Suzann Pettersen: ‘We can make history again’
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Three weeks before finalizing her team, Michael Catling sat down with European captain Suzann Pettersen to discuss pairings, rookies, and the one scenario she never thought of.
Team captains Suzann Pettersen and Stacy Lewis will face off for the second time in as many years when their respective European and American teams meet in Virginia for the Solheim Cup from September 13-15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
Pettersen takes charge of Team Europe for a second successive contest where her team of 12 looks to win their fourth match on the spin. As the days count down to one of golf’s fiercest battles, here is what the European Solheim Cup legend had to say…
Let me take you back to Friday last year, after the foursomes. You’d just lost the opening four matches. What was going through your head at that time, because Laura Davies said she was thinking of damage limitation?
I imagined a lot of different scenarios but I never really prepared for a scenario of being 4-0 down. But at the same time, there was no panic on my side. I didn’t think the girls had played that badly. It can happen, sometimes you get outplayed. It was almost like a good wake-up call. A lot of Solheims in recent years have luckily gone our way and sometimes you think that is going to keep happening. I guess it made us roll up our sleeves and realize that it’s not going to happen automatically. I will say I felt a lot better standing on that first tee on Saturday morning than on Friday afternoon.
What did you learn about yourself and the way you managed the team?
That I can’t be anyone but myself. If that means getting fired up and frustrated and letting people know that – for good or bad – then so be it. I think a lot of players appreciated me finally showing my true self on Friday afternoon. I had some frustrations that I had to get off my chest on Friday night and I learned a lot from that.
Even though you retained the Cup, you didn’t win the contest. Have you got unfinished business in that sense?
No, because I look at it this way. First, you’ve got to win it; then you can retain it by tying the match. We won it outright at Gleneagles and ever since, all we’ve needed has been 14 points. So, I know it was a tie, but in our heads, it was a win. We earned that and we did what we needed to do.
How hard is the task facing you this time, because away victories are increasingly rare?
It’s only happened twice before. We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us. We are going to be underdogs, so the most important thing is that we are very unified going over there. But what’s more fun than a big challenge?
Has the quick turnaround made your job harder or easier? I think it’s almost easier. Now I’ve got some experience. Being away gives me a lot less work and from a team perspective, it looks about 80 percent the same because the qualifying criteria have been overlapping. I think it would have been hard for a new person to come in and then turn everything around.
How did it compare to playing?
It was just exciting. I didn’t know whether it would be going into it. I wasn’t sure if I would have the same adrenaline, the same kind of excitement, and the anxiousness. But I almost had more fun out there on the sidelines.
Luke Donald has spoken about the stress of captaining and how much it has consumed him. Have you had any sleepless nights worrying about things?
I don’t have many sleepless nights anymore. Since I retired, I don’t have to grind over the game. And being a captain, you can’t control what you can’t control, right? As soon as I let the players out on the first tee, it’s out of my hands. Yes, there’s pressure, because if you win you’re a hero and if you lose, it’s all on you. But I like that, I think it makes us all a little sharper. A lot of the work is in the preparation, and I think that’s what I do best. That was always one of my key elements as a player.
How granular do you get with the detail? Are you writing notes and messaging players every day?
I do all kinds. Everything from notes to meetings with the vice-captains. I like to bounce my thoughts and ideas off somebody. I have a great admin team with the LET and I feel like we have control over all aspects.
Twelve months ago you talked a lot about taking risks and going with your gut on pairings. Will you be keeping that strategy?
I did a lot of pairings based on stats as well last year, and I’m going to maintain that. But at the end of the
day, there has to be some element of gut feeling to it as well. Sometimes you can prepare and have all your pairings lined up, but then all of a sudden you might need to go off script and make some major or rapid changes if things aren’t quite working. That’s what I did last year. I try to be transparent and put the responsibility on the players themselves, but one thing I learned from last year is that players like to be told what to do.
Is there a practice trip planned in the run-up to the event?
We’ve already been there. I took a big group there in May for two days. We had a good team bonding and gathering, so I would say 70 percent of the team has already experienced the venue.
You’ve been part of some wonderful Solheim Cup teams in the past. How does this current group of players compare to them?
Each team is a little different, but I would say there’s a lot of consistency, diversity, and camaraderie within the team. We still have a lot of experienced players on our team who have already played in two, three, four, or five Solheims. I think Anna Nordqvist is the oldest member, but we have a lot of great talent in their early 20s and mid-20s, and that’s fun to see. We do have some pretty good pairings that have been established in the last two Solheims and they might play together again or they might not. Last year we saw a lot of new friendships and bonds being made, and hopefully, we can benefit from that this year.
Which players have surprised or impressed you in the 12 months since Spain?
I think Charley Hull has really stepped up as a truly world-class player. She’s impressed me over the last couple of years. She’s taken her game to the next level. Charley is the star of our team. She’s got the experience and the personality, so she brings a lot. In terms of new players on the team, there are a couple of Germans who are performing really solidly. You have Alexandra Forsterling, who’s won quite a bit, and Esther Henseleit looks a really good player.
This time last year you told me you had all the confidence in the world that you could win. So are you more confident now than you were 12 months ago?
I think the entire team is confident we can do it again and that’s important. I need to get everybody on board. It doesn’t help if I’m confident, I need the players to believe in this dream of making history once again. And that’s almost my easiest job. They’re all fired up. They’re all ready.
Do you maybe hold a psychological edge over the American team given how events played out last September and in the two previous Solheim Cups?
It’s kind of funny how it always plays out. I mean, with all the golf that’s played over three days, it normally comes down to one shot or a couple of putts dropping in our favor. Last year was extremely close again. But the Americans do have a very young team, I hardly know some of the players. It’s like a new generation coming through and that’s fun because it brings new challenges, new rivalries.
If you make history and lead the team to victory again, how would it compare to all your other career achievements?
I don’t really judge everything on pure results, but I’ve really enjoyed the journey and doing this captaincy. It keeps me in the game and that’s what I love the most. I still have a huge passion for golf. When the time comes around, maybe I will start playing some senior events. But I call this a journey because it has a start and it has an end. Regardless of what happens, I just want everyone to enjoy it because I get excited just thinking about it!
We all know how competitive you are, so with that in mind, have you spoken to Catriona Matthew about emulating what she did in 2021?
I do dig into her brain every now and again. I did tell her she had to go for the three-peat, but she was satisfied with two. But, yeah, I do try and feed off the experiences of past captains, both on the men’s and the women’s sides. I’m not a genius at coming up with the solutions. It’s very much a team effort, so this is not a solo show.
Can we assume then that you’ll be staying on for another term if you’re successful in Virginia?
I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it. I’m trying to complete this part first, then time will tell.
About the author
Michael Catling – Features Editor
Michael Catling is an award-winning journalist who specializes in golf’s Majors and Tours, including DP World, PGA, LPGA, and LIV.
Michael joined Today’s Golfer in 2016 and has traveled the world to attend the game’s biggest events and secure exclusive interviews with the game’s biggest names, including Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Martin Slumbers and Justin Thomas.
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Suzann Pettersen is targeting a fourth consecutive win for Team Europe
