When the 2024 Solheim Cup begins at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club this weekend, it will kick off a number of professional battles between everyone involved.
But for Team Europe's Emily Kristine Pedersen and her boyfriend Olly Brett, theirs will feature a layer of personal competition, too.
Pedersen will be desperate to continue her own success story in the Solheim Cup - particularly against her partner of six years - while Rose Zhang's caddie is keen to finally secure bragging rights for Team USA after seven years without a win.
Romantically involved since 2018 and having briefly paired up on course, Pedersen and Brett have only twice been directly on opposite sides of the tee box before - despite Brett having been a professional looper since 2010.
The first time they ever clashed competitively occurred at the Ladies Scottish Open in 2020 when Brett was working for Danielle Kang.
Paired together in the final round, Kang and Pedersen were part of a thrilling showdown at the Renaissance Club in which the Dane reached a four-woman playoff that - coincidentally - Team USA's current Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis won.
Speaking after the tournament, Pedersen explained how strange a dynamic it was to have Brett helping someone else at first. She said: “It was a little weird. Because normally when he's there and we play, we chat a lot, and I don't think we said anything to each other today.
“They make a good team and I respect the work. At the end of the day, this is my job and it's his job and we are both professionals. We just to learn to deal with it. I think the first time is always a little odd.”
The next time it happened, at the 2021 Solheim Cup in Ohio, Pedersen once again had the last laugh as she took down Kang and Brett in the Sunday singles to help Team Europe win for just the second time on US soil.
The Dane admitted the situation is always likely to be "a bit strange" but acknowledged everyone is out there with a job to do and they both know it's nothing personal.
Speaking to CNN about wanting to celebrate but also console her boyfriend, Pedersen said: “I think I celebrated and then I was like: ‘I’m just going to go say thank you.’ And then I ran to the team because I knew that as soon as I ran over to the team, I probably wouldn’t speak to him for a couple of hours.
“But we were on different teams and I just wanted to be on the team really. I knew he was always going to come join the party a bit later, but it was a bit weird for sure not having to jump on him.”
Pedersen later admitted that she would tease Brett a little bit for being on the losing side, but said he took it with good grace and they were ready to do battle once more.
She said: “We knew it was never going to be anything personal, but I know he’s really happy for me. Obviously, he wanted to win with the US and with Danielle, but he is sportsman enough to say: ‘Congratulations.’”
In the build-up to the 2024 running, Pedersen posted a picture to her Instagram story of the pair sat on a plane with the caption: "Let the games begin..." Brett was pictured wearing a Team USA Olympic Games t-shirt while Pederson wore a Team Europe Solheim Cup jacket.
Brett will hope the US' tag as favorites rings true and he can finally celebrate a win over Pedersen as an honorary American.
