It's a Wrap: 2015 Solheim Cup Gimmegate

It's amazing what a simple apology will do. The Solheim Cup's shocking Sunday morning conclusion is already a thing of the past after Suzann Pettersen decided to apologize instead of hold her ground over the bizarre on-course incident that overshadowed the 2015 event.

Juli Inkster called in to Morning Drive to talk about Team USA's huge Solheim Cup comeback and to share details of her chat with an apologetic Suzann Pettersen. And it wasn't the usual "that's between Suzann and me" nonsense, not that we should be surprised from the straight-shooting Inkster.

Gary Williams and I discussed when and how should putts be conceded in match play competition. Our advice, just always expect to have to putt out and you'll never have an issue.

Mike Stachura tries to wrap his head around the idea of a concession and scores many strong points in this GolfDigest.com column.

The fact is the Solheim Cup controversy only exists because the conceded putt is such an inscrutable element of the modern game. Putting aside the most ridiculously obvious concessions (is there such a thing?), the gesture is more emotion than action, the grayest kind of gray in a game that is essentially only black and white.

You may recall earlier this year Michael Trostel and Victoria Student's USGA story on the history of the concession, which has origins in the stymie and which was generally discouraged by rulemakers.

The phrase itself, “concede putts,” was first mentioned in the Rules of Golf in 1909. Interestingly, the USGA was strongly against it. The section Special Rules for Match Play Competitions reads, “The Rules of Golf Committee recommends that players should not concede putts to their opponents.” This was mentioned in each subsequent Rules book until 1933.

At one point, conceding a putt was used as a way to play around the “stymie rule,” which was in existence until 1952. On September 1, 1920, the USGA added a provision that allowed the stymied player to concede his opponent’s next putt...

Yet another reminder how fun it would be to see the occasional match play event with stymies. And there I go again thinking professional golf is played for fun.