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Solheim Cup 2019: The (fiery) European pairing to watch during Friday morning foursomes at Gleneagles
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GLENEAGLES, Scotland — European captain Catriona Matthew’s pairings for the Solheim Cup’s opening foursomes session failed to provoke any gasps of incredulity. Which was no surprise. Earlier in the week, the 50-year-old Scot had revealed at least some of her thinking in the often-esoteric realm of pairings.
“For both foursomes and four-balls, I think it is best to match up personalities more than styles of play,” she said. “A big key for me is being relaxed with the person you are playing with.”
And that’s pretty much what she has gone for in the European duo who will lead off against Americans Morgan Pressel and Marina Alex in the first match at 8:15 a.m. local time. Certainly, Bronte Law and Carlota Ciganda will relish the opportunity to set the pace of play. Both are known for their preference to “get on with it.” And both bring a passion with their outgoing personalities that Matthew clearly hopes will “get the crowd into things” as soon as possible.
“Bronte was champing at the bit to go,” Matthew said. “So I wanted to get her out early. Both sides are wanting to get off to a good start. And I think these two are well-equipped to put some blue on the board. They are a natural pairing.”
Of the pair, Law, in particular, is never slow to say what she thinks. When the subject of which team the U.K. bookmakers might be favoring came up in her pre-match press conference, she was quick to make her point. She's only 24, but the Englishwoman clearly isn’t afraid to offer an opinion.
“I’d love to know who said that we weren’t favorites,” Law said, somewhat indignantly. “But I think that’s interesting. But, yeah, we have our home-course advantage. I’d say we’ve seen the course before this week. We have a lot of players that are playing really good golf right now. So I’m not sure what sort of information they’re getting.”
Ciganda, too, brings a vibrant Spanish temperament to the proceedings. Albeit one sensible enough to know some caution is required amid any audaciousness.
“I’m very passionate,” says the 29-year old, who at No. 12 is the highest-ranked player on the European side. “I love the Solheim Cup. It’s one of my favorite events. I love making putts and screaming, Vamos! I think you have to conserve your energy, though. It’s a long three days. I think I want to be a little more calm on the first few holes. But, yeah, I think you’ll see some Vamos and some passion because that's just me—I’m from Spain, and I love that.”
Coming from different backgrounds won’t be a factor for this potentially exciting pair, either.
“We have played enough golf together within our different countries,” Ciganda said. “So that helps, too. We all get along. We are a team. We love playing for Europe. It comes very natural.”
Look out, too, for a lot of verbal interaction between two of the European team’s bigger chatterboxes. Some humor, too.
“I wasn’t planning about talking about [British Prime Minster] Boris Johnson and Brexit this week, that’s for sure,” Law said. “I don’t really know that much about politics in the U.K., to be honest. We have great team chemistry. So maybe Boris can get us a deal.”
And they can get a point for Europe.