Solheim Cup 2026: Europe captain Anna Nordqvist dismisses USA captain Angela Stanford’s ‘dig’ at course set-up | Golf News

Team Europe captain Anna Nordqvist was quick to shut down suggestions that the layout of the Bernardus Golf Course had been adjusted to suit the home team at the Solheim Cup.

Nordqvist’s team wrapped up a 15-13 victory over Team USA after dominating Sunday’s singles in the Netherlands.

The score was tied at 8-8 after the opening two days, but USA captain Angela Stanford felt her team had been at a disadvantage throughout the tournament due to the slowness of the greens.

Stanford said in her post-tournament press conference: “Europe played well. I don’t think we played bad. I think we just didn’t make enough shots.

“And if you listen to everything I’ve ever said, Europeans are always better. I don’t know why. I still don’t know why. I mean, I have a good idea, but I’m not going to say it now.

“Apparently I didn’t know the supervisor (field manager) as well as I should have.”

When pressed further on whether she was referring to green speeds that were different from what she had expected, Stanford added: “Even when we showed up in July here, they were faster.

“And I don’t think it had anything to do with the rain either. Now, having said that, it’s my responsibility to get the team ready.

“That’s the only thing I’m kicking myself is I just didn’t keep pushing, you know, we’ve got to figure out how to hit our shots a little bit harder, which is really hard, to change the way we shoot.

“So I’m a little bit frustrated with myself that I didn’t drive that point home.”

“We are in Europe in September”

Nordqvist was a little taken aback by the apparent dig on the greens when it was given to her at her press conference.

“We’re in Europe and in September. We know what the weather can be like,” she said.

“I’m not sure I have a lot of faith in creating a way to fit Europe because these girls play the same golf courses week in and week out.”

“We came here in July, it was a very hot and dry summer, so the course was a bit different then.

“So if anything we were just trying to manage consistency. But then obviously there’s been a lot of rain in the last couple of weeks and then this week we saw a lot of rain.

“So if anything, they were probably just playing a little softer than we all thought coming in here. But obviously it’s the weather, we can’t control that.”

Stanford: You don’t want to take away those moments

The Americans were pictured celebrating on Saturday night after Jennifer Kupcho sank two superb shots to grab a late victory for the visitors and level the match at 8-8 instead of going into the final day trailing 9-7.

But Stanford rejected suggestions that they had reached an emotional plateau too early.

“It’s kind of tricky because you never want to take that moment away,” she said.

“The worst thing I could have done is go in there and say, ‘OK, everybody. Go down this high.’ So you don’t want to take away those moments.

“We’ll never see anything like this again. I think they handled it very well.

“But I talked to Kupcho and everybody and they said, ‘yeah, we had a good break, but, yeah, it took a minute to get off because it was so high.'”

What’s next?

The Ladies European Tour heads to Spain after the La Sella Open, which begins Thursday at La Sella Golf Resort, while the LPGA Tour takes a week off before the Walmart N Arkansas Championship Sept. 25-27.

The next edition of the Solheim Cup will be in 2028 and will take place at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky from September 8-10 of that year. Get the latest Sky Sports offers OR transmission without contract in TANI.

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