The team's the thing wherein . . .

From the time I was an amateur, team events have always been very special to me, simply because I never really won anything then. There were no British Amateur titles or anything like that. But I got on all the teams, playing for England several times and making the Curtis Cup in 1984.

So, having done most of the team things and enjoyed all the great moments they gave me, it was wonderful to experience the feeling again as a professional. That's why the 1992 Solheim Cup remains the highpoint, when I consider special golfing moments.

It's terribly important to us in Europe because it's the only team thing we have. And after going to Dalmahoy as massive underdogs, we just got together as a team and steamrolled to victory on the Sunday, winning by an incredible fivepoint margin.

Obviously it was important that we won the foursomes by 2 1/2 to 1 1/2 on the opening day and then kept our lead by halving the fourballs. But the Americans were expected to fight back in the singles where they were thought to have greater strength in depth.

I'll never forget that October day. On a personal level it was good that - at number one, I beat Brandie Burton by 4 and 2 to set the right mood. But I will always think of it as a wonderful team effort.

Looking back, I suspect if we'd lost that particular tie, it wouldn't necessarily have killed the matches, but it would have greatly affected the public's interest. After all, we had been hammered 11 1/2 to 4 1/2

when it was launched at Lake Nona two years previously. And there was no reason to believe that the Americans would do anything other than maintain that dominance, as they did for so long in the Ryder Cup.

As it happens, they're 3-1 in the series at the moment, which means we've got to ensure they don't win again at Muirfield Village (starting this Friday). A 4-1 gap would look a bit too convincing.

There are lots and lots of moments in my career that have given me great joy, making me realise how fortunate I've been. Obviously my British win in 1986 and the US Open the following year stand out. But there were others.

The fourth successive win in the Phoenix Open (Standard Register Ping) last year was an important milestone as it also happened to be my 50th career win. That was a pretty large moment for me.

All of which meant that I was going for a record fifth last March, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. I hit a bad tee-shot on number four in the third round and that was the end of me. But my Solheim Cup colleague, Lotte Neumann, went on to win it, so at least the trophy stayed in Europe.

The hype surrounding that event was unbelievable. Nobody had done it before and all I kept hearing about were the four PGA Championships in a row that (Walter) Hagen had won. It was nice to be in such lofty company and to have done the fifth would have been the ultimate.

I'm not normally concerned with records but that was certainly different. And on a personal level, it would have been special in view of the fact that in 1994 I had become the first golfer, man or woman, to win on five different tours in the same calendar year.

But Dalmahoy will always be in a class apart, whatever I do for the remainder of my career. Going there, I remember thinking it would be nice if we gave them a good match, but deep down there was the gnawing fear that we'd get a thrashing.

Of course the spectator excitement was at fever pitch. They knew they were watching something pretty unusual and we were determined they wouldn't be disappointed. And the tension built and built until (Catrin) Nilsmark got the winning putt.

Of course it was brilliant for me because of my winning partnership with Ali (Alison Nicholas) in the foursomes and fourballs. I had known her for years and years, from the time we were about 15 or 16. She's a real Yorkshire terrier and never hesitates to tell me what she thinks.

Mind you, she doesn't like it when I give her a bit of stick but I don't want to be considered a bully.