Solheim Cup: Friday morning foursome matches predictions

Solheim Cup Friday Foursomes matches predictions: Team USA – 2½, Team Europe – 1½

We finally have the pairings for the first round of Solheim Cup matches! Captains Annika Sörenstam and Juli Inkster announced their picks at the conclusion of the Solheim Cup opening ceremony Thursday evening.

It was a ceremony worthy of the event. There were bagpipers, our game’s traditional musicians, and a proper tribute to Karsten and Louise Solheim. Sörenstam extended an expression of sorrow and sympathy to the people impacted by Friday’s Barcelona terrorist attack – Spaniard Carlota Ciganda plays for Team Europe and Spain is a member of the EU.

Both captains distributed thank-yous all around, to the LPGA, the Ladies European Tour, primary sponsors Ping and Rolex. Past captains were honored as the Solheim Cup tradition extends and enriches. Inkster’s tribute to the family support so essential to the players as they pursue their profession and her hat tip to the mothers on the teams put the game into a much broader perspective. In golf, perhaps moreso than in other sports, competition is, indeed, a family affair.

The flag-raising ceremony captured the international flavor of the game as well as the event, and kid participation in the flag-raising ceremony was a simply perfect touch.

The entire opening ceremony built flawlessly to that long-anticipated announcement of the pairings for the Friday morning foursome matches. In the end, Inkster and Sörenstam epitomized the grace of golf’s competitive spirit. There was no touting of qualifications or drum-beating preface. They simply named the pairs and we all knew that after two years of anticipation it’s Game On! for the 2017 Solheim Cup.

Here’s how I see the Friday morning matches playing out.