Charley Hull makes her eighth consecutive appearance for Team Europe at the Solheim Cup; Anna Nordqvist and Mel Reid reflected on Hull being late to her practice tee time in their pre-tournament press conference; By Ali Stafford at Bernardus Golf Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Anna Nordqvist says Charley Hull is “buzzing” to tee it at the Solheim Cup this week and is pleased to see the Englishwoman embrace her growing role for Team Europe. It seems ludicrous to refer to a 30-year-old as a ‘veteran’ but it’s a title fitting to Hull’s experience in Solheim Cups, given this week’s appearance at Bernardus Golf is her eighth in a row for Team Europe. Her Solheim Cup highlights include top-scoring for Europe during the 2015 contest and finishing unbeaten in the Gleneagles victory in 2019, with Hull also thrashing world No 1 Nelly Korda 6&4 on the final day of the last contest. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Hull ‘s 15 matches won is the most by any player in Solheim Cups before turning 30, with Nordqvist hoping for more from one of her star players as Team Europe look to regain the trophy against Angela Stanford’s Team USA.
“I’ve been part of basically every single team that Charley’s been on and I will say it’s been really nice to see how much she is starting to embrace the whole Solheim atmosphere,” Nordqvist said in her press conference. “I’ve had multiple conversations with her and it is just nice to see how excited she is. It’s just been really nice to see Charley excited and here buzzing about teeing it up this week.” Hull was the last European player to arrive in the Netherlands, travelling from the UK on Monday, then was slightly late to start her practice round on Tuesday morning. “In the process leading up to the event, I wanted to make sure that every player got the opportunity to prepare as well for the event,” Nordqvist explained.
“I flew in on the Saturday, some of the US-based girls flew in on Sunday. For Charley, we decided that she was going to be better off preparing being in home in England. “She flew in yesterday [Monday] but it has been very nice to see her.” Hull was scheduled to begin Tuesday’s practice round alongside Lottie Woad, Maja Stark and Linn Grant at 9.30am local time, only to arrive at the tee a couple of minutes late before catching up with the rest of the group. “She was late to the tee because I was responsible for her, so I’ll take a little bit of responsibility to that,” Team Europe vice-captain Mel Reid explained.
“She just thought her tee time was a little bit later. Trying to drag Charley Hull off a driving range is a feat in any tournament, especially a Solheim [Cup]. “She was literally late because one, I couldn’t drive drag her off the driving range, and, two, she thought her tee time was five minutes later than it was.” Nordqvist added: “I was on the first tee this morning and obviously I told the first three girls to go, because there’s a little bit of a hike given that we start on the third hole and not the course first hole this week. “It takes a good, five, 10 minutes to get out there [from the range].
I told the first tee to go ahead and then Charley would just catch up, because we knew she was on the way.” Sky Sports Golf will have at least 12 hours of live coverage from the first two days, with coverage getting under way at 6am on Friday and Saturday ahead of the opening foursomes match teeing off at 6.40am (7.40am local time). Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player The afternoon fourballs are scheduled to start at 12.05pm (1.05pm local time) on both days, with coverage continuing until after the final putt is holed, while Sunday singles coverage begins at 9am ahead of the opening tee shot at 10.10am. Sky Sports+ will have live coverage of the closing ceremony from 5.30pm on Sunday, following the Solheim Cup winner being crowned, while the opening ceremony on Thursday at 4.30pm will see the opening-day pairings revealed. Who will win the Solheim Cup?
Watch Team Europe’s bid to regain the trophy exclusively live on Sky Sports, with all three days live from September 11-13 on Sky Sports Golf. Get latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW.
