, and this is the story of our journey trying to play the top 100 courses in the UK and Ireland in just 10 years. This is the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast. So I’m joined today by Sophie Walker. Welcome back, Sophie. Oh, thank you for having me. And we are discussing everything Solheim Cup today. Well, I’ll say everything, more specifically, let’s get some juicy info on the narratives around the Cup and what you think is going to happen.

Sophie Walker 1:03

Oh, right. Well, what I think I’m going to happen. Well, it’s in the Netherlands. It’s at the Bernardus Golf Club, which has been host to a couple of European tour events. Central Europe, so that means the fan base is going to be a lot easier to get to. Yeah, I think that’s going to be great. There’s trains, planes, automobiles. Apparently, you can even ride to the golf course on a bike. Very Dutch. Yeah. Very similar format, in fact, exactly the same format as a Ryder cup, 12 players, for some uh four balls, first two days, and then we go into singles, and also in the sense that it’s harder to win away. And that’s what the Americans are going to try and do. They won the cup in America, so we’re all systems going for that. In terms of the big players, the top ranked player on the uh European side is world number eight, Charley Hull, and the top-ranked player on the American team is Nelly Korda, who’s won two majors this

– The Numbers: 11–7, and Europe’s Remarkable Run

Sophie Walker 2:02

year.

Nish 2:03

And it’s crazy because it’s 11-7, isn’t it, in the Solheim Cup? So pretty close. But that’s been more because Europe has suddenly just recently in the trot. We two won two and retained one, didn’t we? I think is that right?

Sophie Walker 2:15

Yeah,

– Anna Nordqvist: The Captain Who Chose Not to Play

Sophie Walker 2:16

we did. The retain in Spain felt like felt like a win. In fact, if you speak to Suzanne Peterson, she’s the captain at the time, and actually the players they they call it a win because all seemed to have been lost until Caroline Hedwall, a Swedish player who was actually a vice captain this time around, fought back and won four of her last six holes to turn her match around. And uh then Carlotta Ciganda, who’s known for sealing the the point against Nelly Korda. So those couple of games. But yeah, the Europeans have been uh outstanding recently, and a lot of that um in the past nine Solheim Cups was due to Anna Norqvist, right, who is now not playing, she is captaining. So our captain, I can’t say our, sorry, the European captain is is retired from golf. She announced it last week at the FM event in on the LPGA, said this is going to be my very last ever tournament. And obviously the team was already picked by them, but she’d put to bed the fact that she would be a playing captain. And the reason that you think, oh, well, could she have played? Well, she was the first captain to ever have a top 10 in a major the year of the Solheim Cup, which just shows that she was still playing well. I mean, Anna’s only 38 years old, which is old for the women’s game, but I would say, well, she’s the best European uh female golfer of my generation and as an outstanding um foursomes record and singles record. She’s known for leading out the team in singles. So yeah, she is now um leading out the team entirely.

Nish 3:56

I know. Well, we’re gonna touch on that in just a moment. But before we do, Sophie, can I ask you out there to hit follow, hit subscribe, hit like, share it, do anything you can. Takes two seconds of your time, but it’s wonderful for us. It helps spread the content to people who are interested in content like this, like yourselves, um, and obviously we’ll be very, very grateful for that. So we’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll touch on Anna Nordqvist very quickly, actually. Here now, do you feel one temptation I really want to resist while we’re chatting to you, Sophie, is keep referring to the Ryder Cup, right? I want to avoid that, it stands on its own. I watched it in Think of Course Design, and it was uh amazing to watch, like so dramatic. Um, you know, we were sat in the pub watching the singles, all that kind of stuff, and I feel it’s a it’s a lazy comparison to do the two things. However, there is a real parallel there with what Anna’s done, and she’s put that rumour to bed three weeks before the tournament starts, two weeks before the tournament starts, right?

Sophie Walker 5:00

Well, no, she put it to bed straight away.

Nish 5:02

Straight away, right.

Sophie Walker 5:03

No, no, as soon as she was asked.

Nish 5:05

Do you feel that’s informed by how the whole media circus grew around what Keegan Bradley did?

Sophie Walker 5:09

Yeah, yeah, I do. I mean, you learn, don’t you?

Nish 5:12

Yeah.

Sophie Walker 5:12

There’s there’s no doubt that well, because there’s so few match play events in golf, you have to lean on the guys and the women, etc. So the week after the Solheim Cup in Spain, the captains and vice captains went to uh the first tee in in Rome to promote events, but also that the Luke uh Suzanne would would have been speaking to Luke. I know Paul McGinley has had a a bit of a say in speaking to players as well. You you’re gonna you’re gonna lean on on those people that have been in that situation before. I don’t believe Anna would have ever been a playing captain because she knows the importance of uh a captain’s role having played in nine. But when you start playing well, you think, oh, hang on a minute. And you know, Anna, Anna hadn’t been playing that great for various reasons, health reasons as well. Yeah, um, not just on the golf course, but this year she she’d been playing a bit better. She top 10 to everyone uh the first time uh a captain has ever top 10 at a major. And at the time I would say look, is she better than a few of the players in in our team? Maybe well no, no, she is. Sorry, yeah, she is, but she she it wouldn’t be as good being a captain and a player, you know, together, like a player manager at football, yeah. Um so so yeah, uh I think psychologically that must be so difficult, mustn’t it?

Nish 6:53

Because you you know your potential if you’re if you’re in a team and you think in your head, and also on paper, you are better than some of that team, but you also need to manage them and their psyche.

Sophie Walker 7:06

But by taking herself out of selection pretty much at least a year ago, you know, when people started to talk about it, because no one ever talked about a playing captain in our recent time, have they, since Keegan Bradley. Correct. And that was a year ago, and um then it went wrong for the Americans, I mean drastically wrong, and I think the decision literally got taken out of her hands. It was like, no, I I thought I wanted to just be captain, and it needs all my attention, and I’m going to just do that. Yeah. And then from a player’s point of view, um, that the players that she’s picked, as in the um they get four picks, three of them are rookies.

Nish 7:49

Yeah. Okay.

Sophie Walker 7:50

So they’re totally, you know, they’ll be in awe of Anna Nordqvist. She’s won three major championships. They’ve been playing Solheim Junior while she’s been playing Solheim adult.

Nish 8:00

Yeah.

Sophie Walker 8:00

It’s not really an issue there. And Leona Maguire um will feel exactly the same. Those two are quite good friends, actually. So it yeah, she is she’s a best, she’s a as I say, she’s the best of our generation.

Nish 8:13

Yeah.

Sophie Walker 8:14

And that’s that’s awesome.

Nish 8:15

She’s like a force of nature, isn’t she? Like people are gonna hopefully run through the brick walls though, right?

Sophie Walker 8:20

Yeah, hopefully. I mean, that’s that’s what she needs to show her team that they need to be a little bit like Anna Nordqvist who’s in the Solheim Cup. That would be brilliant. Yeah, all 12 of them could be like her.

Nish 8:31

I mean it would be amazing, wouldn’t it? Um you you you touched a little bit upon uh like the captains got together and and and all that kind of thing, and Paul McGinley, Luke Donald, and and there’s this it feels like there’s a nice integrated approach to it all in. Is there is there a lot of knowledge sharing going on then? Do you think?

Sophie Walker 8:47

I I think uh upon occasions, yeah. Uh it’s you know, when you are a Solheim Cup captain and a Ryder cup captain, there’ll be a few occasions that you’ll be in the same room together, and that they’ll probably ask questions. It’s not as not as formal as as you’re trying to make out that there’s a task force or anything, yeah. But you will um you’ll be silly to not go and pick some of your brains, and and I know a fact for a fact that Anna has spoken um to Catrina Matthew, Suzanne Petterson, you know, the most recent Solheim Cup captains. Yeah, and Anna’s also been vice captain. She was vice captain last she was vice captain the last two times, maybe. Right. Definitely one. Yeah. So um that’s that’s kind of what happens, isn’t it? You you’re a vice captain, you’re a player, you’re a vice, then you’re a captain. That’s the normal um path of all European um men’s and women’s match play teams.

Nish 9:47

Yeah, well, we’d sort of do that well, don’t we actually that we get we have a pathway getting through? Yeah, yeah. It’s because it’s a culture. You’re not just thinking about the one edition of that tournament then. Yeah. Fascinating.

– Meet the Teams: Fresh Blood and Familiar Names

Nish 9:57

So, I mean, what are the key stories that are developed around this year’s um Solheim Cup?

Sophie Walker 10:06

Well, from um from a European point of view, we’re we’re all I I’m totally pro-Europe, right?

Nish 10:12

This is I’m I’m happy to be unbiased. Umbiased, sorry, I should say.

Sophie Walker 10:17

Yeah, no, no. I mean, that’s that’s what’s great, isn’t it? You’ve got a team to support. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that’s that’s awesome. So in the sense that um we’ve got two English players in there, in Lottie Woad and Charley Hull. Lottie Woad. You know, top ten players in the world. Lottie’s going to be a rookie at the Solheim Cup, but I expect her to play a lot. I mean, Lottie could go five.

Nish 10:38

Yeah, she looks like an absolute mentality monster, doesn’t she? Lottie.

Sophie Walker 10:41

Um and actually had a holding one. Uh right, it was only in the team little trip to Bernard’s, but you know, she’s got form on the course. Absolutely, and um, yeah, so I’ve I think it’s a team which as a as a 12, it’s a it’s a solid team. We don’t have a major winner in this year in our team, but then saying that you know, Nelly’s won too, but the women’s game is at the minute, other than you know, Nelly in terms of winning, it’s dominated by Asian and Australians, like the rest of the world.

Nish 11:16

Yeah.

Sophie Walker 11:17

Um, so we’ve got Esther Henseleite who came second at the AIG Women’s Open. Remember a hole in that monster put on 18 at Lytham. She uh is making her second appearance in Solheim Cup, being in Ger uh being German. I think there’ll be loads of German fans out there. You’ve seen the first tee at Bernardus, it’s it looks like a football stadium around there. And then you’ve got the what are becoming the stalwarts, really. Celine Boutier, Carlotta Ziganda is is still in the team, and some some fresh blood, some enthusiasm. I mean, look out for Mimi Rhodes and uh Julia, the the Spanish girl, um yeah, Ramirez, they will bring. I think I think Anna is looking to bring some energy to our team because you know if you look if you look at our eight, um sorry, stop saying our I’m gonna say our cares. I’m not neutral at the meeting. Yeah, if you look at the eight that are automatics, you wouldn’t other than Carlotta and Nana, Madsen, there isn’t that they’re quite calm, they’re quite cool, which is great, but you need the balance of some enthusiasm in there, and uh so that that’s that’s the European team.

Nish 12:36

I suppose getting rookies in is quite good as well because they’re naturally going to have that and do they’ve seen it all on TV and they want to be part of it and want to feel more.

Sophie Walker 12:44

Yeah, and it’s important that the rookies integrate integrate well in the team in general. You don’t want to feel like you’re there to be a cheerleader, you want to be part of it, and I think you’ll find that all 12 will play the first day on both teams. Yeah, that seems to be what happens. Uh, and with and with the Americans, obviously Nelly leading the way, but their second qualifier, Angel Yin, has had a bit of a health scare in the last three months. She teed it up for the first time last week, shot 81, 76. She’s lost 35 pounds with a stomach issue and has been in hospital. So that was really a test to see if she was fit enough. She’s declared herself fit for the Netherlands, and then Rose Zhang, who was a pick, she also had some back issues but came fourth at that FM event. So last week the Americans were potentially looking at bringing their two reserves as such, yeah, but now it’s looking like they’ll keep to their 12. They’ve got a rookie in Lindsey Duncan, who’s 35 years old, which is the oldest rookie to play in the Solheim Cup. And you lay me know who ran it close at the AIG Women’s Open. They’re similar to us, they’ve got good players, but none of them have been winning uh winning um a lot other than other than Nelly, I suppose. Which makes it quite even.

Nish 14:09

Yeah, points to a close contest.

Sophie Walker 14:11

Yeah, I would say world ranking-wise, the the teams are as close as they’ve they’ve ever been.

Nish 14:16

That’s always good, isn’t it?

Sophie Walker 14:17

Yeah, yeah, and and that’s the cool thing about Match play, like world rankings don’t really matter, do they?

Nish 14:22

Yeah.

– The Flashpoints: Gimmegate and Solheim’s Spiky History

Nish 14:23

Now uh one thing that struck me um when I was reading up a little bit more about the Solheim Cup, you know, I’ve got into it more very recently. Then you get into seeing the story. So you know, you’ve you’ve had like um Gimme Gate, you’ve had Pick Up Gate, you’ve had Select Celebrate Gate, all these things have been happening, and they’re like real kind of like nickel, spiky moments, aren’t they? Um again, forgive the lazy comparison with Ryder Cup. It it feels like there’s more with the Solheim Cup. I don’t know why. I don’t know why it feels like those like flashpoints have almost become very defining in the rivalry, and I don’t that’s what it felt like to me as a lay person, you know. Could really the ones that you pick out on the the Ryder Cup would be Brookline was a real major one, wasn’t it? That it got and then obviously when Rory was having a little bit of a go, um, but it didn’t it’s never felt like it’s got to the crowd does more, I think, rather than interplayer.

Sophie Walker 15:25

Yeah, true, true. Um I suppose there’s there there has been those three those those three flashpoints. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They have. Yeah, um, and they were almost like they’re kind of uh Is it I don’t want to say like there’s not people that don’t get on, but there’s no there is probably people that don’t get on due to what’s happened in Solheim Cups.

Nish 15:52

Right, okay.

Sophie Walker 15:54

Um for sure. Yeah.

Nish 15:56

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Sophie Walker 15:58

Yeah, yeah.

Nish 15:58

Do you do you feel I mean what uh do you feel like it’s a that’s a proximity thing? You know, because I mean a men are probably spread out quite a lot.

Sophie Walker 16:07

No, we’re just petty, aren’t we, or swimming? Oh no, we hold a grudge. Um yeah, it’s it was just like you know, the the I mean, those are the three that immediately came up when I was was looking into it, but yeah, it was it was a think there is times, um, and I think the Americans are getting better at it now, where the Europeans are just better at match play and they know the rules of match play. Um, and also at the beginning of the Solheim Cup, the Americans you could just turn up. They were so strong, you know, like Nancy Lopez’s and just I mean it was the Europeans were just it was an exhibition, they were just going there and having a nice time, yeah. But uh as a as a rule, we play so much more match play golf. That’s in our system, isn’t it? It’s in our system, yeah. And you know, if in terms of match play, there’s there’s there’s little rules that can can benefit you, and um you can actually influence the person, really, can’t you? Like when it’s 72 holes, you’re just playing the course. Whereas match play, you you can visibly influence, and obviously those three those three outcomes were all we’re all the rules. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Well, that’s the rule. Yeah. Oh, is it uns you know, you don’t know the rules of match play, and I do. I do, yeah, exactly. Yeah, um, so I would say that the Americans have gotten far more aware of um of that type of play now, so it’s a bit fairer. I mean the Europeans just we we we had one up on them because we knew we knew how to play.

Nish 17:53

The intricacies of it, yeah. I love that. So that’s that that’s good for me. It’s like you know, you’re not doing anything dodgy or anything, you’re just playing the rules of the game that you that’s in front of you. So yeah, that’s good.

Sophie Walker 18:04

Yeah, I mean, I do I do hope we don’t have that um from a from a playing point of view, but from a media point of view, it’s ace, isn’t it? You’re like here we go again. Yeah. But I mean the the one the the one that you’re talking about, the the gimme gate, that lost um the Europeans that Solheim Cup because it really riled the Americans and it split the European team. Some people thought, yeah, you’re right, you we should have given them the hold back, and others thought, no, you shouldn’t. And that was a a pivotal moment, I felt, yeah. Uh, and it affected, and that’s the thing it could really affect that the next day. Yeah, players are so you know, you’ve seen players even this year getting a two-shalty for something, and they can they get over it, whereas for some reason in in the match play it just hangs over them and they just can’t seem to get over it.

Nish 19:02

Get over it, yeah. And I suppose you’d yeah, you’re playing for your team, aren’t you? And you want that, you know, you’d hang on a minute, we’ve just been this is really unjust, or or no, no, we are right, you know, that kind of thing.

Sophie Walker 19:12

And you’ve got I don’t know, ten more people to talk about it to, uh, if you’re in a pair, and some, yeah, you know, and some vice captains, and you know, so yeah.

Nish 19:23

I mean there’ll be there’ll be people out there who will be I know this for a fact, who we listen to this as going, gimme gate, right? And they’ll be getting on Google straight away, right? Yeah, yeah. And I urge you to do that because it was it it from a spectator point of view, it was pure drama, all of it.

Sophie Walker 19:40

I think it was Germany, wasn’t it?

Nish 19:41

Germany, yeah, and it’s just like what is happening here?

Sophie Walker 19:45

Suzanne and a young Charley Hull.

Nish 19:46

I know, and she was crying, bless her, wouldn’t she? Is that because she was really like a bit upset about it all the time?

Sophie Walker 19:51

Yeah, she won’t be crying now. No, no, not at all.

Nish 19:54

No, she’ll be four four tea boxes ahead. That’s where she’ll be.

– Motherhood on Tour: Georgia, Lexi, and the Pettersen Story

Nish 19:58

Um now obviously uh one of the other things that have been you talk about injuries in the the potential concerns for the for the states, and then they’ve also there been these two pregnancy narratives as well, haven’t they? Because Georgia Hall has had a baby and Lexi. Lexi there, sorry, she’s pregnant at the minute. Um, I mean, is there anything that’s in the statutes of the the tournaments or anything like that that that you know protects ranking points or anything like that? Oh yeah.

Sophie Walker 20:29

Right, yeah, there is.

Nish 20:30

So how does that how does that work? Please forget. I’m I’m totally uninitiated in all this.

Sophie Walker 20:33

So it’s you you take, I don’t think it would protect your Solheim Cup rankings. Right. Because obviously it’s every two years. Uh oh no, no, it does because it protects your world. No, it doesn’t protect your world. It protects your wherever you um finish when you choose to finish and go on on leave.

Nish 20:51

Yes, that freezes it there.

Sophie Walker 20:53

That freezes where you are in your category, not your world ranking. So your world ranking would fall, but your category. So say you have a winner’s category, or you have uh an order of merit where you are in the order of merit, it it would freeze until you come back. So when you’re gonna be able to do that, yeah, you resume in that exact position, but you have you have you can go to do tester events, which are like 18 holes, 36 holes, like Rose Ladies series, etc. etc. And then you can come back and play a handful of tour events to get into it, and then you go. Then you also get your rhythm back a little bit, yeah, yeah.

Nish 21:30

Get the competitive juices going again, right? Right.

Sophie Walker 21:32

And and it depends when you take leave.

Nish 21:35

So not to check if you’ve forgotten the rules of golf.

Sophie Walker 21:38

No, because like Georgia took her uh Mat leave quite early. Yeah, okay. She stopped maybe four four months pregnant through. Whereas you know, you see Madeline Sagstrom that is like eight, feel like she was seven and a half months pregnant. Oh yeah, she was heavily pregnant playing the majors.

Nish 21:56

That’s pretty brave.

Sophie Walker 21:58

Like as in like the age of the and then you and then you’ve got like until the the uh the well the baby’s stroke toddlers by that time, it’s it’s two, so you can have you don’t have to come back when they’re a year old, you can come back up till the age of two.

Nish 22:12

So then you’ve got in your like say categories frozen there.

Sophie Walker 22:15

Yeah, it still could be better, like it’s improved massively over the last couple of years. Um it it still could be better uh in in that respect, yeah. For sure.

Nish 22:27

Okay.

Sophie Walker 22:27

Oh, that’s good. We’re they’re trying to improve with it. Yeah, oh you’ve got to, haven’t you? I mean, Alison Lee, who’s playing for the American side. She was actually pregnant at the last Sol heim Cup. I had terrible morning sickness and wasn’t telling anybody. Oh, is that just you’re putting it down to nerves? So now she uh I think she’s you know gonna be. I think Julie Inkster would have been mum, maybe. I don’t know, but she’s gonna well definitely Catrina Matthew. I think she might be the first American player to play with a child, which is bonkers that we’re in this world now. Yeah, um, and and and for those of you that are really into all this, there was a huge um story about Catrina Matthew picking Suzanne Petterson for the Glen eagles. A lot of people forget about this. So Glen eagles is the mic drop moment of Suzanne Petterson’s career. She holds the six, eight-foot putt, whatever it is, it gets longer, doesn’t it? Wins the Solheim Cup for Europe and announces her retirement there and then at the press conference. But what a lot of people forget about was she didn’t play for a good year, she was pregnant before, and there was no way she was gonna play in the Solheim Cup. Everyone was like, don’t be silly, like she’s she’s out, yeah. But Catrina was like, Well, she’s not injured, she’s had a baby. This is a big difference for me. So Catrina convinced her to play in a couple of events in the summer, yeah, basically from June onwards, and said, if you one of them was a pairs comp with Catrina, yeah. Catrina was like, if you show any form, I want you to play in September. Yeah, and she and Catrina picked her, and there was a lot of people going, I don’t think that’s right. Right, you know, it’s a two-year period of qualification, she’s not been here for it. That Catrina just basically said, you know, it’s not an injury, it was a pregnancy, and I believe that she can do this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nish 24:24

And uh show of faith in her, though, isn’t it?

Sophie Walker 24:27

Yeah, so lots of people forget about that. Yeah, and with Georgia, Georgia had little baby Connor, I think, in February. Yeah, so there was time for her, but uh well, she’s openly said she didn’t appreciate how much physically it would take out of her even after having him. Uh she said she struggled to even line up putts with her niche it like it affected her knees and stuff. So she just didn’t come, it’s not like, oh, I’ve had Connor and now I’m just gonna go and play golf or whatever. Um it wasn’t like that. She she she said that she found it pretty difficult getting back into it.

Nish 25:01

You’re not gonna want to be in the team and feel like I might let them down at some point.

Sophie Walker 25:04

And then she and I would have thought she would have believed she’d have had time to show something, you know, like she had longer to show to show some form than Suzanne did. She teed it up. Um, I mean, still only June, but had played uh a good couple of events and maybe needed she did top 10 in London, um, the PIF London, but that was the week of the select, like the selection got made, I think, on the Monday, and then she went and topped 10 that week.

Nish 25:34

Yeah, yeah. All right, well, yeah.

Sophie Walker 25:37

Just came, just maybe came a couple of months too late. Yeah.

Nish 25:41

People always gonna miss out, aren’t they? All now uh you mentioned Alison Lee. So Alison Lee was the other party in Gimme Gate, wasn’t she? She was the one who picked up Lesser.

Sophie Walker 25:52

Yeah, um yeah, she was young then. She was literally rookie, wasn’t she? She was a rookie about. I mean, she she’d played it, doesn’t happen a lot in the men’s game, but she went junior Solheim one year, adult Solheim the next. Right, and uh was yeah, 18, 9 what did she be, 19 years old maybe when that happened.

Nish 26:11

Right. Mate, I made a what a thing to happen to you at 18, 19. I mean, you know, say it’s two characters, isn’t there?

Sophie Walker 26:17

Charley Hull, Alison Lee, yeah, they’re both both similar age at the time. Yeah, it’s absolutely incredible. I think in fairness, they left it to their adult partners to sort it out, which was Brittany Lindsacum and Suzanne Petterson. Yeah, like two.

Nish 26:33

Yeah, I love that. Is that sending in your old assist? Like, go on. Well, that’s that point. Yes, um, okay, so uh one of the questions a couple of well, two of the couple of the questions I’ve got for you is everyone talks about um these big match play tournament and home advantage and how difficult it roar is very famously said one of the difficult most difficult things in golf is to win away. Um whole truth of the Solheim Cup.

Sophie Walker 27:00

Very true. Yeah, when when a team wins a way, it’s uh it’s monumental, and it takes a player to do uh to do the unthinkable, which is to go undefeated. So when Europe did it in America the past two times they’ve done it, Caroline Hedwall went five points for five, and then Leona Maguire went four and a half for five. Leona Maguire’s fascinating because and same kind of with the Americans, they need they need a player to do that, yeah.

Nish 27:34

And Leona Maguire fascinates me because like she’ll have like a bad hole and then she’ll like she’ll just nail it on the next one, like it just completely disappears out of her. She’s got this I’d love that.

Sophie Walker 27:45

Yeah, she’s I mean, she came into the commentary box last week, and and you’re like, you know, you I you try and make her smile, you know. You’re like, looking at her, like, give me something, and and and that’s kind of what it must be like at match play. It’s like oh god, what’s going on behind those sunglasses? I mean, she did take the sunglasses off in the commentary box, which helped, but you get nothing from her, right?

Nish 28:08

Brilliant.

Sophie Walker 28:08

It’s just like nah, you’re not you’re not getting it, you’re not getting into the inner Leona, yeah, yeah.

Nish 28:14

And um you’d want to go to battle with her, wouldn’t you?

Sophie Walker 28:16

Yeah, and also like there’s a lot to there’s a lot that’s said about um oh Leona’s not the longest player on tour, but that means she’s first to hit in at match play. Oh it could, yes, if you’re playing well, it it can put the pressure on for sure. That’s fascinating, isn’t it?

Nish 28:36

All the psychology around it. This is what I love about these kinds of tour of it.

Sophie Walker 28:40

That’s this is why the pairings are gonna be so important.

Nish 28:43

Yeah. So do you so you’re saying you’re expecting, and as is you is it like just almost a convention how it works, all 12 players play in the first day.

Sophie Walker 28:51

It’s it’s it’s become a bit of a thing. Yeah, yeah, it it has become a a thing. But you know, teams aren’t if if someone isn’t playing well, they’ll give them a go. I mean, Caroline Hedwell got sat famously uh for a day and a half in Spain and then came out and won the singles. Uh Leona got sat in America and came out and won the singles. You gotta be you’ve got to be a certain person to to do that. Yeah. Sometimes it’s like, hey, you’re really not playing well, we’re just gonna hide you. And we’re gonna hide you in the singles as well, because you’re probably gonna lose type thing. And those two were like, no, no, we’re not. Um but yeah, I would expect at 12, 12 to play.

Nish 29:32

All play, right. Um, and then we were talking about um next.

Sophie Walker 29:37

Yeah, so Europe have won what four of the last

– Is Nelly Korda Bulletproof?

Sophie Walker 29:39

six.

Nish 29:39

Four of the last six, I know. Yeah, they’re on a very, very good run. Um the um six, the the places in America, um place names in America always crack me up when you’re like Inverness, in Ohio. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the COVID one. Yeah, uh Nelly Korda. I must talk about her because it’s there’s a bit of a building narrative around her with not being as bulletproof as people might have thought, because we’ve there’s been a couple of big scalps taken out of her in the singles. How is that playing out in the inner circles? Is that just like complete paper talk?

Sophie Walker 30:18

Yeah, I mean if you look at uh if you look at I don’t want to keep going back to the men’s, but the best player in the world, men’s, gets taken out quite a lot, doesn’t it? Yeah, um frequently actually true, yeah. I thought she was um magnificent in the last Sol heim Cup. I really did. She played with Allisen Corpuz, which I’d expect her to to play with again. And yeah, just came up against Charley like a red hot Charley. Inspired, yeah, exactly. But it was you know too little, too late, really, wasn’t it, from the European point of view.

Nish 30:56

Yeah.

Sophie Walker 30:56

Going into it.

Nish 30:57

Um So we’re not seeing it as a factor then.

Sophie Walker 31:00

No, I mean Nelly’s Nelly’s only won one solar. I mean, that was the last one. Yeah. So there was question marks against her in team competitions because she hadn’t won what she played in four and uh well, she played in three and not won one. So she won, she came in and and and won on in the fourth one. Um so no, I would I mean I would expect her to to shine, I really would.

Nish 31:30

And I and um and she’s gonna be put front and centre again, isn’t she?

Sophie Walker 31:33

So you know her record I mean her record is is is very good.

Nish 31:37

Uh just having uh it’s mother very good. I think she’s only those two singles matches.

Sophie Walker 31:41

Yeah, I mean she was what 87? So she 87% in the first one that she played in, and she was 75% in the last one with 50-50 in the others. And and you know, the first two she played a sister was in the team, and I think you know, you said big sister, little sister, and then the the next two she um you know she was a massive part of, but I suppose what we remember is the two singles she lost to Carlotta Ciganda, did that lose in the cup? Probably, probably, and then lost to Charley Hull, but it didn’t it didn’t mean that if you’re the best player in the team, you’re gonna go out number one, and the chances are you’re gonna go out against their best player, yeah. And and any anything can happen in in that respect.

Nish 32:31

Yeah, I mean they’re the best player for a reason, so they can take you out anytime, yeah. Absolutely. Um interesting, right? I feel like we’ve covered all the narrative stuff, like the stories behind it. Um right now, obviously, you’ve seen the two lineups. We were gonna do this like stupidly, we’re gonna do this before the American team is live. That would have been a ridiculous thing to do, wouldn’t it? Before the US team was announced. Um could you have done anything?

– Cracking the Pairings Code

Sophie Walker 32:54

Yeah, you were like, Can you do a podcast? Yeah, but no, can’t do this. Can’t do that.

Nish 32:57

Idiot. But um right now, you’re looking at those two lineups, and you’ve got the stories are the only things you’ve got to go with. There’s no they’ve not seen any practice rounds or anything like that. How are you how are you calling it?

Sophie Walker 33:08

Oh, I mean, you always call a home win. So it you know that’s your base point. That’s the base point. You’re gonna call a home win. Um the golf course is it feels as European as it can get. I spoke to uh speaking to Leona last week on the tele TV when she came in, you know, hard, fast golf courses. I know we’ve had a bit of rain recently, but I would expect it to be windy, um bouncy um and set up you know accordingly, I suppose. Uh the thing with home advantage, isn’t it?

Nish 33:44

You get to set the course up as you as you wish.

Sophie Walker 33:46

Yeah, I do know the Americans have been and seen it. I think they went somewhere around Evian. Evian British time, so they they’ve been and seen it. They’ve got a very good captain, Angela Stanford is is going to be a a a good captain, as good as Stacy Lewis was. Um I think Angela will be exactly the same.

Nish 34:03

What captain character characters and personalities similar actually?

Sophie Walker 34:07

Yeah, yeah, I would say. Whereas if you know, I felt the last time Suzanne was heart and Stacy was head, um, heart over head type thing. I the Americans do have Justin Ray, which those of you that are a big golf geek like me, the stats man Justin Ray, that worries me. Okay, because he will fit the pairings. They they they won’t mess up a pairing on paper.

Nish 34:34

Yeah, okay.

Sophie Walker 34:35

Yeah, you know, there was that story going back to the men’s where you know Collin Morikawa Collin Morikawa and um Harris English got paired together, and out of all of the combinations, they were the two that you would never put, they were bottom of the list. I don’t actually know that, wasn’t it? Yeah, what was that? In this in the Ryder Cup, yeah, just you know, if if you were to put their games against each other and how it fits around the golf course, they were bottom of the if you went on data golf, whereas that’s just not going to happen with Justin Ray.

Nish 35:02

Yeah, yeah.

Sophie Walker 35:03

He he will um make sure that doesn’t happen.

Nish 35:06

That in in this day of analytics and analysis and data-driven stuff, that’s a pretty big mistake, isn’t it?

Sophie Walker 35:15

Well oh yeah, and that’s that’s how do you do that in this day and age almost? I don’t know, like yeah, there’s still gotta be yeah, there’s still gotta be a point where the the people want to play together or you know, um I mean we we we interviewed Tom Young, so Tom Young is a friend of mine and he he helps Luke with um the psychologically putting the parents together.

Nish 35:38

Like, you know, do the personalities fit? Do they if they do a lot of analysis on them and they go, right, actually, yeah, these on paper, these two would fit really well, or when the pressure’s on, they’re gonna complement each other, or this one needs firing up.

Sophie Walker 35:52

In going yeah, in in listening to the players. So for instance, Charley openly, Charley Hull openly talks about I don’t want somebody fist pumping.

Nish 36:01

Yeah, with like as a partner, yeah.

Sophie Walker 36:02

As a partner, I I don’t need that. I want somebody quite level, calm. Um, if you think that who she’s been paired with, like Catrina Matthew, she’s been paired with uh Esther Henseleit, yeah. You wouldn’t put Charley with Carlotta Ciganda.

Nish 36:19

Yeah. Um irritate her and she doesn’t put her off a game, right?

Sophie Walker 36:23

I don’t want to say irritate, but it it doesn’t match. Personalities don’t match. And and if you’re I think it’s good as a player to openly say, I don’t want that type of player, then you’ve got to look at enforcements what golf ball you play.

Nish 36:35

Of course, yeah. You don’t think about that.

Sophie Walker 36:37

Yeah, so match the golf balls up, that’s quite important. And and I was listening to um the England football team, the women’s team, and they were talking about penalties, and their boss, Serena Wiegman, said to them, Right, I want you to write down first of all, will you take a penalty? What number you want to go in at? Because I think that says a lot. And I would do that with with um the European team as well. Yeah, because you get the impression, I mean, this is just me think Charley’s not one to want to go at the back, is she? Because she’s a fast player, yes. Like, get get me out early, send me out first or whatever. And then you might have others that go, I don’t know, for singles, yeah, quite like a lion. I don’t mind it coming down to me. Yeah, just just where you and then there might be someone that goes, Do you know what? Yeah, hide me. Yeah, uh like I’m not feeling it, and then at least you’ve got an honesty about them.

Nish 37:35

Of course you have, yeah.

Sophie Walker 37:36

Because there’s a big difference between somebody that wants to take the first penalty, the second penalty, the fifth penalty, yeah, you know.

Nish 37:44

Um so there’s a lot of psychology in there, isn’t there?

Sophie Walker 37:49

Yeah, absolutely, and there’s got there must be as well for the in terms of these match play events.

Nish 37:54

Yeah, so I mean that’s the sort of stuff again that Tom Tom feeds into to to Luke, and it’s that’s what I mean. In this day and age of that.

Sophie Walker 38:02

Vice captains as well, they complement the um captain.

Nish 38:08

Yeah.

Sophie Walker 38:08

So you you’ve got an Anna Norqvist, and then the vice captains Mel Reed, who is brings the hype, brings the joke in, brings the fist pump in, the stuff that Anna doesn’t have, Mel has, and vice versa. And then Angela Stanford’s got like a Paula Creamer who’s a bit like that, yeah, for at like a Mel. But then you then a weird little like even with the guys team, you need the mother figure. You need the one that that people can go and see for that the silly thing, like I’ve forgotten my so-and-so. Can you get it from my room? You know, that vice captain that goes, Oh, you’ve forgotten your rain jacket, yeah, I’ll go get it. Yeah, like you know, nicest possible way. No one was ever asking Laura Davies to go it, go in there, oh, can you just go and get my rain jacket? I’ve got it. So there’s a balance amongst the back room staff as well.

Nish 39:01

It’s amazing. I love all this sort of stuff. Like in in obviously it gets pushed into acute focus, doesn’t it? And in a Solheim Cup uh environment.

– Sophie’s Predicted Pairings

Nish 39:11

Um we’re talking about pairings. Uh are there any pairings that you think are gonna be let’s let’s do a European slant on this, maybe more. The European pairings that you think are like you know, Anna Nordwist is really gonna lean on these. They’re like your go-to, we’re under the pump.

Sophie Walker 39:31

We need I think you’ve got to look at nationalities, haven’t you? Yeah, potentially at the beginning of of what’s of what’s gonna happen. So you’d probably uh look in terms of um who’s gonna play with whom, maybe the English pairing, but that’d be a big pair, wouldn’t it? Load uh load, woad, and hull. Uh that’s like you know, from an American box office, isn’t it? It’s a bit like you take them down, yeah. That really does. I I could I could see that happening. Same, like I said, Charley and Esther again. Um, and then you’ve got to look at getting some other pairings put in there. You we had the Swedish or Swedish pairing with Maja Stark um and Lynn Grant. Yeah, that’s happened. We’ve got a couple of French players with Boutier and Nastasi and Doe. I I think Nana will play four ball over foursomes, and then maybe the same with with Liona, maybe she’ll might play Forsom’s over four ball.

Nish 40:32

Um do you think in in the team here as well, now the Foursomes four ball thing as well? Do you think we’ve got um a team that you’re looking at and you’re like, actually, yeah, that that looks like it’s now favouring these sorts of I mean you don’t have to let me know what you think they are, but like if you think you know, like there’s just things that people might not realise, like Mimi Rhodes uh grew up in Spain, so speaks fluent Spanish, which then means that Boutier speaks fluent Spanish, Ziganda obviously does, and Julia Spanish as well.

Sophie Walker 41:06

So then you’re like, oh right, okay. So you can see a togetherness there. Um Julia Lopez Ramirez hits the ball a country mile. Amazing, not always straight, right? Maybe I don’t think I I would not expect to see her in morning foursomes on the first day if she plays four ball in the afternoon and just goes lights out, and the foursomes haven’t been successful, then we might see her drop into a foursomes. But looking at this list, I think we’ve got clear foursomes people, yeah, and clear four-ball people, right? Which and that’s the thing, like you all go into everybody’s Mike Tyson, everybody’s good until you get punched in the face, right? Everyone’s got a plan, yeah. But I do believe now that it’s not about ripping up after morning foursomes and and and both captains will will think the same. Um, whereas in the American team, suddenly I’m looking at the American team and being like, oh yeah, like before it was just like who’s gonna play with who? Now, you know, I as I say, I think Corpuz and Korda this is the thing how important is with Angel Yin’s fitness because Angel Yin and Yulami No played together at the International Crown last year in Korea. I was really impressed with them. Right. They played they played great together.

Nish 42:31

Right.

Sophie Walker 42:31

So Angela Stanford, I think, is desperate to get that pairing together.

Nish 42:34

Yeah, get it going again.

Sophie Walker 42:35

Yeah, you’re desperate to get that pairing together. Rose Ang was and has been magnificent in the two Solheim Cups that she’s played in okay forms, not been great um this year. She she finished school finally, middle of the year at Stanford. So she’s still not had a full season as being a professional golfer, weirdly, like full-time, but her she’s got a great Solheim Cup record. Um, and they’re the same, like you can see clear for that that I think that the American team are very much anyone can play with anybody, right? Okay, which is which is good for them. Whereas before you’d be like, Oh, those two, they weren’t playing. They don’t get on or whatever, whatever it is.

Nish 43:19

Um there’s been some needle in the past.

Sophie Walker 43:21

You know, Lexi’s not playing for them. That’s big miss. She was she’s been a star player the last couple of Solheim Cups. Big personality misses Danielle Kang personality, big personality miss as well. She brought through a lot of of Yucky, uh Yuckies, rookies. Um, there was always a feeling that both teams were gonna be the changing of a guard the last couple of times for the Americans, and then this time for the Europeans. This was at one point. Well, Carlotta Ciganda won last year, but if she hadn’t, it might have been like, Oh, was that gonna be her last so-line? The same as Anna’s, really because they’re you know similar in in age, yeah, but she played well last year and then got in automatically anyway. Um, so I think I think Anna would have been very happy that she stayed and then picking Leona again. Because you know, you lost Georgia, yeah, who’s who’s become a bit of a stalwart as well. Um, and Celine Boutier is pretty quiet, yeah. Um, but I do think that Celine suddenly now with another French player and a couple more Spanish in there, you’ll see you’ll see uh her maybe that stepping up’s a funny one, but like changing her role and yeah.

Nish 44:34

I mean you do, you you you have you get a few additions under your belt, and then suddenly you’re what you’re the experienced head, aren’t you? Especially with the the rookies that we’ve got. So um well, wonderful. Okay, so look, I’m massively excited about this. I’m gonna be glued to the telly um watching it. Um Friday, Friday morning is the time it all sort of kicks off, like you know, yeah, everyone goes out.

– Battleships and the Final Score Prediction

Nish 44:55

I mean, who who do you think the pressure’s on? Which team do you think are gonna be taking that going into that going, oh right, okay. We need to get off a good start here.

Sophie Walker 45:04

Oh, but I mean, I think they’re as evenly matched as ever before. Both teams will be thinking it’s like battleships. I always go, you’ve got to take out the big, the big ship, and the big ships are Charley and Nelly.

Nish 45:17

Yeah.

Sophie Walker 45:18

Uh, and then the captains will be hoping that they get a couple of players that uh go undefeated. If you can get two players that go undefeated, you win.

Nish 45:28

Yeah, you you win them. So yeah, absolutely. Oh, wonderful. Well, look, Sophie, thank you for your preview.

Sophie Walker 45:34

It’ll be on Sky Sports Golf, everybody. Sky Sports Golf. Fortunately, the Irish Open, Rory, it’s on the other channel. So Sky of Sky are back in this. Amazing every single shot, first T to last put. So you guys do the same. Yeah, it’s a Solheim, it’s only once a year. The Irish Open, it’s not going to get good, is it? Till the bat nine, let’s be fair. Exactly.

Nish 45:54

Oh, I absolutely love it.

Sophie Walker 45:56

Um, and then Rory would want you to watch the Solheim as well. Of course he will. He really would. Of course he would.

Nish 46:01

He’ll be watching it.

Sophie Walker 46:02

In fact, yeah, just like he said.

Nish 46:05

Um, can I push you on a score prediction?

Sophie Walker 46:10

What’s good about the Solheims is that they are up there close. You know, I mentioned um Europe have won four out of the last seven. So it’s it we don’t seem to touch wood. We don’t get the landslides like that.

Nish 46:25

No, I mean that’s 2017, wasn’t it? That was 16 and a half, eleven and a half, but that even that’s not as five points, it’s not. We’ve done 14 and a half.

Sophie Walker 46:32

If a home team doesn’t win, then it’s a big upset. So I’ll I’ll be picking the Europeans to win, but not by more than two points.

Nish 46:40

Right. There we go. Money’s on it.

Sophie Walker 46:43

Yeah.

Nish 46:43

Money’s on it. So I’ll come and hunt you down if I do it if I lose it. Um no, thank you, Sophie. That was absolutely wonderful. Um, so yeah, please everyone tune in to the Solheim Cup. Um until next time on the Top 100 in 10 Golf Podcast.