Inkster Hopes to Lead Team USA at ISPS Handa Cup

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WEST POINT, Miss. (Press Release) — Juli Inkster, a Hall of Famer and 31-time LPGA Tour winner, returned to Old Waverly Golf Club this week where she won the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open for one of her seven major championship titles.

Inkster will be playing for Team USA in this week’s ISPS Handa Cup, an annual team competition between American-born members of the LPGA’s Legends Tour and tour members who were born outside the United States.

She played the course in Friday’s Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi Pro-Am and will be part of the best ball and alternate shot team matches on Saturday, partnering with Meg Mallon, and will contribute in a singles match on Sunday. Inkster hopes to help the U.S. team regain the Handa Cup from the World team, which won for the first time last year at The Hermitage in Nashville, Tenn.

“There’ll be some good golf played and a lot of laughs,” said Inkster, 54. “We’re playing the course shorter [than yardage played at the 1999 Women’s Open], but the routing is still the same.”

Inkster is winding down her LPGA career, but is hardly in retirement mode. She has played in 12 LPGA tournaments this year and plans to compete in one more event. She also will serve as the 2015 U.S. Solheim Cup captain and has already moved into television broadcasting as a golf commentator.

“Plus, I’ll probably play 10 LPGA tournaments [next year],” she said. “I like to keep at it and watch the [potential team members] for the U.S. Solheim Cup team. I’m in a perfect place in my life right now.”

This week, however, Inkster is in Mississippi not just for a nostalgic tour on a course where she won a national championship, but to help Team USA battle a determined World Team for the Legends Tour’s ISPS Handa Cup. Those first steps will start on Saturday.
Here is the schedule for Handa Cup matches on Saturday, Sept. 27:

MORNING MATCHES: BEST BALL – World Team vs. Team USA
9 a.m. Liselotte Neumann / Mieko Nomura vs. Beth Daniel / Nancy Scranton
9:12 a.m. Alicia Dibos / Lorie Kane vs. Sherri Turner / Laurie Rinker
9:24 a.m. Laura Davies / Trish Johnson vs. Juli Inkster / Meg Mallon
9:36 a.m. Alison Nicholas / Dawn Coe-Jones vs. Pat Bradley / Barb Mucha
9:48 a.m. Helen Alfredsson / Jane Crafter vs. Sherri Steinhauer / Christa Johnson
10 a.m. Jenny Lidback / Wendy Doolan vs. Val Skinner / Rosie Jones

AFTERNOON MATCHES: MODIFIED ALTERNATE SHOT – World vs. USA

1 p.m. Liselotte Neumann / Alicia Dibos vs. Juli Inkster / Meg Mallon
1:12 p.m. Alison Nicholas / Helen Alfredsson vs. Sherri Turner / Laurie Rinker
1:24 p.m. Lorie Kane / Mieko Nomura vs. Beth Daniel / Nancy Scranton
1:36 p.m. Jane Crafter / Dawn Coe-Jones vs. Sherri Steinhauer / Christa Johnson
1:48 p.m. Jenny Lidback / Wendy Doolan vs. Pat Bradley / Barb Mucha
2:00 p.m. Laura Davies / Trish Johnson vs. Val Skinner / Rosie Jones