Juli Inkster leans on greats in variety of sports for Solheim Cup advice

 

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) – Juli Inkster had no shortage of sports figures she leaned on for advice before heading to Germany as U.S. captain at the Solheim Cup. From the hockey world, she spoke to Ray Whitney and Jamie Baker. From baseball, she went to San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy and pitching coach Dave Righetti.

 

"I'm a sports junkie, and I love talking to them about sports ... about teams and how do you get certain individuals going if they're struggling, or how do you manage 40 guys on a roster and you only play 12?" she said. "It's just fascinating how everybody does it kind of differently."

 

Throw in some golf, too. She talked to Corey Pavin, Jay Haas, Paul Azinger and Phil Mickelson.

 

There was even mention Tuesday of Inkster using the "pod" system that Azinger employed at Valhalla in the 2008 Ryder Cup, which is the only Ryder Cup the Americans have won since 1999.

 

"I'm using kind of a variation of it," Inkster said. "It's still getting tweaked and stuff. But the girls kind of know what I want to do and how I want to do it. I'll get all that come Sunday, give it all to you on Sunday. But right now we're just kind of working the system."

 

Copyright (2015) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This article was written by Doug Ferguson from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.