I recorded and watched a good bit of the final day of the Solheim Cup yesterday. I found it curious that they spent the majority of air time on a very few matches.
The days final results were:
Paula Creamer (USA) def. Suzann Pettersen (EUR), 3&2
Angela Stanford (USA) def. Becky Brewerton (EUR), 5&4
Michelle Wie (USA) def. Helen Alfredsson (EUR), 1 up
Brittany Lang (USA) halved with Laura Davies (EUR)
Juli Inkster (USA) halved with Gwladys Nocera (EUR)
Catriona Matthew (EUR) def. Kristy McPherson (USA), 3&2
Brittany Lincicome (USA) def. Sophie Gustafson (EUR), 3&2
Diana Luna (EUR) def. Nicole Castrale (USA), 3&2
Christina Kim (USA) def. Tania Elosegui (EUR), 2 up
Cristie Kerr (USA) halved with Maria Hjorth (EUR)
Morgan Pressel (USA) def. Anna Nordqvist (EUR), 3&2
Natalie Gulbis (USA) halved with Janice Moodie (EUR)
They spent the most time on Creamer, Wie and Kim, with slightly less on Inkster, Lincicome, Pressel, and Stanford.
Then they gave even less attention to the matches involving Lang, Castrale, Kerr, and they barely showed any of McPherson or Gulbis.
I guess I understand the emphasis on Creamer and Wie, as they are sexy and were playing well. Kim was a character, making for good coverage. And Inkster’s age/experience was a good story.
And I understand the tendency of US coverage to spend most time on matches in which we were ahead, as well as the ones that looked like they would result in points the earliest.
But did anyone else think the coverage was a little - uh - uneven?
One that jumps out is the failure to cover Lang/Davies.
I guess Davies blew 17 and then hit the water on 18, but they didn’t show any of that until she was hitting (I think) her 4th shot to 18.
Or when Inkster all of a sudden was stanidng in a jungle on 18.
I guess I am not the typical golf fan, because instead of repeated replays of shots by Wie and Creamer, I would have liked a quick recap of how those situations developed.
Second question - what did you think of Kim?
I generally agree with criticisms of pro golfers as lacking personality, but I’m not sure I cared for her shouting at the ball and extreme demonstrativeness.