Solheim Cup: Kang benched for opening session

Danielle Kang will have to wait to find out what sort of reception the Gleneagles crowd has in store for her after being surprisingly benched for the opening session of the 2019 Solheim Cup.

The 26-year-old will play no part in the Friday foursomes, with American captain Juli Inkster preferring instead to throw five of her six rookies straight into battle with Catriona Matthew’s European team.

Kang has dominated the headlines in the build-up to the match after a golf.com podcast, in which she made some pretty confrontational comments, went live earlier this week.

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“You’re trying to take souls,” she said. “You’re going there to make people cry at this point, just crush the other team. That’s the fun of it.”

SInce arriving in Scotland, she has said that she expects to be booed by the home crowd. 

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Team Europe members Suzann Pettersen and Jodi Ewart Shadoff fired back in their own press conferences on Thursday afternoon, with Kang’s comments also dominating Solheim chatter on social media.

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However, Inkster denied that had influenced her decision-making for who to play in Friday’s first session.

“It’s just kind of the way it shook out,” said the US skipper. “I’m not going to play anybody five matches, so someone’s got to sit sometime. She’ll get out there and she’ll get out there a lot.”