Solheim Cup 2017: Captain Inkster is Smiling At The Moment
Solheim Cup Captain Julie Inkster is smiling. Four Team USA headliners dominated the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic leaderboard last week.
2017 Solheim Cup Team USA Captain Julie Inkster must surely be smiling. Four of her headliners – Brittany Lincicome, Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, and Gerina Piller – came out hot and grabbed the first four places on the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic leaderboard.
What a start to the 2017 season!
The icing on the Solheim Cup cake may turn out to be LPGA rookie Nelly Korda. After a bit of a clumsy even par start that included both an eagle and a double bogey, Jess Korda’s little sister pulled her game together and cruised easily to a fifth place finish in her first LPGA start.
Does that set Nelly up for a captain’s pick spot on the 2017 Team USA Solheim Cup team? Could we get treated to a Korda Sister pairing for one of the foursomes or four ball matches? That’s kind of fun to contemplate.
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To be sure, the 2017 season is young. There’s much golf still to be played before the 2017 Solheim Cup teams are finalized. At the moment, among the Americans Thompson, Lewis, and Piller are safely sitting at the top of the Solheim Cup points ranking, and Lincicome’s playoff win over Thompson last week moved her up to 7th place.
Mo Martin, Austin Ernst, and Jennifer Song are in the mix too and are going to be giving Captain Inkster something to look at in the coming months.
Veteran Team USA members Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie both look to be in jeopardy of losing their spots this year. Despite Inkster’s sort spot for the pair, neither Creamer nor Wie has shown enough game to edge out some of the younger, hungrier players who are working hard to earn a place on the 2017 team.
Team USA hopefuls will next tee it up at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, February 16-19, Grange, Australia. Nelly Korda will have another opportunity to show Captain Inkster and her assistants what she has in her bag.
