Castrale – don’t call her a rookie

Nicole Castrale is one of the four Solheim first-timers in the USA team – but she was playing down her newcomer status. “I don’t feel like a rookie,” said the player who broke through with a first LPGA win in the Ginn Tribute this year. “We’ve all played at the top level.”

It is Castrale’s first competitive outing in Sweden – she did play a practice round at Halmstad with some of her US colleagues after the Women’s British Open – but she was pleased to hear a few American accents among the practice day crowds.

“There were more then I expected, but it’s going to be tough when we’re not on home turf,” she said. “But we’ll all be playing hard to win.”

Catsrale was one of two wild card selections by USA Captain Betsy King – the second was Laura Diaz, who played in the last three matches. “I was very thankful to be given the opportunity again,” said the 32-year-old, who has plenty European experience having been the 1998 Rookie of the Year on the Ladies’ European Tour.

When Diaz got the news she went from deep depression to the ultimate high. “I was really down when the final counting tournament finished in Portland, and I was on the ‘phone to my Dad,” she said. “Then Betsy passed by and she must have seen I was really upset. She then told that I was in the team – and it was such a huge mood swing. Incredible.”

While the great rivalry between the two teams is always a talking point, Diaz reckons that the Solheim is played in much friendlier terms than the Ryder Cup.

“They (the men) seem much more aggressive,” she suggested. “In my first Solheim, I remember chatting away to Laura Davies going to the first tee. It was just like a normal LPGA tournament. I think it’s the crowd that creates more of the rivalry.”