Transatlantic showdown between U.S., European squads slated for Sept. 14-16 in Sweeden

By The Morning News Staff & Wire Reports

ROGERS — Next week, Halmstad Golf Club in western Sweden will host the 10th meeting of the United States and Europe in The Solheim Cup, and many of the U.S. team players will be spending this week tuning up for the event at the inaugural LPGA NW Arkansas Championship presented by John Q. Hammons at Pinnacle Country Club.

The Solheim Cup is slated for Sept. 14-16, in Halmstad, Sweden. A team of 12 European-born players that includes Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam and fellow Swede Sophie Gustafson will compete against the U.S. team. The U.S. team is looking to improve upon its 6-3 all-time record against the European team and clinch its first victory on European soil since 1996.

Juli Inkster is the veteran on a young U.S. team that will try to defend its Solheim championship in Sweden. Captain Betsy King announced the 12-player squad Aug. 26 after the Safeway Classic. Paula Creamer was the top points earner for a spot, and Nicole Castrale and Laura Diaz were captain’s picks.

Natalie Gulbis, Pat Hurst, Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome, Stacy Prammanasudh, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford and Sherri Steinhauer also made the team.

Castrale, Lincicome, Prammanasudh and Pressel are new to the event. Inkster will be playing for the seventh time.

“We’re got a lot of rookies, but we’ve got a lot of rookies with a lot of heart,” Inkster said.

Kerr , the U.S. Women’s Open champion, earned the second-highest total of points in qualifying for the U.S. team with 713.50 points. Kerr has been onboard for the NW Arkansas Championship since her commitment was announced by tournament officials after her U.S. Women’s Open victory on July 1 over Lorena Ochoa and Angela Park at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C.

Diaz has played in three Solheim Cups. She finished 14th in the points standings for a spot, but her experience prompted King to pick her.

“I thought that was very important, particularly going over to Sweden, to have someone that had played over there before,” she said.

Players qualified to represent the U.S. by earning points for wins and top-20 finishes over a two-year qualifying period. Players began earning points toward the 2007 Solheim Cup at the 2005 State Farm Classic.

Prammanasudh, an Oklahoma native, was fifth in the points standings at 483.50 in earning her first Solheim Cup berth. Prammanasudh has seven top-10 finishes this season with one victory at the Fields Open in Hawaii.

In 2005, Gulbis had the best winning percentage on the 2005 team at 75 percent (3-1- 0). The 2007 Ginn OPEN champion Brittany Lincicome remains eighth in the points race with 396.50 points. Angela Stanford stands ninth with 339 points. Sherri Steinhauer (324.50 points) rounds out the top-10. Seven-time LPGA Tour winner Steinhauer has played on the American side three times in her 22 years on Tour.

Gulbis, Lincicome, Stanford and Steinhauer all will be competing in the NW Arkansas Championship.

AT A GLANCE

2007 U.S. Solheim Cup Team

Captain: Betsy King

Assistant captain: Beth Daniel

Automatic qualifiers Final points

1. Paula Creamer 741.00

2. Cristie Kerr 713.50

3. Morgan Pressel 532.50

4. Juli Inkster 512.00

5. Stacy Prammanasudh 483.50

6. Pat Hurst 449.00

7. Natalie Gulbis 412.50

8. Brittany Lincicome 396.50

9. Angela Stanford 372.00

10. Sherri Steinhauer 324.50

Captain’s picks

Nicole Castrale 277.00

Laura Diaz 240.00

2007 U.S. Solheim Cup Team veterans

Name Years participated

Paula Creamer 2005

Laura Diaz 2002, 2003, 2005

Natalie Gulbis 2005

Pat Hurst 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005

Juli Inkster 1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005

Cristie Kerr 2002, 2003, 2005

Angela Stanford 2003

Sherri Steinhauer 1994, 1998, 2000

Depth of talent on LPGA Tour light years ahead of 1983, especially among the younger players

By Grant Hall
THE MORNING NEWS

FAYETTEVILLE – The LPGA Tour has come a long way from that moment in 1983 when Jan Stephenson, upset that she hadn’t been invited into the interview room after a good opening round in the U.S. Women’s Open, walked in there anyway, picked up the microphone and announced, “Jan Stephenson is now in the interview room.”

This was at Cedar Ridge in Tulsa, Okla., where there now is an annual LPGA Tour event called the SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons.

Call it a sister event to the new LPGA NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons, beginning Friday at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

Stephenson, who was 32 in 1983, won the Women’s Open that year, helping solidify her reputation as a very good golfer in addition to being the tour’s “calendar girl.”

One of the current LPGA Tour heartthrobs is twentysomething Natalie Gulbis, who just happened to be on hand at Pinnacle when the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship was announced earlier this year.

Since then, Gulbis has won her first LPGA tournament, the Evian Masters in France. No doubt, that’s helped her own calendar sales.

But a big difference between 1983 and now is the depth of good players on the LPGA Tour — particularly young ones.

Back in ’83, pre-technology as that relates to today’s golf balls and clubs, a good drive on the women’s tour was considered to be about 240 yards.

Nowadays, teenager Michelle Wie can probably hit an iron that far.

Suzann Pettersen of Norway, one of the entrants in the NWA tournament, averages about 273 yards per drive, and that only ranked third as of late August.

It used to be said about the women’s tour that it was the place to watch if you wanted to learn how to swing the club with nice rhythm and tempo.

While that’s still true to a degree, there are also a number of women’s players who swing from the heels.

The University of Arkansas golf team had one not long ago, Amanda McCurdy, who at 5-foot-1 took the club back almost as far as John Daly does and belted the ball 280 yards or more. McCurdy now plays on the Futures Tour.

Stacy Lewis, who came along at Arkansas after McCurdy, doesn’t swing quite that hard, but she hits the ball as straight as a person can point. A winner of the women’s NCAA individual title this year, Lewis will play in the NW Arkansas Championship this week on a sponsor’s exemption.

Lewis has some experience at Pinnacle, having played in two Lady Razorback Invitational tournaments there.

The LPGA tournament offers fans the chance to not only support Lewis, now a UA senior, but also see, up close, such stars as Cristie Kerr, Se Ri Pak, Mi Hyun Kim, Meaghan Francella and Gulbis.

Some other top players are missing this year because of the upcoming Solheim Cup in Sweden, Sept. 14-16, but should visit Pinnacle in future years.

Lorena Ochoa, No. 1 in the women’s rankings, said at Tulsa in May that she would not be able to attend the first LPGA NW Arkansas Championship because her brother would be getting married in Mexico around the same time.

My guess is that if you haven’t watched a women’s pro tournament before and aren’t sure what to expect, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the caliber of play and the golfers’ personalities.

Unlike the PGA Tour, on which many golfers don’t seem to feel the need to interact with the gallery, the LPGA Tour golfers understand that it behooves them to sell their its product.

When Annika Sorenstam was out with an injury for several months this year and Wie was struggling, players like Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer, Stacy Prammanasudh and Ochoa picked up the slack comfortably, and the tour didn’t miss a beat.

Gulbis, when she visited Pinnacle this year, asked nearly each person she met, “Are you going to come watch us?”

Well, are you?

Depth of talent on LPGA Tour light years ahead of 1983, especially among the younger players

By Grant Hall
THE MORNING NEWS

FAYETTEVILLE – The LPGA Tour has come a long way from that moment in 1983 when Jan Stephenson, upset that she hadn’t been invited into the interview room after a good opening round in the U.S. Women’s Open, walked in there anyway, picked up the microphone and announced, “Jan Stephenson is now in the interview room.”

This was at Cedar Ridge in Tulsa, Okla., where there now is an annual LPGA Tour event called the SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons.

Call it a sister event to the new LPGA NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons, beginning Friday at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

Stephenson, who was 32 in 1983, won the Women’s Open that year, helping solidify her reputation as a very good golfer in addition to being the tour’s “calendar girl.”

One of the current LPGA Tour heartthrobs is twentysomething Natalie Gulbis, who just happened to be on hand at Pinnacle when the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship was announced earlier this year.

Since then, Gulbis has won her first LPGA tournament, the Evian Masters in France. No doubt, that’s helped her own calendar sales.

But a big difference between 1983 and now is the depth of good players on the LPGA Tour — particularly young ones.

Back in ’83, pre-technology as that relates to today’s golf balls and clubs, a good drive on the women’s tour was considered to be about 240 yards.

Nowadays, teenager Michelle Wie can probably hit an iron that far.

Suzann Pettersen of Norway, one of the entrants in the NWA tournament, averages about 273 yards per drive, and that only ranked third as of late August.

It used to be said about the women’s tour that it was the place to watch if you wanted to learn how to swing the club with nice rhythm and tempo.

While that’s still true to a degree, there are also a number of women’s players who swing from the heels.

The University of Arkansas golf team had one not long ago, Amanda McCurdy, who at 5-foot-1 took the club back almost as far as John Daly does and belted the ball 280 yards or more. McCurdy now plays on the Futures Tour.

Stacy Lewis, who came along at Arkansas after McCurdy, doesn’t swing quite that hard, but she hits the ball as straight as a person can point. A winner of the women’s NCAA individual title this year, Lewis will play in the NW Arkansas Championship this week on a sponsor’s exemption.

Lewis has some experience at Pinnacle, having played in two Lady Razorback Invitational tournaments there.

The LPGA tournament offers fans the chance to not only support Lewis, now a UA senior, but also see, up close, such stars as Cristie Kerr, Se Ri Pak, Mi Hyun Kim, Meaghan Francella and Gulbis.

Some other top players are missing this year because of the upcoming Solheim Cup in Sweden, Sept. 14-16, but should visit Pinnacle in future years.

Lorena Ochoa, No. 1 in the women’s rankings, said at Tulsa in May that she would not be able to attend the first LPGA NW Arkansas Championship because her brother would be getting married in Mexico around the same time.

My guess is that if you haven’t watched a women’s pro tournament before and aren’t sure what to expect, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the caliber of play and the golfers’ personalities.

Unlike the PGA Tour, on which many golfers don’t seem to feel the need to interact with the gallery, the LPGA Tour golfers understand that it behooves them to sell their its product.

When Annika Sorenstam was out with an injury for several months this year and Wie was struggling, players like Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer, Stacy Prammanasudh and Ochoa picked up the slack comfortably, and the tour didn’t miss a beat.

Gulbis, when she visited Pinnacle this year, asked nearly each person she met, “Are you going to come watch us?”

Well, are you?

Depth of talent on LPGA Tour light years ahead of 1983, especially among the younger players

By Grant Hall
THE MORNING NEWS

FAYETTEVILLE – The LPGA Tour has come a long way from that moment in 1983 when Jan Stephenson, upset that she hadn’t been invited into the interview room after a good opening round in the U.S. Women’s Open, walked in there anyway, picked up the microphone and announced, “Jan Stephenson is now in the interview room.”

This was at Cedar Ridge in Tulsa, Okla., where there now is an annual LPGA Tour event called the SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons.

Call it a sister event to the new LPGA NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons, beginning Friday at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

Stephenson, who was 32 in 1983, won the Women’s Open that year, helping solidify her reputation as a very good golfer in addition to being the tour’s “calendar girl.”

One of the current LPGA Tour heartthrobs is twentysomething Natalie Gulbis, who just happened to be on hand at Pinnacle when the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship was announced earlier this year.

Since then, Gulbis has won her first LPGA tournament, the Evian Masters in France. No doubt, that’s helped her own calendar sales.

But a big difference between 1983 and now is the depth of good players on the LPGA Tour — particularly young ones.

Back in ’83, pre-technology as that relates to today’s golf balls and clubs, a good drive on the women’s tour was considered to be about 240 yards.

Nowadays, teenager Michelle Wie can probably hit an iron that far.

Suzann Pettersen of Norway, one of the entrants in the NWA tournament, averages about 273 yards per drive, and that only ranked third as of late August.

It used to be said about the women’s tour that it was the place to watch if you wanted to learn how to swing the club with nice rhythm and tempo.

While that’s still true to a degree, there are also a number of women’s players who swing from the heels.

The University of Arkansas golf team had one not long ago, Amanda McCurdy, who at 5-foot-1 took the club back almost as far as John Daly does and belted the ball 280 yards or more. McCurdy now plays on the Futures Tour.

Stacy Lewis, who came along at Arkansas after McCurdy, doesn’t swing quite that hard, but she hits the ball as straight as a person can point. A winner of the women’s NCAA individual title this year, Lewis will play in the NW Arkansas Championship this week on a sponsor’s exemption.

Lewis has some experience at Pinnacle, having played in two Lady Razorback Invitational tournaments there.

The LPGA tournament offers fans the chance to not only support Lewis, now a UA senior, but also see, up close, such stars as Cristie Kerr, Se Ri Pak, Mi Hyun Kim, Meaghan Francella and Gulbis.

Some other top players are missing this year because of the upcoming Solheim Cup in Sweden, Sept. 14-16, but should visit Pinnacle in future years.

Lorena Ochoa, No. 1 in the women’s rankings, said at Tulsa in May that she would not be able to attend the first LPGA NW Arkansas Championship because her brother would be getting married in Mexico around the same time.

My guess is that if you haven’t watched a women’s pro tournament before and aren’t sure what to expect, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the caliber of play and the golfers’ personalities.

Unlike the PGA Tour, on which many golfers don’t seem to feel the need to interact with the gallery, the LPGA Tour golfers understand that it behooves them to sell their its product.

When Annika Sorenstam was out with an injury for several months this year and Wie was struggling, players like Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer, Stacy Prammanasudh and Ochoa picked up the slack comfortably, and the tour didn’t miss a beat.

Gulbis, when she visited Pinnacle this year, asked nearly each person she met, “Are you going to come watch us?”

Well, are you?