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United States captain Stacy Lewis insists her “hungry” team are not feeling the pressure of trying to loosen Europe’s stranglehold on the Solheim Cup.
After dominating the early editions of the biennial contest, the USA have not tasted victory since 2017, with European wins in 2019 and 2021 followed by last year’s dramatic 14-14 tie in Spain.
Lewis was also the captain at Finca Cortesin and feels she has unfinished business to take care of at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club this week, where her side are odds-on favourite to regain the trophy.
“This team is hungry and they want to have fun doing it,” Lewis said.
“These girls, they want that trophy, and they want to win. They’ll talk about it occasionally, but I just think they need to enjoy themselves and they need to have fun and they need to be relaxed.
“From what I’ve seen out of Solheim Cups and teams that I’ve been on, the ones that are more relaxed, the ones that are having fun behind the scenes, those are the ones that have been on winning teams.
“So we put a lot of emphasis in what’s going on in the team room, what’s going on in the bus. They asked for a karaoke machine, I’ll get you a karaoke machine. I don’t care. Just whatever they need to do to help them stay relaxed.
“Literally, I’ll get whatever they need to help them play good golf. But the motivation is there. They’re working hard, and they want to win this thing.
“If we win, we stop the [European] streak. If we lose, the streak keeps going. I would love to stop it, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t see it as pressure.”
This team is hungry and they want to have fun doing it— US Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis
The American side includes world number one Nelly Korda and number two Lilia Vu, while the team’s average world ranking of 26.75 compares favourably to Europe’s average of 40.5.
However, Europe’s recent domination means that eight of the 12 players have won the Solheim Cup before, while only two Americans – Lexi Thompson and Alison Lee – have done so.
“That’s the one thing we have going against us, but at some point they’re going to win one and at some point they’re going to get over the hump, just the odds of it,” Lewis said.
“They’ve been on winning teams before, whether it’s at the junior level or the amateur level. So they know what it’s like.
“And that’s part of why I brought Paula (Creamer) and Brittany (Lincicome) in as assistant captains because they’ve been a part of a lot of winning teams.”
Carlota Ciganda ensured Europe would retain the trophy last year with her fourth win from four matches in the final day’s singles and the Spanish star is confident of more success this week.
“I think we have a great team,” Ciganda said. “I think we have a lot of long hitters and I think that’s really good for this course.
“I think with Europe it’s always the same. We are a team. We are very united. We all belong here. We try to support each other. We try to help each other.
“Everyone knows that, if anyone needs help, we are there for the players, for the caddies. I mean, even the helpers, the officials. We are just Europe. It’s just all of us together in this, and we all win together, we all lose together.
“It’s just how it’s always been, and I think we have that mentality. It’s been great so far (and) we are ready to start on Friday and put up a good fight.”
