What separates golf from many other sports is its extreme emphasis on sportsmanship.
It’s a game built on integrity and respect, where players call rulings on themselves and are expected to hold themselves to the highest standard in the spirit of competition. But this foundation is a house of cards, and when it falls, it sends the sport into chaos.
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We saw it at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, where Bryson DeChambeau spent hours arguing with rules officials about a two-stroke penalty on the second day. We have become so accustomed to players simply accepting penalties without argument that this fiasco was jarring.
At the 2015 Solheim Cup, one player was forced to apologize for what was deemed an act of poor sportsmanship, which drove her 19-year-old teammate to tears.
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
The rules controversy that reduced Charley Hull to tears
In 2015, Charley Hull made her second Solheim Cup appearance after becoming the youngest-ever player to compete at the event two years prior. Her debut was a dominant win for Team Europe, but her 2015 event was marred by a rules controversy which is still remembered to this day.
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Hull was playing in the fourball event with Suzann Pettersen, who won their match thanks to controversy on the 17th green. American Alison Lee thought her 18-inch putt had been conceded as Hull had walked away to the 18th tee box.
However, Pettersen told the rules official that she hadn’t actually conceded the putt, and the hole went to Europe. They won the match on the 18th.
Pettersen’s behavior was slammed as poor sportsmanship. Dame Laura Davies told Sky Sports, “I am disgusted. Suzann has let herself and her team down.” American captain Juli Inkster said it was “disrespectful”, adding, “I couldn’t believe it. I saw Suzann walk away. You don’t do that to your peers.”
Even that year’s Open Champion Zach Johnson weighed in on the controversy, calling it “a disgrace to the sport”.
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This clearly weighed heavily on both Hull and Pettersen, who were reduced to tears on the 18th green. And after the event, Pettersen issued an apology.
Suzann Pettersen’s apology for Solheim Cup controversy
In the end, all was well, as the controversy inspired an incredible American comeback on Sunday, winning the event after entering the final day down four points. Pettersen’s actions the day before were said to have helped inspire Team USA’s fightback.
The Norwegian took to social media after the event was finished to apologize, posting, “I’ve never felt more gutted and truly sad about what went down Sunday on the 17th at the Solheim Cup.
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“I am so sorry for not thinking about the bigger picture in the heat of the battle and competition. I was trying my hardest for my team and put the single match and the point that could be earned ahead of sportsmanship and the game of golf itself! I feel like I let my team down and I am sorry.
“To the U.S. team, you guys have a great leader in Juli , who I’ve always looked up to and respect so much. Knowing I need to make things “right,” I had a face to face chat with her before leaving Germany this morning to tell her in person how I really feel about all of this. I wanted her also to know that I am sorry.
“I hope in time the U.S. team will forgive me and know that I have learned a valuable lesson about what is truly important in this great game of golf which has given me so much in my life. To the fans of golf who watched the competition on TV, I am sorry for the way I carried myself.
“I can be so much better and being an ambassador for this great game means a lot to me. The Solheim Cup has been a huge part of my career. I wish I could change Sunday for many reasons. Unfortunately, I can’t.
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“This week I want to push forward toward another opportunity to earn the Solheim Cup back for Europe in the right way. And I want to work hard to earn back your belief in me as someone who plays hard, plays fair and plays the great game of golf the right way.”
Who knows whether Team USA would have come back to win the event without Pettersen’s actions, but it was certainly used as bulletin-board material. She might have won a point because of it, but Pettersen could well have lost the whole event for Europe as a result.
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