By Keely Levins
DES MOINES, Iowa — “I want it to be so loud that I can’t hear my caddie,” Danielle Kang said in her Solheim Cup press conference on Wednesday.

The statement got laughs from the media and her teammates, but Kang wasn’t kidding. Her shoulders must be sore from all of the times she lifted her arms in the air, coaxing cheers from the fans on Friday. On the first tee in the morning match, she wouldn’t address her tee shot, the first shot she’d ever hit in a Solheim Cup, until the fans were cheering loud enough. Once the crowd hit a volume she liked, she launched it down the center.

Kang is a Solheim Cup rookie, but she appears right at home.

It makes sense that she’s comfortable at her first Solheim Cup. First, she’s had success in match-play events: She won back-to-back U.S. Women’s Amateur titles in 2010 and 2011. But, more importantly, the event fits her personality. She’s competitive, energetic, has a good sense of humor and isn’t afraid to show emotion. If there’s one thing the crowds here like, it’s that. Her rounds were full of smiles, cheers and fist pumps.

And, coincidentally, big shots.

On the 18th hole of her morning alternate-shot match, Kang and her partner, Lizette Salas, were 1 up on Carlota Ciganda and Caroline Masson. Kang put her approach to the right side of the green on 18, leaving Salas with a difficult short-sided chip. Salas hit an impressive chip from the thick rough, leaving Kang with about five feet. Their opponents had already made par, so Kang needed to make the putt to win the match. Just like she pummeled her first drive down the middle, she found the center of the cup with the match-winning putt.

“I absolutely love this. It’s the most exciting tournament I’ve ever played in,” said Kang, who won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship this year, her first professional win. “I want to hear this roar. I want to hear everyone keep chanting. I love it.”

Salas felt just as good about having Kang on the team this year.

“I’ve been waiting six years for this,” said Salas. “We knew we’d be great at this. She picked me up when I was down. She didn’t play it like a rookie. She played it like a major champion.”

In the afternoon, Kang was paired with her good friend Michelle Wie for four-ball. Heading into the 16th hole, the pair were one-up on Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Madelene Sagstrom. Having watched the other three players in the group make par, Kang stood over a breaking, downhill birdie putt of about six feet. She took her time, and threw down another fist pump as it rolled in. It was her sixth birdie of the match. The match ended on the next hole when Shadoff, Sagstrom and Wie all made par, and Kang’s birdie putt was conceded.

After a few brief interviews on the 17th green, Kang sat down for the first time on Friday, still smiling, to watch her teammates come in.

The post Solheim Cup: Danielle Kang was built for the Solheim Cup appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Nevertheless, the Americans have no feeling of ease the afternoon before the matches start.

Stuart Franklin

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against,” said Stacy Lewis, who’s playing in her fourth Solheim Cup. “Catriona is just as tough of a player as Suzann is. I don’t care what rankings or anything say. That’s the hardest part about match play – rankings don’t matter.”

The sentiment is echoed by U.S. Captain Juli Inkster. She gave her team hardhats at the beginning of the week, a symbol to show them that they’re here to work.

Related: Suzann Pettersen withdraws from Solheim Cup

“A lot of times rookies come out here and play great,” said Lewis. “So there’s so many unknowns in this event that you just have to go out there and do your thing.”

There’s a certain confidence and expectation that comes with defending, but when the U.S. won the last match-up two years ago, it was 14.5 to 13.5. A win is a win, but that one point was the closest margin in Solheim Cup history. That victory only occurred after a Herculean effort on Sunday from the U.S. team, where they won 8.5 of a possible 12 points. Two years before that in 2013, Europe won handily, 18-10. They also won in 2011, but it was a much closer contest: 15-13.

While it’s always endearing to hear the favorite come in with a resounding underdog mentality, in this case it might be smart. Because it is the Solheim Cup, and history has proven that indeed anything can happen.

The post Heavily-favoured U.S. staying humble, focused ahead of Solheim Cup appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
Remember the putting controversy at the last Solheim Cup? You know what we’re talking about. Alison Lee picked up that short putt on the 17th hole of the four-ball competition, thinking she’d been given the putt. Suzann Pettersen called it back, saying she didn’t tell Lee the putt was good. If you’re thinking, This was two years ago, please stop talking about it, we’re with you. But after a very similar incident occurred at the U.S. Girls Junior at the beginning of August, it’s clear this is still something that can happen. And nobody wants it to happen again at the Solheim Cup this year in Des Moines.

American Captain Juli Inkster is being cautious. She’s making one player on her team in each group in charge of giving putts.

“I just think you’ve got to have one person in the group, they’re in charge of giving putts,” said Inkster. “And that’s kind of the way I’ve done it with my team. One person takes control of giving the putts and that way we don’t really have any controversy.”

After the heated, tearful arguments that ensued after the debacle in 2015, it’s hard to blame Inkster for putting in an extra safety measure before her team tees off on Friday.

The post Captain Juli Inkster is making sure the conceded-putt controversy of 2015 doesn’t resurface appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.