MacRae up for the cup as Scot looks forward to GB&I outing alongside evergreen Nicholas

23/10/2022

Heather MacRae is the relishing the prospect of teaming up with a true golfing great in the Women’s PGA Cup at the Twin Warriors Club in New Mexico.

The 39-year-old Scot forms part of a GB&I side which also includes the evergreen Alison Nicholas, who was handed a wild card by team captain Sarah Bennett.

Nicholas won the Women’s British Open and the US Women’s Open during a shimmering career that was burnished by six Solheim Cup appearances and two stints as European skipper.

She will make her Women’s PGA Cup debut at the sprightly age of 60 and MacRae is confident that her experience and nous will be a valuable weapon in the GB&I armoury.

“It’s going to be a real highlight playing in a team with Alison,” said MacRae, who was a member of the GB&I team that finished third in the inaugural Women’s PGA Cup in 2019. “She’s seen it, done it and got all the t-shirts and we’ll all can learn something from that experience.

“The team camaraderie is already building. We have a WhatsApp group and that’s helping to create a good atmosphere. There’s a really nice mix in the team and plenty of experience. Everybody has a part to play.”

The Women’s PGA Cup holds special memories for MacRae. In 2019, her world was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Just a couple of weeks before undergoing a major operation to combat the devastating disease, MacRae won the WPGA Championship to book her place on the Women’s PGA Cup team later in the year.

That date in the diary gave her huge motivation to return to the cut-and-thrust of competitive golf and the former British Ladies Amateur Strokeplay champion’s defiant, determined spirit would be rewarded when she teed-up at Barton Creek in Texas.

“Knowing I was on that team gave me a great sense of purpose,” reflected MacRae. “But it also made me take time off after the surgery and focus properly on my recovery. I didn’t want to push too hard, set myself back and miss out on the PGA Cup.

“I just wanted to play it. I wasn’t bother about how I played. It was simply being there that was the big thing for me. Just teeing up the last time was enough for me. That was a success. It’s different this time, though, Now I want the trophy.”

MacRae, who won the WPGA Championship title for the third year in a row in 2021, enjoyed a breakthrough win on the Tartan Tour this season when she became the first woman to win an Order of Merit crown on the domestic circuit.

“I do still feel like my golf is getting better and I’m getting fitter and stronger,” she added. “I’ve played some really good stuff on the Tartan Tour and hopefully I can replicate that at the Women's PGA Cup.”

The Women’s PGA Cup will be staged from October 24-29 and will feature teams from the USA, GB&I, Sweden, South Africa, Canada and Australia. The format is 54-holes of strokeplay with the best three out of five scores each day counting towards the team’s tally.