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European Solheim Cup star Anna Nordqvist has admitted she was surprised to see the US team put so much effort into geeing up the home crowd during last month’s match in Ohio.
Almost to a player, Pat Hurst’s American charges were captured repeatedly waving their arms to encourage fans to get behind them during the clash with Catriona Matthew’s European side at Inverness Golf Club.
With COVID restrictions having made it next to impossible for European fans to travel to the match, the USA team was clearly on a mission to maximise their home advantage.
Their efforts ultimately proved to be futile with Europe successfully defending the trophy, 15-13 the score.
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Speaking on the latest episode of The bunkered Podcast, three-time major champion Nordqvist said she wouldn’t have gone to such extremes with the arm-waving had the roles been reversed.
“I just don’t see a need for it but if that’s what they want to do then go for it,” said the Swede. “We
in the European team talked about the need to stay strong that week.
All we had was each other.“
This was Nordqvist’s seventh Solheim Cup appearance and she added that this one was “very different”.
“If we hit a good shot, there were
zero claps,” she said. “It was a very different atmosphere. I mean, it’s great to have fans out there again but
they were all American fans and we all know they get very passionate for
their own players.
“If they made a
three-foot putt for par to halve the hole, they were screaming like
they’d won the hole or won the match.”
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That, says the 34-year-old, made the Europeans even more determined to win.
“Everyone just wanted to beat them really bad. We talked about trying to be a silencer and quieten the noise, and ultimately that’s what we did.
“It
was quite obvious when Europe had secured the victory. Emily Pedersen
was still playing and I think she just had to finish her match because she was dormie three-up. All the American fans left. They walked out. So
it was very different.
“Winning on US soil, taking them down, and having
all the spectators against us, that’s a win that’s going to be hard to
beat in the Solheim Cup.”
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Listen to the full interview with Anna Nordqvist on the latest episode of The bunkered Podcast in association with Motocaddy. CLICK HERE.
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