GOLF/Solheim Cup: After the pre-event spats the real contest for the Solheim Cup starts today at the Interlachen country club here in Minnesota, where Dale Reid and her European team are desperate to make history with a first win on US soil.

Reid captained the side to victory at Loch Lomond in 2000 and the Scot has galvanised a side led by the world number one Annika Sorenstam, but also containing six rookies, into one exuding a feisty confidence.

The inevitable pre-event animosity centres on the recent scathing remarks made by Sweden's Catrin Nilsmark - who will take over as Europe's captain on Sunday evening - about several of the US team.

Initially Europe's players were furious that their former team-mate's remarks had helped bring the Americans closer together, but their mood was changed at the gala dinner on Wednesday evening.

Patty Sheehan, the US captain, officially introduced her side with such Nilsmark-inspired nicknames as Cristie "the brat" Kerr, Michele "no talent" Redman and Meg "Bacardi" Mallon. The Europeans saw this as stirring the pot and, annoyed, welcomed Nilsmark's arrival yesterday with open arms.

Laura Davies, who has played in every Solheim match, will again be a key figure in this seventh meeting. "The Americans must be slight favourites because of home advantage," she said. "But we have Annika (Sorenstam, world number one and winner of eight titles on the US Tour this year) and she is someone we are going to be looking at to get at least four points."

Mhairi McKay, one of the rookies and the only other Briton in the team, is another for whom hopes are high; the Scot has six top-10 finishes on the LPGA tour this year.

The US lead 4-2 overall and the expectation is this will be a close contest. It is certainly a far cry from the inaugural meeting at Lake Nona in Florida in 1990 when it was a less competitive affair and the hosts cleaned up.

Nowadays, in every department, Europe can give as good as they get.

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