Sign up for our daily newsletter

Latest news, reviews, analysis and opinion, plus unmissable deals for bunkered subscriptions, events, and our commercial partners.

When tuning into the Solheim Cup action this week, you may come across yellow rubber ducks on Team USA’s golf bags.

So what’s the message behind the ducks at Finca Cortesin?

It’s all about US captain Stacy Lewis getting her team to truly acknowledge the importance of this contest against Team Europe with tributes to the past.

• Pettersen having nightmares about Solheim Cup

• Lewis: Big opportunity missed with Ryder Cup

Among various personal touches on the US apparel this year, the ducks are an ode to one of the LPGA’s founders Shirley Spork, who died last year aged 94.

Spork was fond of ducks and saw them as a calming influence whilst out competing on the golf course.

“If you look on the bottom of the golf bags, there’s a little rubber ducky on there, and that is for Shirley Spork,” Lewis told LPGA.com.

“Anybody that had watched the Solheim Cup in the last probably five or six, you’ve seen Shirley on the first tee with her giant hat. This was her favourite event, and she passed away between [the last Solheim Cup] and now and so wanted to just find a way to honour her.”

Lewis and her team are also paying tribute to the legendary Kathy Whitworth, the LPGA’s most successful ever player and first Solheim Cup captain, who also passed away before this year’s match.

“The theme is I want these girls to know what they’re playing for and what they’re becoming a part of,” two-time major champion Lewis explained.

• Lewis completes US Solheim Cup team

• Why Laura Davies has never been Solheim Cup captain

“So there’s a lot of things going on. On my hat there are 10 stars for the 10 times the U.S. has won the Solheim Cup.

“The golf bag has a pocket with 13 stars for our 13 past captains. It has another pocket with 62 stars for the, prior to this year, 62 Americans who have represented the U.S. at the Solheim Cup. Our yardage book cover has the locations where we’ve won the 10 Solheim Cup.

“I wanted these girls to know how special of a group they’re coming into. So they know what you’re playing for. If you don’t know what you’re playing for, you don’t know about the history.

“We lost Kathy and Shirley since we were together in Toledo [in 2021] so I wanted them to be a part of this week in some way.

“I put the rubber duck on the bottom of the bag for Shirley and the ‘88’ on the hats for Kathy’s most wins of any golfer, not just female, of all time. So that they are with us this week.”