The first controversy, it could be called that, at the 20th Solheim Cup There didn’t seem to be much of a controversy, if you could call it that, until a reporter asked this innocent question:
Because it was Charlie HullTeam Europe’s biggest star, late for his Tuesday morning practice at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands?
The question was directed at Europe’s captain, Anna Nordqvist, and her three lieutenants, Caroline Hedwall, Mel Reid and Anne van Dam, in their captain’s press conference.
Nordqvist bowed.
“Do you want to do this, Mel?”
Reid did, because, as she saw it, she had some noise to cancel.
“This could be a full story,” Reid began. “Charley Hull was the first in bed last night at 8 o’clock and the first on the bus this morning. He doesn’t even drink, so that’s a completely false story that was wrong. He was late to the tee because he was responsible for her, so I have to take some responsibility for that. But she thought her tee time was a little later, Charley tried to drag it a little later, and Hull dragged himself later. driving range it’s a feat in any tournament, especially a Solheim. So yes, it’s a completely false story.”
The report looked puzzled.
“I wasn’t aware there was a fake story,” he said. “He was just aware that she was late on the tee.”
“Yeah, well, late on the tee,” Reid said. “But there’s actually a story behind it, so I just want to close this before it happens, before other people start talking. But it was literally late because, one, I couldn’t drive it off the driving range, and, two, he thought his tee time was five minutes later than it was.”
The “fake story” Reid was referring to has been brought up – where else? – on social media from a Sky Sports clip which showed that Hull came out in a hurry from the first tee on Tuesday, with her partners playing a couple of minutes ahead of her. After Hull hit his tee shot in front of a number of fans and officials, he smiled and looked back at the tee box. It is difficult to discern what he said, but in the video clip a Sky commentator laughs and says: “Oh my word! Charley gives us a small reason why she is a little late this morning.”
What a reason apparently it became clear in the caption on the Sky Sports post, which reads: “We drank last night!” Charley Hull reveals the reason for his late arrival to the first tee.
The caption, it seems, was not meant to be read literally – more jokingly. But Reid, for one, thought some observers may have misinterpreted his meaning, leading him to address the episode in no uncertain terms.
After Reid had provided context, Nordqvist jumped in to provide more clarity.
“I was on the first tee this morning and obviously I told the first three girls to go because there’s a bit of a walk given that we’re starting on the third hole and not the No. 1 course this week,” he said. “So it takes a good, five, 10 minutes to get out of there. So I said to the first tee, like go ahead and then Charley just arrives. Because we knew he was on his way.”
In short: nothing to see here, folks.
That, of course, will not be the case should any player be late to their tee times when play begins in earnest. If a player is up to 5 minutes late for a starting time, the penalty in match play is the loss of the hole. Is it more than 5 minutes? Disqualification.
