Wildcard entries for Davies and McKay to Solheim Cup

ENGLAND’S Laura Davies and Scot Mhairi McKay will be the only British players in Europe’s Solheim Cup team to face the United States at Interlachen in Minnesota from September 20-22 after they were named as wildcards today by captain Dale Reid.

Reid’s other two choices are a pair of Swedes - Carin Koch and Helen Alfredsson - leaving Scot Janice Moodie, who won the Asahi Ryokuken International in America in May, as a shock omission.

Moodie was joint top points scorer when Europe won the trophy at Loch Lomond two years ago and also showed her liking for the big occasion when she finished tied seventh in the US Open last month.

Davies and Alfredsson both maintain their record of having played in every one of the seven Solheim Cups, while there will be six rookies.

They are McKay plus five who qualified through the rankings in Karine Icher, Paula Marti, Suzann Pettersen, Iben Tinning and Maria Hjorth.

World number one Annika Sorenstam will head the team, while Tinning and Pettersen become the first players from Denmark and Norway respectively to play in the biennial event.

Germany’s Elisabeth Esterl, who finished 10th in the rankings, has been named as travelling reserve.

Earlier there had been an extraordinary climax to the race for the seven automatic Solheim Cup selections, Sweden’s Maria Hjorth playing her way into the team after finishing second in the WPGA Championship of Europe at Royal Porthcawl.

But there was confusion as she finished on 125 points and tied for seventh in the rankings with Denmark’s Iben Tinning, who collected two points for sharing a three-way tie for joint 10th. With nothing in the rules to cover the situation, it was decided both players would be selected, reducing captain Dale Reid’s number of wild cards from five to four.

So the guaranteed places went to Annika Sorenstam (Sweden), Raquel Carriedo (Spain), Karine Icher (France), Paula Marti (Spain), Sophie Gustafson (Sweden), Suzann Pettersen (Norway) plus Hjorth and Tinning.

Swede Asa Gottmo won the £60,000 first prize with a 71 for seven under 285, two ahead of Hjorth, who carded a 72. English rookie, Kirsty Taylor, was in third place on four under after a 71.

But it was the confusion over the rankings that overshadowed the championship, and Reid was as perplexed as anyone.

‘‘I realised just before the end of the championship there could be a tie. But it wouldn’t be fair to have a play-off, and I wanted them both in.’’