SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – American captain Beth Daniel’s strategy to rest all her players at least one match looms as pivotal in how her captaincy will ultimately be judged.
European captain Alison Nicholas will have played Suzann Pettersen and Maria Hjorth in every match.
Notably, Pettersen and Hjorth will be matched Sunday against the two top Americans, Pettersen vs. Paula Creamer and Hjorth vs. Cristie Kerr. Creamer got a break from the Saturday morning session, Kerr from the Friday afternoon session. Daniel believes the nature of the sprawling, long course and the length of the matches (six hours, typically) made it important to give her players a session off to keep them fresh. Nicholas wanted her best players scoring as many points as possible.
How Pettersen and Hjorth fare Sunday is sure to be used as a gauge in the wisdom of these captains' strategies.
The other side of Nicholas strategy is that two of her members played just one match before singles, Diana Luna and Laura Davies. Every American played at least two matches.
Mell, a senior writer, is a 30-year veteran and covers the PGA and LPGA tours for Golf Channel.
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