Sweden’s Linn Grant and Maja Stark are ready for the Solheim Cup stage
There is a saying in the Swedish national team: “That’s us against the world.” Even at individual events, the Swedes make it a point to cheer each other on. That hasn’t changed since Linn Grant and Maja Stark both turned pro last August.
Since then they have won a combined 14 times around the world, with Grant famously beating the men in the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, and Stark winning last week at the ISPS Handa World Invitational to earn her LPGA card.
“If it’s not me,” Grant said, “she’s the No. 1 person I want to see win.”
This week at the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series event in Spain, Grant met 2023 European Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen for the first time. Stark and Grant have talked about playing together in a Solheim. Linn believes they are actually unbeaten in foursomes play, representing Sweden together on numerous occasions and winning the historic Sunningdale Foursomes in 2019.
“Maja said it would be pretty stupid not to put us together, actually,” said Grant, a former ASU standout now ranked 56th in the world. Stark, who is not in this week’s competition, rose to No. 45 in the Rolex rankings after Sunday’s win.
Nelly Korda and older sister Jessica headline the field at La Reserva Club de Sotogrande, where the competition takes place August 18-20. The American stars made their Aramco Team Series debut last fall in New York, where Jessica’s team came out on top in a playoff that ended under the lights.
The Aramco Team Series Sotogrande is one of six Saudi-backed events on the LET schedule. The events remain controversial given the widespread human rights abuses Saudi Arabia has been accused of, particularly against women.
The first two days of the event feature 36 teams competing for a purse of $500,000. The final 18 holes will feature only pros, with an additional $500,000 up for grabs. The European Solheim Cup stars in action this week include Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Anna Nordqvist, who was recently announced as one of Pettersen’s vice-captains alongside Dame Laura Davies and Caroline Martens.
The Solheim Cup will be contested in Spain for the first time in 2023, and Grant and Stark are ready to give the Americans a lot of grief.
The two Swedes, who are close in age and grew up in the same area in Sweden, were not always close to each other. Quite the opposite, actually.
“I know for sure she didn’t like me at all before she got to know me,” Grant said with a laugh, “which is funny, looking back on it now.”
It wasn’t until they were forced to play on the same girls’ team and room together that the pair of opposites became friends in high school. They still don’t like many of the same things off the golf course (food, music, hobbies), but they’ve learned to appreciate their differences and now choose to travel together, having recently spent the past four weeks together on the road.
Last week at the ISPS event, the two friends were paired in the third round and set a goal of trying to string together 16 birdies on the day.
“We said before the round, let’s really root for each other today,” Stark said, “more than usual, and high five when we make birdies and stuff.”
Heading into the week, Stark told her friend she wanted to celebrate something. That she didn’t celebrate anything all summer. At the end of the week, they drank champagne together and toasted the biggest day of Stark’s young career.
It was more than Grant experienced after beating a 78-man field with nine at the Scandinavian Mixed. She made the hour-long drive home on Sunday and ate pizza with the family before flying out the next day with her brother for an event in London.
Grant, who became the first woman to win on the DP World Tour, said her Instagram blew up so much after that victory that she had to turn off her phone to focus. A friend who lives in London got a kick out of walking down the street and seeing Grant’s face on a huge TV screen in the city.
“I think it just turned out to be such a big deal,” Grant said, “which has been really fun.”
Stark and Grant have similar games in terms of how they hit the ball, but they vary when it comes to how they choose shots.
“Maja is more of a daredevil,” Grant said, “she goes for the one percent shooting.”
Grant likes to play it safe and keep calm. When they are partners, the two friends feed off each other’s strengths but mostly leave the other person alone.
Stark and Grant are 1-2 in the LET’s Race to Costa del Sol. Since Grant earned LPGA status at last year’s Q-Series, she earned CME points in the four LPGA events she has competed in this season. She is currently 68th on the CME leaderboard and is considering playing in the Asian events again this fall.
The top 60 players on the CME leaderboard qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where the winner receives a record $2 million prize.
Stark, who played two seasons at Oklahoma State, shot a course-record 10-under 63 on Sunday in Northern Ireland to win by five and immediately accepted LPGA membership.
“This changes everything,” Stark said. “I would go to Q-School, and it’s just impossible because Q-School would be the week after our final, the tour final, and now I don’t have to worry about that anymore, getting over to the US super fast.
“So, yeah, it’s just huge. I finally get to play where I want to be.”