GLENEAGLES, Scotland – When it comes to predicting who will win the 16th Solheim Cup, oddsmakers are favoring the visiting U.S. side considerably.
That info almost made Team Europe’s Bronte Law fall out of her chair during Tuesday’s press conference at Gleneagles.
“I’d love to know who said that we weren’t the favorites,” she said. “But I think that’s interesting. We have our home-course advantage. I’d say we’ve seen the course before this week. We have a lot of players that are playing really good golf right now.
“So I'm not sure what sort of information they're getting.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Europeans were nearly 2/1 underdogs. Ladbrokes listed Europe at 9/5, the lowest odds across the betting board, and the U.S. at 8/15. William Hill has similar odds: Europe at 7/4; U.S. at 4/7. Unibet, 888sport and SpreadEx lean less toward the Americans, listing them at 4/6 with the Europeans at 6/4.
“As for the price, I think we're 2/1 outsiders, which I think is a good bet because I think our squad is really strong,” said European assistant captain Laura Davies. “The American team is incredibly good. But I think home soil, possibly a bit chillier, that evens it out a bit and hopefully our girls will step on – because it will come down to Sunday afternoon; it always does. And I think we've got the right players that can step up and do the job under the most extreme pressure. I think we've got a great chance.
“But they've got a great chance, too. That's why we're here, because no one actually knows.”
The U.S. leads the all-time Solheim Cup series, 10-5, and has won the past two editions. Europe has won both previous Cups in Scotland, in 1992 at Dalmahoy and in 2000 at Loch Lomond.