WOBURN, England – Bronte Law successfully passed her Solheim Cup audition in the opening round of the $4.1 million AIG Women’s British Open at Woburn.
Law is bidding for a debut appearance in the biennial match at Gleneagles, Scotland next month. She couldn’t have asked for a better platform on which to present her credentials after being drawn with European captain Catriona Matthew and redoubtable U.S. Solheim star Cristie Kerr.
Law beat both of them. She returned a 2-under-par 70 to Matthew’s 73 and Kerr’s 75. Good going considering the former UCLA student might have felt a little pressure after Matthew teased her as they were walking to the first tee.
Matthew said: “I told her ‘You better play well!’ …. And she did.”
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The 22-year-old English woman cannot qualify for the European team because she’s not played enough qualifying events. She’s rely on one of Matthew’s four captain’s pick. After her opening effort at Woburn, she seems certain to suit up in European colors next month, even if she’s trying to push the match to the back of her mind.
“Catriona is a great friend, so I didn’t think of it any differently,” Law said. “I just tried to go out there and play my game. It’s a major, so the goal is to win the major as opposed to really worry about what she’s thinking or anything like that.
“It’s a game. I play it every week and you can’t let stuff like that affect you. You just go out and play the same way you usually do and put those emotions to the side.”
Law would’ve made more of an impression by holing a few more putts. She was bogey free, but could have gone lower if the shortest club in the bag had behaved better.
“I’m just pleased with how solid I played. I could have done with holing a couple more putts here and there, but it’s day one so hopefully I can ramp it up over the next couple of days.”
Kerr is currently outside the automatic spots for the U.S. team. She might need to rely on one of Julie Inkster’s two captain’s picks if she is to make her 10th appearance.
After the opening round of the final major of the year, Law has a far better chance of making her Solheim debut than Kerr does of reaching double figure appearances.
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