Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster insist on keeping Solheim Cup on course – Golf news
Both European and American players on the ladies golf will be pitched in one of the greatest battle of the sport, The Solheim Cup, scheduled this week at the Killeen Castle course, 25 miles northwest of Dublin. The debate is also warming up about the legitimacy
of the event as the American team has overwhelmingly dominated the course in history, and has won eight of the last 11 events.
The European team heading into the showdown this time is one of the strongest so far, and because of the fact that the last three events have been closely contested ones, many veterans on both teams are of the view that the event should continue for an extended
period of time. Assistant European captain, Annika Sorenstam, one of the most experienced players on both sides, hopes that the European team will win this year’s title in order to help the cup stay on course.
Sorenstam hoped for a first European triumph since 2003 and said, “It would mean a lot. Otherwise you'd go 10 years without winning, then people start thinking about should we change the format and everything.”
Many golf critics and the tour management on both sides have argued that with the recent upsurge of good international players from other parts of the world, the event should be transformed into an American-International event rather than an American-European
event.
Players from all continents of the world have performed brilliantly in last few years and hail from as far away as Latin America, Australia and South Asia. The Koreans have literally dominated the sport single-handedly. Sorenstam, who will be assisting Captain,
Alison Nicholas, insists that the event should stay on course. She said, “I just want to continue and have the Solheim Cup for 30 or 40 years.”
American vice captain, Juli Inkster, supports the view of her European counter parts and also dropped her vote in favour of the event. Inkster said, “I think we need to leave it the way it is. You look at the past three Solheim Cups, it was close. It was
close until the last day. We were behind a couple of those times.”
Inkster, playing her ninth Solheim Cup, is the oldest player in the history of the title at the age of 51.
The cup will kick-off with foursomes and fourballs on Friday and Saturday, and will move to the final round of the event on Sunday, September 25, where the players will tee-off for the singles rounds. Killeen Castle is a 7,700 yards, Par-72 course designed
by Jack Nicklaus and was opened to general public membership in 2008.
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