By Beth Ann Nichols, Golfweek
Captains don’t hit golf shots, but they sure can inspire. At the 15th staging of the Solheim Cup on August 18-20, two of the most revered players in LPGA history will square off in what’s expected to be a raucous showdown in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster have 103 LPGA titles between them, including 17 Majors. The two LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famers have competed in a combined 71 Solheim Cup matches. They are giants in the women’s game. Given the controversial manner in which the 2015 contest ended in St. Leon-Rot, Germany – with Suzann Pettersen’s unsportsmanlike behavior leading the Americans to the biggest come-from-behind victory in Solheim Cup history – there’s unprecedented build-up for this year’s contest.
“Believe me, Annika will have them ready,” said Inkster.
A statistician from her playing days, Sorenstam borrowed a program called the 15th Club from 2016 Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke. Sorenstam, a first-time captain, has 45 players uploading stats onto the system, putting up-to-date analytics from across two tours at her fingertips. The program even spits out a player’s percentage potential of making the team.
Sorenstam did much of this research manually when she served as assistant captain the past two Solheims. It wasn’t entirely accurate, she said, nor was it efficient.
“This is not what I’m basing my decisions on,” she said, “but it’s a backup to confirm some of the thoughts we have.”
There’s always been a seriousness to Sorenstam’s methods. She was an all-business type of No. 1. Anna Nordqvist, who is likely to be the top-ranked player on Europe’s squad, said it will be a dream come true to play for the iconic Swede.
“She’s not leaving anything to chance,” said Nordqvist. “She’s paying attention to all the details.”
Inkster, 56, still competes on the LPGA, cashing paychecks most weeks. She built a family at the same time she built her playing career, making her a unique kind of role model. Inkster gave her 2015 squad a lunch pale to underscore the message that the Americans, winless since 2009, must go to work. This year, she’s thinking about doling out hard hats.
Inkster wants her team to be gritty, but not uptight. A tougher ask when playing on home soil.
“The European team is going to go in with nothing to lose,” said Inkster. “They play great; they play loose. We need to match that intensity and that looseness too.”
Inkster understands that the 2017 squad might look decidedly different. With several core American players, including Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel, on the outside looking in, Inkster gathered a number of potential new faces in April for a team get-together at Tiger Woods’ Bluejack National in Houston. Team activities included a scavenger hunt, fishing, corn hole and s’mores by the campfire.
“It really wasn’t about golf,” said Inkster, who used a personality test and Paul Azinger’s pod system to prep her team two years ago. She asked her players to tone down the rah-rah in Germany and was on them all week about playing with heart, about playing with fire in their bellies.
Inkster called leading the U.S. Solheim team to victory in St. Leon-Rot one of her greatest thrills. The encore won’t be easy. The rough will be up at Des Moines Country Club, Inkster said, and will favor those who hit it straight. With the yardage playing to nearly 6,900 yards, Sorenstam points out that the Pete Dye-design requires a good bit of distance too. A long hitter who can place the ball in the correct sections of Dye’s undulating greens would be ideal.
European rules give Sorenstam four captain’s picks while Inkster has only two. Making those picks, Inkster maintains, is the most difficult part of being captain.
“I hate to let anybody down,” she said.
Inkster took heat two years ago for selecting Paula Creamer, her six-time Solheim Cup partner, who came into Germany their weakest link. Creamer went out in the anchor position on Sunday and put up the final point to defeat Europe, vindicating Inkster and tying the bow on a sensational finish.
If it can get any better that that, these two captains will be the ones who deliver it.
