King finalizes U.S. Solheim Cup roster

2007-08-27

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PORTLAND, OREGON (TICKER) -- Paula Creamer, Juli Inkster and Morgan Pressel head the United States' team for the Solheim Cup, which was announced by captain Betsy King following Sunday's Safeway Classic.

The Solheim Cup, which began in 1990, is a Ryder Cup-style tournament in which 12 European golfers compete against a team from the U.S..

The event will be held at Sweden's Halmstad Golf Club on September 14-16.

Ten players earned automatic berths via a point system. Joining Creamer, Inkster and Pressel are Natalie Gulbis, Pat Hurst, Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome, Stacy Prammanasudh, Angela Stanford and Sherri Steinhauer.

King used her captain's picks to select Nicole Castrale and Laura Diaz.

"To talk about why this is a good team, I just am so excited," King said. "I feel honored to be captain of this year's team. A good combination of veterans such as Juli Inkster. I won't tell her age, but you all know it anyway. ... We have solid Solheim Cup experience and we have a lot of youth and energy, as well."

Kerr is the reigning U.S. Women's Open Champion and Creamer is the reigning Kraft Nabisco Champion. The team also is, with Prammanasudh, Lincicome, Pressel and Castrale all making their first Solheim Cup appearances.

"This is a great honor to represent our country," Inkster said. "We have a lot of rookies this year, but we have a lot of rookies with a lot of heart. We're going to go over there and we're going to play as one and we're going to have a lot of fun and we're going to do it with a lot of class.

"We're going to come back and whatever we do, win or lose, we're going to represent the United States very well. But we're going to win."

The U.S. won the event in 2005 but lost in 2003 - the last time it was held in Europe.

The European team, which was announced last week, consists of Annika Sorenstam, Suzann Pettersen, Catriona Matthew, Sophie Gustafson, Laura Davies, Gwladys Nocera, Trish Johnson, Bettina Hauert, Becky Brewerton, Maria Hjorth, Iben Tinning and Linda Wessberg.