Nationalism Not Regarded Factor In Solheim Tourney

The Solheim Cup isn’t as big as the Ryder Cup, but the world’s most important team golf event for women is generating the same pressure and charges of misplaced nationalism.

“It seems like they are trying to drum up a Ryder Cup atmosphere of hate, hate, hate,” American player Beth Daniel said Wednesday, two days before competition was set to begin at the Old Course at St. Pierre Hotel and Country Club in Chepstow, Wales. “But we in fact don’t hate one another. It’s not like that at all.”

The Solheim began six years ago as a low-key event with a handful of fans and an easy American win. But now there’s a much higher profile, a particular burden to American athletes who are always expected at home to win. The United States has won two of the first three, each team winning on its home soil, including the U.S. team two years in West Virginia.

Adding to the mix, the Solheim is the last of golf’s four major international trophies held by the United States. Losing all four to Europe - The Ryder, Walker, Curtis and Solheim - would be unprecedented.

“I have not slept well for quite a few nights, that’s the honest truth,” said American captain Judy Rankin.