(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) – Team Secret Golf LPGA professionals Brittany Lang, Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller look to lead the United States team in the upcoming Solheim Cup matches. The biggest team event in women’s international golf features a trio of American players who have combined to represent the USA in 12 Solheim Cup competitions.
“We are delighted three members of Team Secret Golf are on the American Solheim Cup team,” said Steve Elkington, the co-founder of Secret Golf and a 10-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the 1995 PGA Championship and both the 1991 and 1997 Players Championship. “It’s really no surprise that Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller and Brittany Lang are on the team. Stacy is one of the most ferocious match play competitors there is. Gerina holed the pressure putts in Germany for the U.S. team and Brittany is a U.S. Women’s Open champion.”
In 2015, the U.S. side rallied in Germany for a dramatic come-from-behind final day to win the closest Solheim Cup in history and boast a 9-5 record in the series that dates back to 1990. This year’s addition of the biennial event, which features teams from Europe and the U.S., will be contested August 18-20 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa.
It will be Piller’s third appearance on the U.S. team, as she enjoys a 3-2-2 record in the event. In 2015, she went unbeaten with three wins and one-half. A dramatic putt on the final hole secured a 1up victory over Caroline Masson and capped America’s historical comeback. Teaming with Lewis, the duo was dominate as they won both their four-ball and foursomes matches, the most impressive being a 5&4 victory over Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall.
Piller also teamed with Lang to earn half a point in the day one four-ball matches.
“I am so honored to represent my country again on the Solheim Cup team,” said Piller, who has played on the LPGA Tour since 2010. “I cannot wait to compete with my teammates. This will be fun.”
Lang, in her fifth competition, looks to replicate a stellar 2013 performance when she picked up three points for her side. The 2016 U.S. Open Champion has earned 6.5 career points in the event. A veteran of many matches, the experience never gets old.
“I am thrilled to be competing again on the Solheim Cup team,” said Lang.” I want to make fun memories with my teammates and play some great golf. This is such an honor.”
Lewis picked up two wins in four matches in 2015 to post 4.5 points in her career. With two major victories to her credit – the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship and the 2013 Women’s British Open – she looks to join her Secret Golf colleagues in helping the U.S. retain the Solheim Cup this year
The first LPGA Tour sanctioned event in Iowa since 1966, and the first in the state capital since 1956, combined with the unlikely U.S. victory in 2015 sets the stage for an electric competition. LPGA Commissioner Micheal Wan described the upcoming event as an atmosphere that might be found at a football game mixed with a soccer match and a mixed martial arts bout. Sports Illustrated called it “the biggest thing to hit Iowa since the Pope.”
“The Solheim Cup is very intense,” explained Elkington. “It’s so important for each team. The women’s game is just as good as the men’s game. It’s so exciting to watch. There will be huge crowds in Iowa. Our three Team Secret Golf players are absolute gunslingers.”
Team Secret Golf features 17 professionals, including former major champions Jackie Burke, Jr., Elkington, Jason Dufner, Lang and Lewis, and now has claimed 111 events collectively on the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and Web.com Tour.
For more information about Secret Golf, visit www.secretgolf.com.
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