Carin Koch excited to have Europe's Solheim Cup line-up finalised
Wednesday 16 September 2015 11:26, UK
Carin Koch admits she found it tough selecting her wildcard picks for next month's Solheim Cup, but remains confident Europe can defend their title in Germany.
Koch completed her line-up by naming Caroline Hedwall, Karine Icher, Caroline Masson and Catriona Matthew as her four wildcard picks, as Europe look to lift the Solheim Cup for a third consecutive time.
With a number of players chasing those final places to feature at St Leon Rot GC, Koch admitted she struggled on deciding who should complete her squad.
"It has been a fun two years, but the toughest part of the job was making the picks and having a few tough phone calls yesterday," Koch told Sportswomen.
"There's a lot of responsibility and a lot of new things that as a player that you don't experience, but it has been mostly exciting.
"There have been a lot of players in the mix and it's not an easy choice, but I'm very confident in my team. To get the whole team finalised is very exciting."
The USA have also completed their squad this week, with Juli Inkster selecting Paula Creamer and Brittany Lang as her two captain's picks.
"On paper and if you look at the world rankings, they (the USA) will be favourites like they have been pretty much every time," Koch added.
"We're not really focusing on the US players; we're focused on going out and playing the course as best we can so we can make an exciting match and a tough task for them to beat us.
"I've been fortunate to have had Paul McGinley as an advisor, to be able to ask some things and to meet with him a couple of times.
"The girls have a busy week the week before with the Evian Championship, so I'll try not disturb them too much and will let them go about their business. When we get on that bus, that's when it starts."
Koch on her wildcard picks
Karine Icher - "She's someone who is going to play her third Solheim Cup and has a lot of experience. We remember her most from making an excellent putt from the back of the green in '13, when she finished off the clean sweep for Europe.
"Karine's a steady player, very dependable and can also play with a lot of different people. She's very good in every aspect of her game.
Caroline Hedwall - "I think she's shown a lot of good rounds lately and that her game is there. Matchplay is so different and Caroline's always been known as an excellent matchplay player ever since her amateur days.
"She showed it in Colorado and will be someone massively proud playing in Germany.
Caroline Masson - "She broke the record in 2013 by winning all five of her matches and I think she has an extra switch when it comes to matchplay golf. She's pretty unbeatable really and you can see it in her eyes."
Catriona Matthew - "Catriona is just great to have on the team and is going to play her eighth Solheim Cup. She's going to bring a lot of experience to the team, has great experience and plays with anybody and remains very calm.
"In a positive way, she's almost like the granny of the team! She's just so nice to have around and I just couldn't leave her out."
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