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GolfTalkCentral

Sorenstam asked to reconsider role of 2013 Solheim Cup captain

By Jay Coffin
Feb 2, 2012 10:03 AM ET

ORLANDO, Fla. – Annika Sorenstam will be captain of the European Solheim Cup team when she wants to. Right now, the timing may not be right.

Sorenstam told “Morning Drive” Thursday that she’s been asked to captain the 2013 European team … twice. So far, the answer remains no.

“They’ve asked me to reconsider,” Sorenstam said during her weekly visit to Golf Channel’s morning show. “There’s a lot to do. I don’t know if I have the time to commit to the job."

Morning Drive: Sorenstam talks about 2013 Solheim Cup captaincy

Sorenstam and Jack Nicklaus are candidates to design the golf course for the 2016 Olympics, a decision which is expected Friday. If she and Nicklaus are selected, it would make it more difficult for Sorenstam to fulfill Solheim Cup captain’s duties.

Meg Mallon was named U.S. Solheim Cup captain last week and was asked who she’d like to see as her counterpart. Without hesitation Mallon named Liselotte Neumann, the 1988 U.S. Women’s Open champion, who Sorenstam lists as her idol while growing up in Sweden.

Sorenstam recalls vividly waking up the morning after Neumann’s victory and seeing newspapers plastered on the walls of a gas station near her home, all featuring Neumann. That inspired Sorenstam to take the game more seriously.

Captaining the European squad may not be in Sorenstam’s plans right now because of her hectic schedule, but it’s also difficult to imagine she’d take the job before Neumann, a veteran of six Solheim Cups.