YOU would think falling asleep would be quite simple. All you have to do is lie around doing nothing for eight hours, after all. Of course, the process of drifting off into a deep slumber is never that straightforward. When you are the captain of a team that’s on a losing streak and facing the prospect of an unprecedented third successive defeat, the nights can become riddled with anguished tossing and turning.
“My sleeping has been bad,” confessed Juli Inkster, the captain of an under-pressure Team USA, ahead of next weekend’s Solheim Cup encounter with Europe in Germany. “I wake up in the middle of the night thinking of things I need to do and I’m usually a pretty good sleeper.”
The reasons for Inkster’s sleepless nights are obvious. A resurgent European side have given the Americans plenty of golfing nightmares in recent years. Having won the Solheim Cup back in 2011 for the first time since 2003, Europe thumped the US 18-10 in their own backyard two years ago to record a first victory on American soil and tee-up this historic hat-trick bid.
At 55, and a veteran of nine Solheim Cup campaigns, Inkster has seen it and done it at the highest level. A couple of weeks ago, she was still doing it as she winkled out a two-stroke victory in The Legends Championship. “If a 55-year-old can win, they can too,” said Inkster about her team’s chances in the biennial bout.
With home advantage, a close-knit camaraderie that mirrors the men’s Ryder Cup team and the momentum that comes from being on a winning run, the Europeans have plenty of weapons in their armoury.
“We’ve lost the last two, and we’re over there, so it’s going to be very hard for us,” Inkster said. “You’ve got to have a lot of heart. You’ve got to have to want to win. The Europeans have that. We can’t just say we’ll just ride through the first four matches and we’ll kill them on Sunday in the singles. The last couple of years in the singles they [Europe] have been really good, so you can’t fly underneath the radar anymore. We’ve got to come out there and we’ve got to play from Friday morning on.”
From the talented teenager, Charley Hull, to the vast experience of the 46-year-old Scot, Catriona Matthew, Team Europe will be determined to give Inkster a few more sleepless nights.
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