The LPGA Tour will take a break from its normal schedule for the 2017 Solheim Cup this week. This tournament is a biennial golf tournament that is contested by teams from the United States and Europe. The US team will enter this year’s Solheim Cup as the defending champions and the winner of nine of the previous 14 matches between the two sides. Team USA put on a show in 2015 when they completed the largest comeback in the history of the event when they took 8.5 of the possible 12 points available in the singles matches on the final day to win the tournament. The United States side will be try to put together a similar performance this year while Team Europe will be looking for revenge.
Details
Event: Solheim Cup
Category: LPGA
Date: August 18-20
Venue: Des Moines Golf & Country Club, West Des Moines, Iowa
Juli Inkster will return as the captain of the US team for the third consecutive Solheim Cup. Meanwhile, Annika Sorenstam will serve as the captain for the European side for the second time. The team from the United States will once again be the sports betting favorite for this event as they are listed at -162 odds while team Europe is listed at +250 odds to win outright.
Past Five Winners
2015: United States
2013: Europe
2011: Europe
2009: United States
2007: United States
What To Know About The Course
The Des Moines Golf and Country Club was awarded one of the LPGA’s biggest tournaments in 2013. It will be interesting to see how the field fares at this course considering the course has never been the host of such a prestigious event before. Scrambling and Putting statistics will once again be extremely important this week. The conditions shouldn’t have a major impact on this year’s tournament, which will likely come down to iron play and putting numbers with the winning side holding the edge in those categories.
The Field
Team USA will consist of Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller, Cristie Kerr, Danielle Kang, Michelle Wie, Brittany Lang, Brittany Lincicome, Lizette Salas, Austin Ernst, Angel Yin and Paula Creamer. Meanwhile, Team Europe will feature Georgia Hall, Florentyna Parker, Mel Reid, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Carlota Ciganda, Suzann Pettersen, Charley Hull, Karine Icher, Anna Nordqvist, Caroline Masson, Emily Pedersen and Madelene Sagstrom.
What’s interesting to note is that while this event is an international one, it doesn’t include some of the top players in the world. There are Americans and there are Europeans, but there are no players from Asia and they’re among the best players in the world right now. Consider that the following names will not be participating this week: So Yeon Ryu, Park Sung Hyun, In-Kyung Kim, Brooke Henderson, Hur Mi Jung, Sei-Young Kim, Ariya Jutanugarn and Amy Yang. All but two of those players are from South Korea followed by Jutanugarn, who is from Thailand, and Henderson, who is from Canada. Those are all players that are in the Top 10 and will not be taking part of this fun event. It’s bizarre and the LPGA should consider changing the rules because it doesn’t include some of the best players in the world.
Winner Pick: Team USA
It is never easy to predict the Solheim Cup with the tournament taking place every two years and consistently featuring close results regardless of which side is the sports betting favorite to win. Team Europe will be looking for redemption after letting the 2015 edition of this tournament slip from their grasp when they seemed prime to win. However, Team USA appears to have the more talented side and also looks to be a little deeper on paper as well. The first couple of days of the tournament always seem to be close and that will likely be the case again this year. However, it won’t be a surprise if Team USA eventually pulls away for another victory, especially if they hold the lead heading in to the final day of the tournament. Team USA wins by a score of 15-13.
2017 Odds To Win The Solheim Cup
USA -200
Europe +205
Tie +1050
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