Alison Lee was 20 years old when she made her Solheim Cup debut with the USA in 2015. It was, she recalls, “a very long time ago,” long enough that the American doesn’t “remember much” about her appearance as a rookie in the win over Europe, even though, for everyone else, she’s the only thing that’s remembered.
Lee has never experienced a situation like the one that played out on the 17th green early on the final day in Germany since then. She has built a solid career on the LPGA Tour, finishing in the top 10 at major events, dropping down the world rankings, battling her way back up the rankings and even picking up a few wins on the Aramco Team Series.
Nine years later, she’s back on the U.S. Solheim Cup team – qualified on merit, as she did in her rookie season at UCLA – but everyone wants to talk to her about that moment on the 17th green at the start of the final day nearly a decade ago, a moment that still hangs over the cup and will do so again this weekend at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.
After all, what Lee discovered in his first and final appearance at the event is that while the Solheim Cup is built on the same competitive principles that prevail in golf all year long (win, lose and, of course, controversy), everything is taken to another level. Which is why a dispute over a tiny, unconceded putt continues to rage, brought to the forefront once again by Lee’s return to the American side.
The incident occurred in the final tense minutes of the crucial four-ball finals, with the European team leading 9-6 over the United States. Lee and partner Brittany Lincicome arrived at the 17th hole level with Europeans Suzann Pettersen and Charley Hull, and Lee, 20, had a chance to win the hole by about 10 feet. Lee’s putt slid about 12 inches past the hole and, believing she had heard the Europeans tell her the putt had been conceded, as Hull and her caddie began to walk off the green and toward the 17th tee, the American retrieved her ball.
However, Pettersen insisted that the putt had not been conceded and that Lee had mistakenly lost the hole when picking up her ball. The European pair eventually won the match, prompting tears from a devastated Lee and anger from the American team. Pettersen initially doubled the lead and American captain Juli Inkster accused her of “bullshit”. A day later, after the United States staged a 10-6 comeback in Sunday singles play to win 14 1⁄2 to 13 1⁄2, a performance motivated in large part by the perceived injustice of the unconceded putt, Pettersen apologized.
The U.S. return was ultimately overshadowed by controversy. “I’m not going to lie, I haven’t really spoken to her since,” Lee said of Pettersen this week. Of course, the opposing captain Lee will face this weekend is Pettersen, who remained in charge after Europe retained the Solheim Cup last year. Meanwhile, Hull, who was 19 in 2015 and also cried after the 17th green incident, is an integral part of a European team that has not been beaten in the competition since 2017. That’s why the U.S. and world No. 1 Nelly Korda have warned there is “unfinished business” between the two teams.
The suspense is guaranteed in the Solheim Cup: from Pettersen’s winning putt on the final green to win the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles, to last year in Spain where the singles went down to the final hour, before Carlota Ciganda retained the title for Europe, the first time the competition ended in a draw. The margins have become so slim that there will probably be controversy too.
