SPARKS FLY AT SOLHEIM.

Byline: GREG WILCOX Golf

Thanks to the antics of Dottie Pepper and Annika Sorenstam and the mouth of Laura Davies, future versions of the Solheim Cup could well have a Ryder Cup edge to them. That is to say the combatants in these biennial matches will go at each other with a little more fervor that is usually displayed when they compete during the regular LPGA season.

And this could end up being good for women's professional golf. This year's motto of the LPGA Tour is, ``Hey, we can play this game.''

Yes they can. Trouble is, for most of the year they do so in the relative obscurity of cable television and the briefs or summaries of newspaper sports sections. Consider the recently completed Solheim Cup, which the U.S. won 16-12 after three days of sparkling play at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.

The matches got network exposure but no major newspaper coverage. So lots of golf fans missed out on some fascinating gamesmanship and, in the end, sportsmanship.

It all started on Saturday with Pepper, an intense competitor with a fiery disposition. Think Raymond Floyd staring down a twisting 45-footer and then Tiger Woods fist-pumping after the putt drops. That's Pepper.

On the 18th green during a Saturday match, Pepper's partner, Julie Inkster, rolled a long putt to gimme range. The Europeans conceded the putt and before they could attempt their own chip shot to halve the hole and get a much-needed half point, Pepper went into her cheerleader routine, egging on the crowd to a rousing round of applause.

Some members of the European squad took exception, most notably Sorenstam and Davies. Sorenstam had brought a pop-up punching bag with her to Murifield. So after the Saturday competition she and her teammates took turns clobbering the bag, which they nicknamed Dottie.

Sorenstam would later say it was just a good way to unwind. Davies would say Pepper should learn some manners.

``I saw what happened on the 18th green and I've been excited in Solheim Cups,'' she said. ``But when you pick your ball up when it's been conceded and you excite the crowd when your opponent still has to play a very, very difficult chip shot, and we're desperately trying to get a half point out of the match, that's when I took exception to it. That's when Annika and I started beating up that dummy thing in the locker room.

``That was just unprofessional, unnecessary and it spurred us on. So it was a big mistake on top of that.''

Davies also said that her team was full of good losers, meaning that they lost with class. And they did.

If Pepper, who finished the competition with a 4-0 record and was the only undefeated player, was miffed, she did not let on.

``I didn't hear about that until after it was finished,'' she said of the punching-bag incident. ``I'll tell you what I told them. I take it as a compliment, period; if that's what it takes, then I'll be glad to be their punching bag.''

And she maintained that not once did she cross the line between gamesmanship and sportsmanship.

One thing is certain, though. If the competition is expanded to include an international team rather than a European team, as some have suggested, Davies will find something else to do.

``I'm fed up with answering that one,'' she said of questions about an expanded team. ``I won't play on an international team ever. I don't think anyone would be interested in playing the rest of the world against America. It's an insult to every single one of us on the team and every time they question us, it's another insult.''

And there is no doubt that while the Europeans lost with class, American Meg Mallon also won with class. The U.S. had already clinched the cup and Mallon came to the 18th hole with a one-stroke lead on her opponent, Sweden's Sophie Gustafson.

After their tee shots, as they walked to the green, Mallon conceded the hole to Gustafson, meaning that they would halve the match and a`t the end of the day there would be no losers or winners.

THIS WEEK'S TOURNAMENTS

PGA TOUR

Buick Challenge

Dates/Site: Pine Mountain, Ga.

Schedule: Today-Sunday.

Course: Callaway Gardens, Mountain View Course (7,057 yards, par 72).

Purse (Winner's Share): $1.5 million ($270,000).

Television: ESPN (Friday, 10:30 a.m.; Saturday, 1:30 p.m.) and ESPN2 (Sunday, 1:30 p.m.).

Last year: Davis Love III shot 67-65-67-68 for a 21-under 267 total. Stewart Cink finished second, four strokes back.

SENIOR PGA TOUR

Vantage Championship

Dates/Site: Clemmons, N.C.

Schedule: Friday-Sunday.

Course: Tanglewood Park Golf Club (6,680 yards, par 71)

Purse (Winner's Share): $1.5 million ($225,000).

Television: The Golf Channel (Friday, 12:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Sunday, Noon and 6 p.m.).

Last year: Hale Irwin won the eighth of a record-tying nine 1997 titles, shooting 64-62-69 for a tournament-record 18-under 195 total.

PGA EUROPEAN TOUR 

Belgacom Open

Dates/Site: Knokke, Belgium.

Schedule: Today-Sunday.

Course: Royal Zoute Golf Club (6,907 yards, par 71).

Purse (Winner's Share): $680,000 ($113,322).

Television: The Golf Channel (Today, 6 a.m., 10 p.m.; Friday 6 a.m., 10 p.m.; Saturday 5:30 a.m., 10 p.m.; Sunday 5:30 a.m., 10 p.m.).

Last year: Inaugural event.

CAPTION(S):

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BOX: THIS WEEK`S TOURNAMENTS (see text)