GOLF SOLHEIM CUP: WHAT'S THIS with getting insightful, retired players who earn a living behind a television microphone to captain a team? Curtis Strange did it in the Ryder Cup, so too Nick Faldo. Now, the Americans have named Rosie Jones – a 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour and seven-time Solheim Cup player – to captain their side against Europe for next year's match at Killeen Castle in Dunsany, Co Meath.
Yesterday’s announcement of Jones as captain was greeted with universal acclaim among potential team members. “She’ll bring a lot of energy to the team,” said Juli Inkster, the highest points earner in the event’s history.
“She’s got more spirit, more guts and more heart than a lot of people,” said Cristie Kerr, a five-time Solheim Cup player.
“She’d be an awesome captain,” said Michelle Wie, the heroine of last year’s win.
“Rosie is a bulldog,” said Christina Kim.
The Solheim Cup was a big part of Jones’s career: she played in the inaugural match – in 1990 – and sank the winning putt in 2002.
“I’m honoured and absolutely ecstatic to be chosen as captain,” said Jones, who will pit her wits against Europe’s captain Alison Nicholas for the match on September 23rd-25th next year.
What does Jones believe she can take into the US team locker-room? “The same thing I did as a player,” she responded. “Passion. Balance. My fiery spirit as a captain, the core values and principles that I have always believed in.”
Jones has tremendous talent, both young and old, seasoned and blooming, from which to choose, with the likes of Wie, Kerr, Kim, Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis and Morgan Pressel among those likely to figure.
“A young team with a mix of vets,” is how she put it.
The match at Killeen Castle will be the 12th staging of the biennial matchplay competition, which features teams of 12 players on each side.
Jones brings an impressive record from her playing days into the team room: along with those 13 wins on the LPGA Tour, recorded 187 top-10 finishes and earned over €6 million.
