Captain Lewis: We Missed A Chance To Bring Solheim and Ryder Cups Together

Next year the Solheim Cup will revert back to even-numbered years so that the matches can be played in alternate years with the Ryder Cup.

The Solheim Cup moved from even to odd years in 2003 when the Ryder Cup switched the other way after being cancelled in 2001 following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Lewis and her European counterpart Suzann Pettersen will again be at the helm in 2024 and the US skipper made a very sound point that more should be made of the Solheim and Ryder Cups being played in successive weeks.

“I thought this could have been marketed together as two weeks in Europe, two cups for play,” Lewis said. “I think it was a missed opportunity for the sport of golf. I wish people could get the sponsorship things out of their head and figure out how we can work together. This may not ever happen again, the two Cups being played in the same year. So I thought it was a massive missed opportunity."

Relatively speaking the Solheim Cup receives little attention in comparison to the Ryder Cup and the build-up is particularly low key. And Lewis, the youngest captain in Solheim Cup history, revealed that she made great efforts to marry the two competitions but with little success.

“We tried to do a little bit with the guys and just weren't really able to move things along the way I would have liked. I tried. I tried really hard, actually. I probably spent more time on it than I should have. But whether it was timing or it was too late in the process, I don't know.

"To really market it correctly this probably had to happen two years ago. So it's something that, going forward, golf needs to get on the same page and do better with. I just would like to see it for the good of the game. It's not to further women's golf. Let's further the game of golf in general.

"For the good of the game, for the game of golf, I think two weeks like this could be really cool. If we could continue it for the future. I actually really like having both cups in the same year, if we can get some common ground and do it together.”

In 2014 the men's and women's US Opens were played in successive weeks at Pinehurst No 2 with the women following the men and there seemed to be plenty of global attention which will no doubt have been helped by Michelle Wie winning.

Since then it's not even been suggested that it might happen again. The chances, you would imagine, of bringing the Ryder and Solheim Cups together will likely follow a similar path.