FRANKFURT — The verbal jousting has started to crank up ahead of this week's 14th Solheim Cup in Germany, with Europe and the United States both suggesting they are the underdogs to win the biennial team event.
The hosts, captained by Swede Carin Koch, want to make it a hat-trick of victories for the first time while Juli Inkster's U.S. side are hoping to end a six-year wait to triumph in the women's equivalent of the Ryder Cup.
The world rankings indicate the Americans have by far the stronger team, 10 of their 12 players are in the top 40 and Europe can only boast Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordqvist and Azahara Munoz.