Solheim Cup: Hands across the water?

No Pepper this time, but a history of ill-feeling promises a large portion of spice

If the build-up to the Ryder Cup has been unusually low-key, spare a thought for the women's version. The Solheim Cup was destined to be forgotten the moment its big brother was postponed for a year last September. A direct clash was avoided but the biggest event in women's golf still finds itself in competition with the AmEx World Championship in Ireland, a sizeable tournament in its own right and the last warm-up for the Ryder Cup.

But at Interlachen in Minneapolis next week the seventh Solheim Cup promises to be just as spicy as the previous six, even without the notorious Dottie Pepper. When the teams last met at Loch Lomond two years ago, Europe earned a famous victory, but not without controversy. Amid a monsoon that descended on the bonnie, boggy banks, the fourballs were carried over to the Sunday. Annika Sorenstam chipped in at a crucial stage, only for her opponents, Pat Hurst and Kelly Robbins, to order her to replay the shot, claiming that the Swede had played out of turn.

One of the Americans, who were both on the green, was actually further away, but Sorenstam had thought she had been given the nod to play, as is often the etiquette on the professional tours. Apparently not. The contretemps (pictured above) left the Swede in tears but spurred the home side on when the Americans appeared to be making a comeback in the singles.

There has rarely been any love lost in the contest. Pepper was always the fiery leader of the US team and once suggested the European players would be stacking supermarket shelves but for golf and that none of them would make the opposition team. At Muirfield Village four years ago, the Europeans got so aggravated with the orchestrating of the crowd by the Americans that a punch bag in their team room was covered with portraits and repeatedly pounded.

This time Catrin Nilsmark has stirred things up. Nilsmark, who sank the winning putt at Dalmahoy in 1992, will be the captain in Sweden next year when the match reverts to odd-numbered years. In a critique of the American team on a Swedish website, Nilsmark said that Laura Diaz has a "cocky attitude", that Cristie Kerr is "a little brat" and that Michele Redman has done very well for someone "with no talent".

Nilsmark is not playing at Interlachen and some of her comments, turned round another way, are similar to what the American captain Patty Sheehan has said about some of her younger players, "They're confident. They're cocky. They're a lot of fun to have around because they're pretty spunky". But Nilsmark's comments will be assumed to be purely negative, as Dale Reid, the European captain defending the trophy her team won at Loch Lomond, realised.

"There are two ways of looking at it," Reid said. "It has taken some of the nonsense off my shoulders and it has spiced the whole thing up. But we really don't want to go down the road of personal insults. We have had to put up with things from Dottie in the past but it will all be sorted out on the course."

In attempting to win on American soil for the first time in four tries, Reid will not be taking the best European team. The "nonsense" she has had to put up with resulted from her decision not to pick Janice Moodie or Catriona Matthew, thought by most to be among the top 12 players in Europe. But both play virtually exclusively in the States and were accused by Reid of not supporting the European Tour. Moodie, who has settled to life in America, is one of only two Europeans to win in the US other than Sorenstam (the other, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc,is also not in the team), while Matthew has had a string of high finishes on the Tour.

The selection of the European team was muddled when two players, Iben Tinning and Maria Hjorth, tied for seventh place on the qualifying table. After a hasty meeting, both were deemed to have qualified, leaving Reid with four wild cards instead of five. She chose Laura Davies and Helen Alfredsson for experience, although both had the opportunity to qualify and did not, as well as Carin Koch, unbeaten at Loch Lomond, and Mhairi McKay, who leads the birdie and eagles tables in the States.

Though Davies, now 38, won in Norway to continue her streak of winning in every season as a professional, her form has been erratic and she missed the cut in the British Open at Turnberry. But Reid feels Davies can still be the inspirational leader of the team. "It was very hard to have a team without Laura, she is a very experienced player and in every Solheim Cup she has performed well," Reid said. "And Alfie, I think she is still the best match-player in the world. Also, we have a lot of rookies and I think it is a very good balance for the team."

Only Davies and Alfredsson survive from the six players who have played in all six previous matches. With no Pepper for the Americans and no Trish Johnson, Alison Nicholas or Lotta Neumann for the Europeans a new generation is emerging and this is their biggest stage so far. Reid has six rookies, three of whom joined the European Tour only last year.

Paula Marti, from Spain, Norway's Suzann Pettersen and France's Karine Icher swept all before them in their rookie seasons but are virtually unknown to the Americans. Maybe not for long. At the LPGA Sectional Qualifier last week, where players were attempting to reach the final Qualifying School next month, Marti, one of only two players to finish under par, won by three strokes.

The Americans have five rookies, led by Diaz, and will lean heavily on the US Open champion, Juli Inkster, as their most reliable performer. Sorenstam, with nine wins this year, is indisputably the best player on either team but home advantage may be the deciding factor.

Certainly, the match will be closer than when the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team lost by a record 14 points at Interlachen in 1993.

Europe's new generation

Karine Icher (France)
Gained her card for the 2001 season by winning the Qualifying School and then won twice in her rookie season. Her maiden Tour victory came at the German Open a week after finishing second in Sweden when she was penalised for slow play during the final round. Described as quiet and unassuming, but the 23-year-old from Chateauroux confirmed her promise by winning the Spanish Open this season and performing well at the Evian Masters, the strongest event in Europe outside the British Open. Her short game is so good Dale Reid says she "could get up and down from a ball-washer".

Paula Marti (Spain)
Attracted initial attention as the Kournikova of golf but quickly quashed the comparison by winning twice in her rookie season in 2001. Won her fifth event, the Italian Open, and then the British Masters, eagling the 552-yard last thanks to a drive and a five-iron. The 22-year-old from Barcelona plays with the flair and imagination of her countrymen and heroes Ballesteros and Olazabal. Played with Sergio Garcia in the 1995 Junior Ryder Cup. Finished second to Karrie Webb in the British Open at Turnberry, where she was the only player to score four rounds under 70.

Suzann Pettersen (Norway)
Five-time Norwegian champion and 2000 World Amateur champion. Won her second Tour event, the 2001 French Open, finished second three times and did not miss a cut to win the 2001 Rookie of the Year award in a tight battle with Icher and Marti. Finished second on the Order of Merit, the best result by a rookie. The 21-year-old from Oslo is a powerful hitter who is not short of confidence. She has had three top-tens this season and pushed Karrie Webb to a play-off at the Australian Open at the start of the year. Often has mother Mona caddieing for her.