TIGHT BONDS WITHIN TEAM USA
Team USA Captain Juli Inkster has divided her team into "pods" this week - groups of four designated to share time with one another in an effort to build team chemistry. On Wednesday, four players from one pod decided to share the podium and held their press conference all together.
Solheim Cup veterans Michelle Wie (four prior appearances) and Lizette Salas (two prior appearances) join two Team USA rookies in Danielle Kang and Angel Yin in their pod. The four laughed and joked around at their press conference on Wednesday, showing how tight of a group they've become.
"It's been an instant connection," said Salas. "And even on the golf course, it's been really comforting to know that we can rely on each other and we complement each other's game. We know each other's game even though we've only been playing for a couple of days."
EUROPEAN CAPTAIN'S PICKS READY FOR THE BIG STAGE
Three of the European team’s captain’s picks – Caroline Masson and a pair of rookies, Madelene Sagstrom and Emily K. Pedersen, will look to help Europe recapture the Solheim Cup on American soil.
“I was dreaming about this since I started playing,” Pedersen said. “I played in the Junior Solheim and kind of experienced it there, so I was really happy to get on the real team. I still think it's a lot different. It's a lot bigger, this. But obviously I kind of knew what was going on. I just prepared like I always prepare, I guess.”
“It's a very natural and just fun environment to be around,” Sagstrom explained. “It's been building up all week, so it's kind of starting off slow and then you're building it up day-by-day. So I'm taking it slowly, but I think it's starting to hit me soon. I'll be excited when the matches start on Friday.”
While Sagstrom and Pedersen are rookies, Masson will be making her third Solheim Cup appearance going a combined 2-3-2 in Germany (2015) and Colorado (2013).
“Being nervous is not necessarily a bad thing,” Masson explained. “It's just, I think there's two ways you can take it. You can be nervous in a bad way and nervous in a good way. And I think we're all going to be excited to be there and just enjoy the atmosphere.”
LPGA ROOKIES MAKE THEIR SOLHEIM CUP DEBUT
Four 2017 LPGA rookies are in the Solheim Cup field this week - three for Team Europe (Emily K. Pedersen, Mel Reid, Madelene Sagstrom) and one for Team USA (Angel Yin). Reid, 29, has already played in the Solheim Cup twice in her career in 2011 and 2015, but the other three will get their first taste of one of the biggest events in women's golf this week in Des Moines.
Pedersen, Sagstrom and Yin all made their way to the 2017 Solheim Cup by way of captain's picks. Through 22 events in the 2017 LPGA season, they all rank within the top 6 in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race (Yin, 2nd; Sagstrom, 4th; Pedersen, 6th).
Both Sagstrom, the 2016 Epson Tour Player of the Year, and Pedersen called it a "dream come true" to be selected as a captain's pick. Yin, the youngest player in the competition at 18 years old, played in the PING Junior Solheim Cup just two years ago in Germany and said that people were mistaking her for playing in the same event this week - to which she said, "No, I'm in the big one."
Yin was asked what she might feel once the competition begins: "Honestly, people ask me, what are you going to feel? I mean, I don't know. Because right now there's not as many people on the first tee. There's people. We're practicing. When we see people in the bleachers we make them scream. We try to get that feeling.
"But when we're on the first tee, it's going to be completely different. After Friday, I'll tell you."
PETTERSEN WITHDRAWS, REPLACED BY MATTHEW
European Solheim Cup Captain Annika Sorenstam announced today that Catriona Matthew will replace the injured Suzann Pettersen at The 2017 Solheim Cup.
Sorenstam chose Matthew as her alternate when she selected her team following the conclusion of the Ricoh Women’s British Open and informed the United States team as required by the captains’ agreement. Matthew and Pettersen will effectively switch roles, with Pettersen stepping in as a vice captain next to Sorenstam this week.
Pettersen, an eight-time Solheim Cup participant, qualified to make her ninth appearance for the European team through the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She arrived in Des Moines on Monday evening after receiving treatment for a recurrent slipped disc injury which occurred in Norway over the weekend. Despite receiving further treatment from the team osteopath on site, she withdrew on Wednesday morning due to experiencing persistent pain.
Pettersen said: “I have made this extremely difficult decision to help the European team and give my teammates the best possible chance of success. There was no guarantee that I would be fit to compete on Friday morning and I did not want to play unless I was able to give 100 percent. I truly love The Solheim Cup and I will stay and support my team this week in whatever way I can.”
This will be Matthew’s ninth Solheim Cup appearance. She has earned 19 points from 33 matches, played from 1998-2015 and was a member of three winning teams in 2003, 2011 and 2013.
NUMBERS TO KNOW - CATRIONA MATTHEW
47/11/22 – Catriona Matthew will become the oldest player to compete for Team Europe in Solheim Cup history at 47 years/11 months/22 days on Friday, passing Laura Davies (47 years/11 months/18 days). Juli Inkster remains the oldest competitor overall at 51 years/2 months/30 days in 2011.
6 – Matthew is one of six players from Scotland to play in the Solheim Cup - her 2017 stint makes it 22 appearances by the country overall on Team Europe
9 – Matthew's ninth Solheim Cup appearance ties for the second most of any player in Solheim Cup history, joining Beth Daniel, Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr and Suzann Pettersen
33 – Matthew is tied with Pettersen for the fourth most matches played in Solheim Cup history at 33
19 – Matthew is also tied with Pettersen for the third most points earned in Solheim Cup history at 19
SORENSTAM READY TO LEAD TEAM EUROPE
LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member Annika Sorenstam will attempt to reclaim the Solheim Cup for Team Europe this week serving in her first stint as Team Captain.
Sorenstam, who has appeared in eight Solheim Cups as a player with a 22-11-4 overall record, served as an assistant captain in the past three Solheim Cups (2011-15). That stretch included back-to-back wins for the European squad in 2011 and 2013 - the only time Europe has racked up consecutive wins in Solheim Cup history.
Sorenstam said that she'll approach the week "the way I would approach anything in life" and take her time making sure her decisions as captain are well thought out.
"Certainly I bring experience to the table," said the 46-year-old, who ranks first on the LPGA's all-time money list. "I've been in every single role. I've been a player. I've been a vice captain, and now being the captain. So I can relate literally to any situation, at least I feel that way. And I don't know how the players feel like I am as a captain, but I try to be me, the way I go about things.
"I feel like I have a great leadership team around me that certainly pick up my weaknesses. So I'm here to have fun. You know, I guess you mature, you grow up, you have kids, you realize what's important in life. And I can look at things a lot differently now."
QUOTE OF THE DAY –
"I've never played it, but I want it to be loud. Like I want it to be so loud that I can't hear my caddie."
- Danielle Kang on the atmosphere of a Solheim Cup
TEAM USA WINS PING JUNIOR SOLHEIM CUP
Team USA captured the ninth biannual PING Junior Solheim Cup began on Wednesday at Des Moines Golf and Country Club by a score of 14.5-9.5.
The round of foursomes matches was suspended on Monday due to darkness, with the U.S. team leading the European team 4-3. Team Europe then earned three points to Team USA's two to bring the competition tied at 6-6 heading into singles play.
Team USA would go on to win eight of the 12 singles matches, while also halving one match, en route to its fourth consecutive victory.
Modeled after the Solheim Cup, the PING Junior Solheim Cup biennially features the 12 best female junior golfers (ages 12-19) from the United States against the 12 best junior girls from Europe. The team match play event includes: foursomes, four-ball and singles matches played over two days and rotates between U.S. and European host sites coinciding with the Solheim Cup.
The United States now leads the all-time series 6-2-1. In 2015, the United States was the first team to win on foreign soil, earning its fifth win in history, 13-11, at St. Leon-Rot Golf Club in Heidelberg, Germany.
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