One week on from being a helper at the Solheim Cup Marianne Skapnord finds herself contending for title number six on the Ladies European Tour (LET) after two solid opening days at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France.
Just five days ago the Norwegian was part of Suzann Pettersen’s winning arsenal which retained the famous cup at Finca Cortsesin, playing the role of team helper for her compatriot as Team Europe came from behind to tie 14-14 with the USA.
“It was amazing,” Skarpnord said. “The girls did such a good job and I was so impressed. Especially on that last day. I felt that Caroline [Hedwall] turned it around before Carlota [Ciganda] came after and did what she did in front of her home crowds. That was really special and everyone did a great job. They really deserved it.”
“I think Suzann was brilliant. She was very relaxed at the beginning of the week, and then towards the end of the week more like the old Suzann we know when it got serious. But I think she was awesome. Laid back and relaxed. If I ever played on a [Solheim Cup] team, I would want a captain like her.”
Clearly inspired by the sensational scenes in Spain, Skarpnord now finds herself five shots adrift heading into the latter stages of the penultimate day at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France.
“I think my game has been very close to being very good for a very long time,” Skapnord said, who fired rounds of 67 (-4) and 70 (-1) at Golf Barrière in Deauville. “The biggest different over the first two days is that I haven’t made many big mistakes. The worst I’ve done is bogey and so far this year it’s been a bit worse than that when it’s been bad!”
Perhaps more impressive is the fact Skarpnord, a right-handed player, continues to putt left-handed after making a dramatic change back in August at the ISPS Handa World Invitational.
“We spoke about the putter before and that continues to give me a lot of confidence,” Skarpnord explained, who’s game continues to go from strength to strength following the drastic change. “Knowing that you can actually hole a putt from two-feet makes you much more relaxed and much confident in the rest of the game.”
“I still can’t aim with it! So I still have to use the line on the ball, but it’s getting a little bit more comfortable every week. It’s still not the same as picking up a right-handed putter and putting with that, it’s always a bit unnatural to me, the grip always feels odd but it’s feeling better and heading in the right direction.”
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