GAINESVILLE, Va. — The Solheim Cup is unlike any other event in women’s golf.
You notice that the first time you step on the first tee box. The grandstands surrounding the teeing area stretch endlessly toward the sky, making golfers pegging the ball look like gladiators in a coliseum. The noise is the next giveaway. Come Friday morning when Team USA and Team Europe arrive for their crack-of-dawn tee times, the atmosphere will rival that of a football stadium.
Once those first tee balls are in the air, everything will feel different. The players might even act differently, too.
Ask Alison Lee. Although she’s played in only one Solheim Cup team before this week, her rookie appearance was a week to remember.
Lee had a stellar rookie campaign in 2015, making 19 cuts in 23 starts. She finished inside the top 10 six times, ranked 14th in scoring average and finished inside the top 25 on the money list. Even though she was just a newbie, her play earned her a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team.
The week was a historic one for the Americans as they stormed back from a 10-6 deficit to win the Cup in Sunday singles, thanks, in part, to a crucial point from Lee. But the day before, the American rookie had unwittingly found herself at the center of controversy.
Paired with Brittany Lincicome in a pivotal four-ball match in the final session before singles, the duo came to the 17th hole tied with Suzann Petersen and Charley Hull. After the Europeans holed out, Lee faced a putt to put her side 1 up. Her attempt slid 18 inches past the hole.
Lee, thinking she’d heard the Europeans concede the short putt and seeing Hull walking off the green, picked up her ball. That’s when Pettersen returned from off the green and asserted that the hole had not been conceded. The ensuing moments were equal parts emotional and tense, with both Lee and Hull shedding tears.
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Ultimately, a rules official decided there was no concession, and the Europeans won the hole, ensuring them of a crucial point.
At Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Tuesday, Lee was asked to revisit her spot of awkwardness with Pettersen.
“I would say in the moment it was tough,” Lee said. “I was very intimidated at the time. I was a rookie on Tour. I didn’t really know any of the girls on my team, either. I wasn’t really good friends with them.”
Team USA rallied around the rookie after the controversy. U.S. captain Juli Inkster called Petterson’s behavior “B.S.,” and even European stalwart, Laura Davies, predicted Pettersen would “regret” her actions. Pettersen apologized the following day, but the messiness would linger.
Lee said Tuesday she doesn’t think about the moment often, but there also appears to be no love lost between her and Pettersen.
“I’m not going to lie,” Lee said. “I haven’t really talked to her at all since then.”