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Solheim Cup 2019: Team Europe is amused, and slighted, that the Americans are heavily favored in Scotland
Stuart Franklin
GLENEAGLES, Scotland — The Americans are the betting favorite at the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland, and European captain Laura Davies thinks it's an excellent opportunity to make some money.
"As for the price, I think we're 2-to-1 outsiders, which I think is a good bet because I think our squad, as Beany [European captain Catriona Matthew] said, is really strong," Davies said. "The American team is incredibly good. But I think home soil, possibly a bit chillier, that evens it out a bit and hopefully our girls will step on—because it will come down to Sunday afternoon; it always does. And I think we've got the right players that can step up and do the job under the most extreme pressure."
Though the Americans have won the last two Solheim Cups, they are playing with six rookies this year, and they're playing in Europe so the crowd will be against them. The other two times the Solheim Cup has been in Scotland (1992 and 2000), the European team has won.
Europe's Bronte Law, playing in the Solheim Cup for the first time, is very curious as to how the calculation was made that found Team USA as the favorite.
"I'd love to know who said that we weren't favorites," Law said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. "But I think that's interesting. But, yeah, we have our home-course advantage. I'd say we've seen the course before this week. We have a lot of players that are playing really good golf right now. So I'm not sure what sort of information they're getting."
It's not often that there's opportunity for a little smack talk in golf. Team Europe is setting the tone early, and if for nothing more than pressroom entertainment, let's hope it continues.