1. Pod Preview
Tuesday, Team USA’s captain Juli Inkster provided fans with a little sneak peek at her potential match-ups this week. For the second time, Inkster is utilizing a pod system to organize her team. The process of grouping like-minded players by personality was a concept implemented by Paul Azinger at the Ryder Cup in 2008 and a model that Inkster employed successfully in 2015. During the week, players will do everything with the members of their pod, including practice rounds, press conferences and matches on Friday and Saturday. During Tuesday’s press conference, Inkster revealed her three pods:
- Austin Ernst, Paula Creamer, Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr
- Gerina Piller, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lang and Brittany Lincicome
- Lizette Salas, Danielle Kang, Michelle Wie and Angel Yin
2. Get Back To Work
When Inkster took the helm for Team USA, the Americans had lost the last two meetings with Europe. Inkster was determined to get her team back on a winning track. To inspire her squad in 2015, Inkster gave her team metal lunch pails with each member’s name and "Team USA at Work" emblazoned on the side. In keeping with the theme, Inkster provided her 2017 team with hard hats.
“It's special. It's something that we all have as a team. We had our lunch boxes last time and we have hard hats this time. And it's all about doing work. That's what we're here for,” Paula Creamer said during her Tuesday press conference. “And all of our things have little Juli touches on them. I mean, who gives out hard hats to a team? I've never gotten a hard hat before. So this is pretty good.”
3. Grab Your Driver
As if the first tee at the Solheim Cup could get any more exciting, this year the first hole will play as a reachable par four at 306 yards. While Team Europe’s Anna Nordqvist doesn’t think she has the length to carry the ball 250 yards to reach the green, teammates Carlota Ciganda and Mel Reid are eager to give it a go.
“I would like to think that I would go for it every day, just purely because -- I don't know, I just feel like if you're going to miss it, you're better off missing it closer to the hole than you are laying it back and having a wedge in,” Reid said. “For me, I would rather make birdie from closer to the green.”
4. Rain, Rain Go Away
Heavy rain, lightning and thunderstorms moved into the Des Moines area just after Noon on Tuesday and forced the suspension of practice rounds for several hours during the afternoon. Rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast again for Wednesday, but better conditions are forecasted for the rest of the week.
“I think if it rains, the course is going to be wet and you can be more aggressive. When I played yesterday I thought it was pretty soft. The ball was stopping and the fairways they were not running much,” Ciganda said when describing the course on Tuesday.
5. Under the Weather
Tuesday afternoon, Team USA’s Lexi Thompson skipped her press conference scheduled with Cristie Kerr in order to get some rest as she continues to battle a virus.
“She's had a sore throat for the last three days. She's just hitting a few shots out there,” Inkster explained. “I'm a little worried about her. Everybody else seems to be in good shape.”
Team Europe’s Suzann Pettersen also kept her practice light on Tuesday to avoid further aggravating a back injury that recently flared up. Assistant captain Catriona Matthew is also the alternate for Team Europe. She played a practice round on Tuesday in the event she needs to step in for her team on Friday.
“Suzann is taking it easy today. But I think everyone has their own kind of plan how they're going to prepare for the week. And I'm sure we'll see her out there tomorrow,” said Anna Nordqvist, who has been battling mono. “They're young, they're healthy and I think everyone is just excited to go and even if you are feeling a little bit under the weather, all the adrenalin that's pumping this week kind of gets you through.”
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