The 60-year-old has signed up to compete in a 36-hole qualifier at Half Moon Bay Golf Links, April 26, in hopes of advancing to the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in June. The USGA confirmed Inkster’s entry, which was first reported by Golfweek. All entries for the championship close on April 14.

“I’m probably an idiot for trying, but I think I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t because it’s so close to home,” Inkster told Golfweek.

Inkster grew up in Santa Cruz, Calif., and currently resides in Los Altos, about 35 miles away from The Olympic Club in San Francisco, which will host the championship June 3-6. Inkster has played the course numerous times, including in college at San Jose State University.

Juli Inkster celebrates en route to her 2002 U.S. Women’s Open victory, the second time she claimed the title. PAUL BUCK

The seven-time major champion played in the LPGA Tour’s Kia Classic last month, where she missed the cut. She is also in the field at next week’s Hugel-Air Premia L.A. Open, which concludes two days before the qualifier.

Danielle Kang played for Inkster on the 2017 and 2019 U.S. Solheim Cup teams and didn’t sound surprised that she would give qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open a try.

“She’s feisty and a go-getter. Never quits. It’s not that she never quits, it’s just she’s got that fire and it’s never died down. I look at her and I think, ‘Did I ever do what she can do?’ “ Kang said on Tuesday during a press conference ahead of the LPGA’s Lotte Championship. “I love it when she competes. She’s done everything that everyone wants to do.”

A 31-time LPGA Tour winner, Inkster made her last start in a major championship at the 2019 ANA Inspiration, where she shared in the booth that it would be her final appearance at the Dinah Shore course.

Inkster finished 15th in her last U.S. Women’s Open start at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014. If she gets through qualifying, it would be the sixth different decade in which she will have played the Women’s Open, her debut coming as an amateur in 1978 at the Country Club of Indianapolis.

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By Alex Myers
The 2019 Solheim Cup will ultimately be remembered for Suzann Pettersen’s walk-off putt that gave Europe a thrilling victory over the U.S. at Gleneagles. But it also brought to a close the end of two extremely successful careers.

Pettersen surprised many moments after her 18th-hole heroics by announcing her retirement from professional golf. What a way to go out. On the flip side, Juli Inkster left Scotland as a tough-luck loser in her third and final stint as Team USA captain. But with both of these golf luminaries still obviously having so much left to give, are they really done?

Golf Digest’s Keely Levins, who was in Scotland all week covering the event, hopped on the podcast after hopping back across the pond to discuss what we can expect from Pettersen and Inkster going forward. We also recap the Sunday drama, Lexi Thompson’s tough week, and Danielle Kang’s “controversial” comments. Plus, Alex Myers and Stephen Hennessey break down Joaquin Niemann’s breakthrough PGA Tour win, debate a new PGA Tour rule, and celebrate a big bet. Please have a listen:

https://soundcloud.com/user-96678684/solheim-cup-recap-joaquin-niemanns-breakthrough-win-expectations-for-fall-events

The post Are Suzann Pettersen and Juli Inkster really walking away after that incredible Solheim Cup? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
GLENEAGLES, Scotland — This Solheim Cup ended differently than the last two for U.S. captain Juli Inkster. Her first time leading the Americans came in 2015, after the team had lost twice in a row to the Europeans. Under her leadership, the U.S. was victorious that year in Germany, and two years later the Americans won again at Des Moines Country Club in Iowa.

No American had ever captained three Solheim Cups teams, much less winning three straight. But the American players respected Inkster, making her third time as captain possible and a three-peat seem plausible.

At least until the final putt in the last match on Sunday at Gleneagles. Veteran Suzann Pettersen made her six-foot birdie putt to give Europe a one-point victory.

The loss made for a more solemn media conference than those Inkster has had previously.

“You know what, I told them afterwards, the sun’s going to come up tomorrow,” Inkster said. “It was great for women’s golf. We played great. I mean, yesterday was just a brutal day of golf. And today the sun came out and we saw a lot of great golf. You know what, the Europeans played great. You tip your hat. And you move on to Toledo.”

Inkster’s perspective is one of the things that has made her a great Solheim Cup participant, as a player and captain. She played in nine Solheim Cups, four of them losses, five wins. She knows what losing feels like and understands that the sting is fleeting.

“I’m really happy where I’m at,” she said. “I’ve had the honour to do this three times. And it’s been an honour. And I’m 2-1. We’re 2-1. I thought that’s been good. I’d be making a lot if I was a baseball player. It’s not really about the wins and losses. It’s about the memories and the camaraderie.

“And that’s what it’s about. It’s about making those friendships and making those memories. And to be a part of a team is … that’s why I do it. That’s why I love to do it.”

It’s clear that Inkster does love her role as captain, even in this year’s loss. She has become an institution within the Solheim Cup. Not surprisingly, the same question that has come up in the last two post-Solheim Cup media conferences came up again this year: Would she be willing to captain again, in 2021? The answer was an emphatic, No. But Inkster said she will be on-site at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, supporting the team. For that, her current players are grateful.

“She just encourages us to play with heart and class and integrity,” said Lizette Salas, with Inkster tearing up beside her. “And that is something that … it’s indescribable. And she’s an incredible role model on and off the golf course. And this team is going to miss her.”

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By John Huggan
GLENEAGLES, Scotland — Way too savvy and experienced an operator to publicly verbalise such a notion, U.S. Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster clicked smoothly into diplomatic mode. A third straight Solheim Cup victory over the Europeans looks to be inevitable, you say? Of course not. Not with 12 singles matches to play and six points required for the American side to retain the trophy. Half a point more would mean a first-ever win for the visitors in Scotland.

But the look of quiet satisfaction on Inkster’s face at the conclusion of an endlessly windswept and occasionally wet Saturday at Gleneagles betrayed her. Armed with the deeper and higher-ranked of the two teams, and with the match now tied at 8-8, the seven-time major champion will surely feel—deep-down, at least—that her players are favourites to triumph for an 11th time in a biennial contest that began in 1990.

History is heavily on Inkster’s side. Traditionally dominant when playing without the benefit of a partner, the New World has “lost” the singles only five times in 15 previous Solheims. And only once—at Killeen Castle in Ireland eight years ago—have the Europeans claimed the cup after entering the third and final day’s play tied on the scoreboard.

“We’re ecstatic where we are because I think we’re pretty good in singles,” said Inkster, who somewhat controversially left out the unbeaten Korda sisters, Nelly and Jessica, from Saturday’s four-balls. “Hopefully the weather will be a little better tomorrow and we can see some really good golf from both sides. We will battle for the cup. That’s what we do.

“As for the Kordas, I just think they played twice yesterday and once today in some really tough weather. I’m going to need them in my singles matches. Those points are very valuable. And they need some rest.”

Good point. Events so far this week would suggest that the eventual destination of the spoils is far from certain. As the overall score would suggest, this has been a hugely competitive contest. And a closer look only confirms that fact. Of the 16 matches so far concluded, only six have failed to reach at least the penultimate green.

“There’s not much to pick between them teams,” said European captain Catriona Matthew. “They’re pretty fairly balanced. I’d rather be ahead than behind. But tied is good. We’re really pretty pleased. Tomorrow is just going to come down to probably the odd shot, the odd putt. It’s going to be pretty tight again, just like the first two days. It will be a small thing that will change the direction of the momentum one way or the other.”

All of which has taken some time, as well as, no doubt, a great deal of energy. By way of seemingly endless example, the second Saturday four-ball—an eventual halved match—between the European pair of Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Caroline Masson and Americans Lexi Thompson and Marina Alex took exactly six hours to complete.

There were, of course, plenty of excuses for the pace of play, most of them weather-related, although “we’re playing for our country” made an appearance, too.

“We were aware of how slow it is because we were on the clock and warned,” Thompson said. “But it’s tough to hear because the course was playing so difficult. We’re playing as fast as we can. We don’t want to be out there for six hours. But we have a lot on the line, and we want to hit the best shot that we possibly can.”

Indeed, conditions Saturday were variously described as “brutal,” “a grind” and “the toughest I’ve ever played in.” Which came as no surprise, the identities of participants on both sides at times barely discernible under their many layers of clothing. Lizette Salas was perhaps the only player to stand out. She was the one wearing earmuffs.

Then again, there will be those who will criticize the players, citing the wider damage done to the psyches of impressionable youngsters who will think that this is how golf is supposed to be played. An example: Watching on television at home, former European Tour player Raymond Russell’s young son, Leo, asked his father, “Has the screen frozen?”

Across the continental aisle, Matthew professed to be happier with 8-8 than she had been with the one-point lead her side had created Friday. Which was fair. Unlike the opening day when the visiting players finished stronger, 24 hours later the Euros did not lose any of the matches to finish on the 18th green. Where there had been weakness, there was strength.

Perhaps curiously, Matthew, like Inkster, did not see the extreme conditions as an advantage for the home side. Inkster pointed out how many of the “home” team actually live in Florida and Arizona and so are unfamiliar with cold and wet and windy. Or at least had only vague memories of such meteorological horrors.

“Maybe they grew up in this weather, but they’ve played over in the States for a long time,” she said. “This isn’t weather you’re going to go out and practice in. That doesn’t happen.”

No, it does not. In fact, this was the sort of day Scottish people make jokes about, the sort of day when they sit comfortably in the warmth of the clubhouse, shaking their heads at the “daft” visiting Americans out there, struggling in the wind and rain.

With the forecast for improved conditions Sunday, any frivolity will be replaced by a renewed ability to make birdies rather than slogging away for pars. The competition—intense enough so far—will be the better for that. Both captains seem to have followed similar philosophies when it came to their singles orders. Both have sprinkled their (on paper) strengths throughout, rather than going top or bottom-heavy. But there is one significant difference. Though Inkster’s magic number is 14—thus retaining the trophy for the U.S.—Matthew’s team needs to get to 14½ to regain possession.

The United States will be favoured by most informed observers. They nearly always are. But you never know. And Matthew was certainly talking a good game.

“We’re going in with a lot of confidence that we can do it tomorrow,” said the 2009 Women’s British Open champion. “I don’t really see many weak players on our team.”

Maybe Inkster does. But we’ll never know. She’s way too clever to let that sort of information slip.

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By Keely Levins
On Tuesday morning, United States captain Juli Inkster announced that Stacy Lewis would not play for the American Solheim Cup team at Gleneagles. Lewis, chosen by Inkster as a captain’s pick, suffered a back injury a week before the competition. After attempting to manage the injury while travelling to Scotland, Lewis was forced to make the decision to sit out what would have been her fifth Solheim Cup.

“I’m extremely disappointed not to be able to play,” Lewis said in a statement. “I’ve done everything I could possibly do over the last week to be ready to play. For my health and what I feel is in the best interest of the team, I decided to take myself out. I will take a different role with the team and will do whatever I can to help Team USA bring the Cup home.”

When Solheim Cup captains make their captain’s picks, they also choose an alternate. The alternates become known only if someone on the team cannot play. This happened in 2017 when Jessica Korda’s forearm injury forced her to withdraw. She was replaced by Paula Creamer. This year, Inkster’s alternate pick was Ally McDonald. McDonald is on-site in Scotland, and now officially a member of the American team.

David Cannon

“Stacy is one of the fiercest competitors I have ever met,” Inkster said. “I know this was an incredibly tough decision for her, but she also has the team’s best interests at heart. Stacy will stay with Team USA over the next week and will still be an incredible asset to our crew. But when I had to choose an alternate, I knew Ally would be able to step up for the challenge. She’s got a cool head but a fiery spirit. I know she’ll bring her best to Team USA.”

This will be McDonald’s first Solheim Cup appearance. She graduated from Mississippi State in 2015 and was a two-time first-team All-American there. She’s playing her fourth season on the LPGA Tour in 2019. McDonald’s most notable finishes this season were her T-6 in the ANA Inspiration, T-10 at the U.S. Women’s Open and a third-place finish at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

“I didn’t want to make the team this way, but when Juli told me what was going on with Stacy, I was ready to step into either role, if that was being here and being part of the experience or being ready to tee it up,” McDonald said. “It was just mentally preparing for either scenario. I’m obviously very excited to play. This was a goal of mine to play on this team.”

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Altomare has had a strong season, finishing in the top 15 five times on the LPGA Tour in 2019. Park won her first LPGA title in 2018, the ShopRite Classic, and has had three top-10 finishes in 2019. Yin, one of the longest hitters on tour, will once again be the youngest player on Team USA at age 20.

While Altomare and Yin looked like they’d likely secured spots on the team as the tournament played out outside Toronto, the last position was more uncertain. Before the CP Women’s Open, Austin Ernst was ahead of Park. But after Ernst missed the cut in Canada, Park moved ahead of her on the World Ranking list by advancing to the weekend.

Seven golfers had already locked up places on the 2019 U.S. Solheim Cup team prior to the CP Women’s Open: Lexi Thompson, Danielle Kang, Nelly Korda, Jessica Korda, Lizette Salas, Marina Alex and Megan Khang.

Two spots on the U.S. team remain to be filled. Inkster will announce her captain’s picks on Monday. There are several veteran players for Inkster to choose from, notably Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel and Gerina Piller. Arguments could be made for all of them.

“I am really happy with my 10 players right now,” Inkster said on Sunday. “The problem is I have more players who deserve to be on the team than I have spots available.”

The European Team has already been finalised. Captain Catriona Matthew will bring the following players to Gleneagles in Scotland:

Celine Boutier (rookie)
Carlota Ciganda
Georgia Hall
Caroline Hedwall
Charley Hull
Bronte Law (rookie)
Caroline Masson
Azahara Munoz
Anna Nordqvist
Suzann Pettersen
Jodi Ewart Shadoff
Anne Van Dam (rookie)

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By Keely Levins
The inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open begins on Thursday, July 12th at Chicago Golf Club and this 120-woman field is stacked with U.S. Women’s Open champs, U.S. Women’s Amateur champs and a whole lot of names that are going to bring you back to the ‘80s and ‘90s. We’re talking Amy Alcott, Laura Davies, Pat Bradley, JoAnne Carner, Juli Inkster, Jan Stephenson, and many others.

While it’s been fun seeing women who were dominant on the LPGA Tour back on the golf course, some of the novelty fades as the actual event approaches. The business of competing takes over.

“That’s pretty much all we like to do is we like to compete,” said Inkster. “We’ve done it our whole life, and then you get to a certain point where you can’t, and you’ve got a big void left. All these women out here, they like to compete. A lot of them have brushed off their clubs and been practising. I think it’s great for women’s golf.”

The range of competitors is vast. The youngest competitor is 50-years-old, and there are two 79-year-olds in the field, one of whom is JoAnne Carner. More varied than just age, though, is the range of preparation.

Unlike the men’s PGA Tour Champions, which has a 29-event schedule, the women’s senior tour, the Legends Tour, has just five events on its schedule, including the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. There are only two events besides it that are multiple-round, individual stroke play events. One is before the U.S. Senior Women’s Open and one is after it. The lack of a consistent tour for senior women to compete on makes this field diverse in its preparation and could produce some surprises over the four rounds of tournament play.

Some players, including Inkster and Laura Davies, have played in LPGA events this season. Suzy Whaley, the PGA of America vice president who got her spot in the field via a local qualifier, told Golf World that she was preparing by practising and playing in a few events in her local section in Connecticut.

“Obviously the ones that play regularly on the regular Tour you would think would have an advantage,” said Davies, “but all bets are off when you stand on that first tee and you’re as nervous as any player out there. So that levels the playing field out a little bit.”

As for the hardest thing you face when you haven’t been consistently competing, Davies says it’s finding the groove where you’re scoring and keeping that feeling rolling through all four days.

“You just get in a rhythm with scoring and you just make the pars, easy pars, when sometimes if you’ve not been playing, you don’t make the easy par, and that’s where the pressure builds and that’s where the big numbers come from,” said Davies.

Whether you’ve been preparing by playing LPGA Tour events or small local events, there’s really no way to prepare for an “inaugural” anything. There’s never been a U.S. Women’s Senior Open before, so there’s no way to simulate just how much pressure there’s going to be or what exactly it’s going to take to win. In that regard, each player is prepared exactly the same.

“It’s up to us now,” said Davies. “The USGA has given us the platform, now we’ve got to prove that we’re worthy of this because it’s pretty amazing what they’ve given us.”

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By Keely Levins
For the third consecutive Solheim Cup, Juli Inkster will serve as the U.S. captain. In 2019, the Americans will have Inkster at the helm as they take on the European team, led by Catriona Matthew, at Gleneagles in Scotland. This is the first time in Solheim Cup history that the U.S. has employed the same captain in three straight events.

It’s easy to see why the U.S. team is breaking tradition for Inkster: She led her team to victories the last two times she captained, mounting a huge comeback in Germany in 2015 and winning again handily in Des Moines in 2017.

“We wanted to find a captain that, when it gets really tight, who can keep it loose. Who can keep it fun. Who can get them to play their best,” LPGA commissioner Michael Whan said at the announcement.

In going through potential candidates, Whan said that the committee realised they had their own version of Bill Belichick on Team USA.

Inkster, who played in nine Solheim Cups, has definitely proven she has the ability to keep things fun. The World Golf Hall of Fame member was dancing on the first tee in Des Moines, rallying cheers from the crowd and dolling out hugs and high fives to her team. But she also has an uncanny ability to say the right thing, to the right player, at the right moment. When her top player, Lexi Thompson, was 4 down after four holes to Anna Nordqvist in their Sunday singles match in Des Montes last August, Inkster appeared on the fifth hole, put her arm around Thompson and told her to play her own game. Thompson surged back, and ultimately halved the match as the U.S. team took the Cup for a second straight year.

“I enjoy working with the girls,” Inkster said at the announcement. “The chemistry and the comaraderie of team sports—it’s not all about winning. It’s about the chemistry and the bonding you develop.”

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By Brian Wacker
There was a giddiness to J.J. Henry’s voice on Monday night. “Glad to be in the state of New York!” he yelped over the phone, his spot in the PGA Tour’s first FedEx Cup Playoff event, The Northern Trust out on Long Island, secure. “Livin’ on the edge. I couldn’t sleep last night. I was wired.”

Henry is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour and played in a Ryder Cup. This wasn’t far off when it came to the high the 42-year-old was feeling after birdieing two of his last three holes at the Wyndham Championship to sneak into the Playoffs on the number, Mr. 125.

“It’s a huge monkey off back,” Henry said. “I’ve been thinking about it for months. I never wanted to be in this position, but it’s nice to know when I had to play my ass off with no margin for error that I did it.

“It’s a whole different scenario playing for your job.”

In truth, Henry, given the upcoming Web.com Finals not to mention his veteran status, would have likely gotten plenty of starts next year on the PGA Tour. He knew it, and that helped ease some of the tension.

But there was deep-seeded pride at stake.

Far more often than not golf is about grinding it out than it is about winning. Even Tiger Woods at the height of his career won only about 35 percent of the time.

One of the accomplishments Henry, who grew up in that golf, ahem, hotbed of Connecticut, is most proud of is that he had never lost his card in 16 straight seasons on tour.

Then came last week’s Wyndham Championship, where he needed a good finish to lock it up for another year. Henry led the field in driving accuracy and greens in regulation, and his putter finally cooperated enough, too. Henry’s tie for 16th was just enough.

“I never felt like the game passed me by because of my length and ball-striking, but no question it has changed. It’s much more of a power game,” he said, noting all the 20-somethings who have won this year. “It’s a totally different game now.

“I’d like to think I can still play, but it does become a struggle mentally and physically. I’m not 25 years old anymore. I’ve got two kids and a wife at home. It feels more like a job than it did at 25.”

And most of the time that job is finding a way to play a tournament within the tournament, week after week, month after month, year after year.

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INKSTER’S SOLHEIM BET PAYS OFF

When Juli Inkster picked Paula Creamer to replace an injured Jessica Korda on the U.S. Solheim Cup roster, it raised a few eyebrows. Though Creamer had finished T-13 and T-16 in her last two starts, the 31-year-old had also missed the cut in seven of 16 starts this year and plummeted to 112th in the Rolex Rankings.

When asked why Creamer was left off the initial roster, Inkster said she hadn’t seen a lot of good form lately. Now here she was on the team set to play at Des Moines Golf & Country Club.

Paula Creamer plays a shot during her Saturday afternoon fourball matches at the Solheim Cup. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Inkster’s pick was a calculated one, given Creamer had been a stalwart on previous teams. And the risk was rewarded when Creamer went posted a 3-1-0 record last week as the U.S. won overall in a blowout.

“For her to play me four times as an alternate, it means that she believes in me,” Creamer said. “And I’m so glad that I came out and played my game, didn’t let any other noise bother me. And I just have had such a great week. It’s been awesome.”

It could lead to something else—a turnaround for the former U.S. Women’s Open champion who ranked as high as No. 2 in the world at one time.

In 2009, Greg Norman used one of his captain’s picks for the Presidents Cup on a struggling Adam Scott, who had missed the cut in 10 of 18 starts that year and ranked 159th in driving accuracy, 165th in greens in regulation and 189th in putting. Scott, also a veteran presence on the team, was an abysmal 1-4 at Harding Park and the International team got thumped by five points. So much for that idea.

Still, the faith that Norman showed meant a lot to his fellow Aussie, and the following year, Scott won once each on the PGA and European tours. By 2014, he was the No. 1 player in the world.

“You go through peaks and valleys in your game and I’m definitely—I’m beyond motivated,” Creamer said. “I want to win. I want to be in contention.   “All the hard work that we’re doing is paying off. And we’re going to continue to do that because I want to be back in there. I really do. So hopefully this will jump-start it.”

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ANOTHER ANXIOUS SEASON-FINALE AWAITS

While the FedEx Cup Playoffs kick off at Glen Oaks on Long Island this week, another end-of-season drama will be playing out across the country at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon. This week marks the final regular-season event on the Web.com Tour.

The top 25 on the money list following the event get PGA Tour cards for 2017-’18, with Nos. 26-75 moving on to the four-tournament Web.com Finals, where another 25 cards will be doled out.

It will be every bit as pressure filled as last week’s Wyndham Championship, if not more so given that most of these guys are truly playing for a place to play next year.

Compton is trying to play his way into the Web.com Tour’s top 75 in order to be eligible for the Final Series. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Among the more notable names on the outside looking in going into the event: Robert Allenby, who is 108th on the money list, and Erik Compton, who is 101st.

It was just three years ago that Compton finished second in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Now, the two-time heart transplant recipient is faced with playing for his literal future.

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THREE THINGS I THINK I THINK

I think the U.S. Walker Cup selection process is clearly flawed when the top collegiate player in the country, Sam Burns, who also tied for sixth in a PGA Tour event just last month, isn’t on the team. It’s not the first time the super-secretive selection committee has snubbed a seemingly deserving player, nor will it be the last. Granted, team selection aren’t an easy process. But if you’re the top college player with a resume that screams of being one of the best amateurs in the world, and you stay an amateur in order to be a part of an otherwise terrific premier amateur event, you have to ask yourself why bother when it’s possible you won’t get picked anyway. …

I think last week will go down as one of the best of the year from a competitive golf standpoint. From an incredibly high level of play at the Solheim Cup, to the final day of the regular season drama at the Wyndham, to a thrilling U.S. Amateur that saw Doc Redman rally from 2 down with two to go to win, it was an incredibly few days for the game across the board. …

I think if I’m the powers that be, I figure out a way to convince Juli Inkster to captain the Americans for a third time in 2019. With all due respect to candidates in the wings, Inkster is simply the best person for the job.

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WHO I LIKE THIS WEEK

Rory McIlroy has won four Playoffs titles in his career, which is more than any other player. There’s also the old adage of beware the injured golfer, or something like that. And yet, his wedge game and putting aren’t sharp enough for my taste. Keegan Bradley, meanwhile, is the only player really familiar with the new venue, Glen Oaks, though it has been modified significantly since his days playing it while at St. John’s. Hideki Matsuyama enters the Playoffs atop the points list but he surprisingly has never won a Playoffs event in 12 tries. Justin Thomas? He was wiped out from the aftermath of his PGA victory. All of this is just a longwinded way of me getting to Charley Hoffman, who has six top-five finishes, including a pair of runner-up finishes, in the last six months. The only thing missing is a win. He’ll get it this week.

Gregory Shamus

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