SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Indy car champion Al Unser Jr. will compete in the Sportscar Vintage Racing Ass’n’s Vintage Race of Champions Charity Pro-Am presented by Chopard Watch at Virginia Int’l Raceway.

Unser, who has always run at the front in previous VROC Charity Pro-Am races, joins a stellar field of legendary drivers reminiscent of the original IROC series. Many in the VROC field competed in IROC, including Unser and Bobby Labonte, both of whom became champions of that iconic series. The Sept. 21 VROC Charity Pro-Am at VIR is the final event in the series and will decide the VROC B Production (BP) and A Production (AP) championships.

“I am delighted to race once again in the VROC. It’s great competition and I have nothing but respect the SVRA drivers,” Unser said. “I want to thank Mike Harding and George Steinbrenner for giving me the time off from their Indy car team to do what they know I love best – race cars. The VIR course is particularly challenging and I look forward to having another crack at it because I never got completely comfortable last year.”

“I consider Al a great friend to SVRA,” said SVRA CEO Tony Parella. “Since he won our first Pro-Am at Indy in 2014, he has been a big factor in building our VROC brand.”

Unser is a two-time Indy car champion (1990 and ’94) and the winner of 34 Indy car races, including the 1992 and ’94 Indianapolis 500s. His 1992 Indianapolis 500 victory remains the closest finish in history with a margin of just 43 ten-thousandths of a second over runner-up Scott Goodyear.

A versatile driver, he was a winner in World of Outlaws sprint car racing, 1982 Can-Am champion, and IROC champion in 1986 and again in 1988. He’s also a two-time overall winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1986 and ’87. Like his father Al Unser Sr. and Uncle Bobby Unser, he enjoyed tremendous success as a star driver for Roger Penske’s team, which provided his winning entry for the 1994 Indianapolis 500.

Unser is currently a strategist for the Harding-Steinbrenner Indy car team, which is competing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca the same weekend.

TULARE, Calif. – Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions point leader Aaron Reutzel has confirmed his entry for the 26th annual Trophy Cup, set for Oct. 17-19 at Thunderbowl Raceway.

With a dozen wins in the series, Reutzel will join third-place points man Cory Eliason and Paul McMahan, who sits fourth in the All Star standings, in the $200,000 event for winged 360 sprint cars.

As part of the 110 entries, the trio of All Star drivers will be racing the most challenging format in sprint car racing, while also seeking the $26,000 prize for the event champion.

Half of Reutzel’s All Star wins have been in the last month, making the Clute, Texas driver one of the hottest in the country. Two additional wins this season pushes his total to 14 victories in all, with 31 top five finishes to his credit as well.

A micro sprint graduate, Reutzel is no stranger to 360 sprints. His first title came in the ASCS Gulf Coast Region ten years ago, and two years later, he was the rookie of the year on the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour.

The 26th annual Abreu Vineyards Trophy Cup presented by Rudeen Racing benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation and will reach the $2 million mark in donations this year.

All entry fees, raffle proceeds, and many supporting fundraising activities have been donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for more than 20 years.

COSTA MESA, Calif. – MotoAmerica officials have announced that the series will return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a standalone round in 2020.

The event will take place on Aug. 21-23.

MotoAmerica last raced at Indianapolis in August of 2015 as a support race of the MotoGP World Championship, with that event marking the last time that motorcycles have raced at the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Big Machine Vodka 400.

For 2020, MotoAmerica will bring motorcycle racing back to Indianapolis, with all five MotoAmerica classes being showcased in the Championship of Indy.

“The very first motor race at IMS was a motorcycle event in 1909, and we’re proud to welcome the return of two-wheeled racing at the Speedway with MotoAmerica in 2020,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “Wayne Rainey and everyone at MotoAmerica have done a great job reinvigorating motorcycle road racing in the United States, and we can’t wait to see the best American and international riders produce some of the best competition anywhere next August at the Racing Capital of the World. This will be a great weekend of racing and entertainment for all of our loyal fans.”

Cameron Beaubier, who has since earned three MotoAmerica Superbike titles, won both of the Superbike races at the Speedway in 2015, besting Roger Hayden by .040 of a second in race one and just .015 of a second in race two. Beaubier’s current Yamaha Superbike teammate Garrett Gerloff won the Supersport class by .036 of a second over Bobby Fong.

“We are thrilled to be headed back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a MotoAmerica round next year,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “Being there along with MotoGP in 2015 was a great experience and our races were extremely close and exciting. Now we get the chance to go back with all of our classes in a standalone event and that’s a real privilege. It also shows just how far our series has come since our first year. Our riders who didn’t get the opportunity to race at Indy back in 2015 will be pumped to get the chance to race there. We also know that our fans will be just as excited to visit an iconic racetrack in a truly motorsports-driven city. Not too many know this, but our final deal to secure the rights to the series was finalized at the Brickyard – right there in the Pagoda, at the home of U.S. motorsports. So, it’s gratifying to be returning there to race again.”

The MotoAmerica event at Indianapolis also will take place on the same weekend as the popular Motorcycles on Meridian festival Saturday evening, Aug. 22, in downtown Indianapolis. The annual event is hosted and planned by Downtown Indy, Inc.

Richard M. “Dick” Jordan, a longtime United States Auto Club vice president, and the club’s longest serving and most loyal employee, died Aug. 9 at the age of 74 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

He is survived by his wife Susie, son Jimmy, daughter Mandy and grandchildren Luke Jordan and Nicolas and Alivia Rader.

Jordan, known to his many friends as “D.J.,” was a lifelong fan of auto racing. In a dream come true, he was hired by USAC in 1968 and served in a wide-range of capacities. He started as a serial scorer and eventually became vice president of news and communications.

Following the tragic 1978 plane crash that killed eight USAC employees, Jordan was one of the key individuals who held the club together. Until his passing, Jordan held a private memorial every April 23 to honor those who were lost.

In a career that encompassed a half-century, no one saw more USAC events. For example, in the history of the USAC Silver Crown Series, which dates back to 1971, Jordan missed only six races. During his time, he wrote thousands of press releases and stories, and his meticulous record keeping set the standard.

A tireless worker, he entered racing at a time where the bulk of the publicity tasks were completed by pencil, paper, typewriter and telephone. He would remain up into the early morning hours waiting for results to come in from the West Coast.

Generations of fans waited anxiously for his reports on the USAC hotline, that always began, “Thank you for calling USAC,” and ended with the tagline, “This has been Dick Jordan reporting, thanking you once again for calling USAC.”

Jordan was one of the most decorated individuals in the media/public relations world. He is a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, USAC Hall of Fame and the Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Hall of Fame.

In 2018, he was named the recipient of the Jim Chapman Award for excellence in motorsports public relations. Jordan was also named a winner of The Circle of Corydon Award by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, recognizing those who worked toward the betterment of the state’s citizens.

During the 2018 USAC Night of Champions banquet, it was announced the Dick Jordan Award would be bestowed on those who had made an extensive and lasting contribution to the organization.

In perhaps his most cherished moment, Jordan was saluted in April during a special ceremony at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.  In front of family and friends, as well as a plethora of former and current USAC drivers, car owners and officials, the Indiana Racing Memorial Ass’n unveiled a historical marker that will be placed in the city of Speedway in his honor.

Few people truly reach the status of living legend, but Jordan was that and more. This status was conferred, in large measure, by the way he lived.

During his father’s Celebration of Life, Jordan’s son, Jimmy, admitted that as a young man he quickly figured out that his father was “a little different.”

Among his friends, it was the road trips that were the most memorable. In short, they became known as a “D.J. adventure.” Armed with his trusty Rand McNally road atlas, long after the arrival of modern GPS systems, Jordan was always in search of a short cut or side adventure.

Any trip to a distant race required visits to famous graves, crime scenes, unannounced visits to famous racing personalities and other sites he deemed worthy. The uninitiated quickly learned you were on his itinerary and your job was to watch the gas gauge. Jordan could traverse the busiest city street while balancing a clipboard and telephone, all the while steering with his knee.

He loved the music of the 1950s and traveled the country for doo-wop festivals. His XM radio dial never left the “50s on 5.”

On late night road trips, Jordan gravitated to the worst food imaginable and in his later years, to the amusement and amazement of all, he carried his own salt shaker. He could be quirky, bullheaded and maddening. His longtime friend and Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian Donald Davidson once remarked, “You can’t make him up.”

But more than anything, Jordan was beloved by his legions of friends.

His love of USAC was unconditional and he would defend the club against all slings and arrows, regardless of their nature. He developed deep bonds with racers of all generations and was instrumental in the career development of many of the top stars. He was an expert on the USAC rulebook, which he expected to be followed, and he had strong feelings about what it meant to be a true professional.

He was a central figure of USAC for so long that it is nearly unfathomable to think of the club without him. It is likely that many of the newer members of USAC, in all capacities, failed to grasp what a true giant he was until the tributes mounted, before and after his death.

If he could have observed the scores of people from all walks of life who came to pay their final respects, he undoubtedly would have summed it up with one of his most-used phrases: “Hell of a deal.” n

I can't stand Devonta Freeman.

Granted, I've never met Devonta Freeman or had a conversation with Devonta Freeman or generally know anything about Devonta Freeman other than that he's a running back for the Atlanta Falcons. But I have an intense, irrational dislike for another human being because he doesn't perform up to the standards that I, an unathletic person staring at a browser tab, have established for him.

Such is the fantasy sports experience.

It's the second year I've had Freeman on my NFL fantasy team, the unfortunate result of participating in a legacy auto-draft league, the kind where we all can't make time to organize a proper draft, but clear our calendars to parade a trophy around a local pub at the end of the season. He was injured last season. He was one of the worst running backs in Week 1 of this season. He makes my team lose. I shall be placing him on my "do not draft" list in future years. That'll show him.

Every season, we have to make these kinds of calls in fantasy hockey, too. Players that underperformed for your team in the past. Players that you project will underperform this season. Players you simply can't trust to perform to their draft expectations. And also Tom Wilson.

We published our top 300 players in fantasy hockey this week, which means it's time to get into the proper mindset for the 2019-20 draft and the players that I will select to populate my team, the Elias Sports Bureau this season. (Pronounced "ELL-EE-AHSH.")

As we all do, I have certain players whom I will studiously avoid in the draft like the plague and/or Devonta Freeman. The justifications for these biases are logical in some cases and completely bonkers in others.

Such is the fantasy sports experience.

Here are the 10 (or so) NHL players I will not select in my fantasy draft, even if they were one of the last two players available and the other guy left on the board was that Blackhawks emergency goalie:

Also in this week's Wysh List: Jersey Foul | Puck headlines
Latest on Marner | Ovi's cereal

Sergei Bobrovsky, G, Florida Panthers

Too many variables for what's otherwise been one of the NHL's steadiest and busiest -- only Frederik Andersen has started more games in the last three seasons -- goaltenders. Does carrying the weight of an $11.5 million dollar salary in the first season of a seven-year deal affect his lateral movement? Does a downgrade in overall team defense mean a downgrade in stats; or does Joel Quenneville come in, sprinkle some 'Q' dust on the roster and fix the problems that helped contribute to the Panthers' woeful .906 save percentage at even strength? This might be my PTSD kicking in after lauding the Panthers last preseason only to watch them fail to locate the playoffs like an apathetic cat ignoring a laser pointer. Perhaps they'll be fine. But I'm opting for other goalies this draft.

Charlie McAvoy, D, Boston Bruins

His even-strength numbers aren't bad, but he gets minimal power-play time and doesn't shoot the puck enough. The disparity between his actual ranking (221 in ours) and where he's usually drafted is truly baffling: He's being taken at No. 108 overall on average via Yahoo's fantasy game, which puts him ahead of Jacob Trouba, Shea Theodore, Zach Werenski and Cale Makar, who gets to inherit Tyson Barrie's power-play time on one of the best offensive teams in hockey. Which proves three things: Not enough people know about Cale Makar, everyone has heard of Charlie McAvoy, and there's a lot of people from New England who play fantasy hockey, kid.

Literally anyone on the Ottawa Senators

While Thomas Chabot and Brady Thachuk are obviously appealing players, plus/minus unfortunately remains a standard scoring category in most of your general population fantasy leagues. The Senators had one guy who was on the plus side last season with a minimum of 40 games played: The miracle that was Mark Stone, who is now enjoying Cirque du Soleil comp tickets in the desert. The Senators are going to be much worse this season. I'm not saying we're going to see a minus-52 like Gord Dineen had in 1993-94 with Ottawa ... OK, I might be saying that. Much like the a congressional recess, I will be senator-free.

Nicklas Backstrom, C, Washington Capitals

This is your classic "really good player in reality who doesn't really do you much good in fantasy" guy. He's at No. 56 in our ranking and usually gobbled up before the eighth round. His power-play numbers -- despite playing with Alex Ovechkin, one of the most prolific scorers on the man advantage in NHL history -- have dipped in consecutive seasons. As a center, he doesn't get you many shots; and he's only a plus-seven in the last two seasons. Love the guy, and it's a contract year for extra intrigue, but I feel like there are better-rounded fantasy centers available where Backstrom would typically go.

Semyon Varlamov, G, New York Islanders

As you know, I'm #TeamLehner in his falling out with the Islanders, so that's already one strike against Varlamov. Strike two is the continuing existence of start-syphoning backup goalie Thomas Greiss for at least the next season. Strike three is Varlamov's own injury history. We have him at No. 67 -- way too high in my opinion, as he's ahead of Marc-Andre Fleury, John Gibson and Frederik Andersen -- and he's yours if you want him, I guess.

Jaden Schwartz, LW, St. Louis Blues

The champs have their share of fantasy hockey question marks, like what Alex Pietrangelo's power-play time is going to look like and whether Jordan Binnington is Ken Dryden or Antti Niemi. One question I've asked annually is whether to draft Jaden Schwartz, and I've decided the answer is "no." From durability issues to consistency issues to a lack of special teams production to his shot volume ... he's a guy I've drafted on my than one occasion and then have been left wanting more. All of this, plus the ever-present danger of a Cup hangover, and the Schwartz will not be with me. My hockey version of Devonta Freeman.

Alex Galchenyuk, F, Pittsburgh Penguins

I just don't want the fuming fantasy sports rage when he posts the same scoring rate he had with Clayton Keller while skating with Evgeni Malkin after drafting him on spec in, like, Round 15.

Dustin Byfuglien, D, Winnipeg Jets

Oh, those halcyon days when Buff and Brent Burns were both forward-eligible defensemen! What a glorious age that was. Speaking of age: Byfuglien turns 35 next March and has played 69 and 42 games respectively in the last two seasons. There's a lot to love when he plays -- 10^th in shots per game and 14^th in power-play ice time among defensemen -- but the operative phrase here is "when he plays," and that's a risk I can't gamble a draft pick on. Plus, the Jets are trending down in a really tough division.

Pekka Rinne, G, Nashville Predators

Pekka Rinne is an elite level goalie. I'm not just saying this because I know there's a decent change I could take a paddle to the face the next time I see him if I claimed he wasn't. I'm saying this because, demonstrably, he is: 10^th in the NHL in goals above replacement (27.1) and wins above replacement (4.7), and ninth (.945) in expected save percentage. So what's the issue? Well, I can't shake the fact that the season he won the Vezina Trophy was the same one P.K. Subban should have won the Norris Trophy, and now the latter is a Devil. I also can't shake the fact that Pekka's number of starts have declined in two straight seasons and his decision to return to the Predators has to have some caveat about slowly passing the goalie stick to Juuse Saros as the primary starter over the next two seasons.

Taylor Hall, LW, New Jersey Devils

This has everything to do with the psychoses of being a hockey fan than logic. We have him ranked at No. 41, and his average draft position is around 46. You could reasonably argue that as a fantasy play, only Alex Ovechkin and Brad Marchand are better on left wing. The addition of Subban and Jack Hughes should turn a middling power play (17.7 percent) into a good one. So why the fear? Because as a pessimistic Devils fan, nothing would be a more emphatic kick to the stomach than Hall not playing to expectations -- or not playing a full season, as he's only broken 80 games once in nine campaigns. Again, logic says he's going to have a monster season if healthy, ahead of UFA status. So I'll also freely admit we're entering into reverse-jinx territory here. Again, the psychoses and the unending paranoia of a hockey fan are on full display.

Such is the fantasy sports experience.

Jersey Foul

As we wait for a new batch to start rolling in from NHL games, a classic from two seasons ago:

A #JerseyFoul classic from the archives.

Keep in mind we still do these in The Wysh List every Thursday, so if you see one this season hit me here. pic.twitter.com/rTwGZkQ6Dq

— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) September 11, 2019

Thanks to Tyler S. for this trip down memory lane, when Jordan Eberle was salary-dumped to the Islanders. Whatever happened to the guy that made that trade and the Adam Larsson-for-Taylor Hall trade and the Griffin Reinhart trade and signed Milan Lucic?

Oh, right: He was just hired as a front office consultant by the Stanley Cup champions. What a world.

Guileless Marner

The best news for Toronto Maple Leafs fans, although it might not seem that way, is that the Mitch Marner negotiations are starting to become public domain.

Darren Dreger of TSN reported that the Leafs have pushed both eight- and seven-year extensions, and made an offer of $11 million in average annual value for a three-year term in June.

Dreger's stablemate Bob McKenzie reported that Toronto "has made seven- and eight-year offers in the $11 million AAV universe, but because it's a lower AAV and longer term than Auston Matthews, it hasn't been palatable to Marner. The logical solution would be a three-year bridge, but because Marner wants an AAV in the $9 million to $10 million universe and the third year would be substantially higher, Toronto has no incentive to do the bridge at those numbers."

That final year of a bridge deal could be upwards of $12 million, which would set the rate for his qualifying offer after that contract ends, and he'd be waltzing into unrestricted free agency after that fourth year.

The Leafs know three things at this point. First is that they have very few pressure points to apply heading into camp. Getting as much financial information out there as possible about the talks to stoke public resentment against Marner -- something they've been careful not to do, to this point -- is one of the few.

Second is that they know they've already conceded enough to Marner's need to make as much money as Matthews that his camp is going to continue to press for more.

They also know that the William Nylander stalemate last season lit the path for Marner to take this thing all the way up to Dec. 1. And that Marner means much more to this team than did Nylander, both this season and beyond. Because why else entertain a negotiation whose core financial tenets appear to be "no fair, I want what he has" and then stomping around the room until they get it?

Marner can read a roster. He has access to Cap Friendly. He understands what this asking price means for the Leafs, going forward. Yet it would be hypocritical, as a pro-player guy, for me to demonize Marner here. He doesn't have to be Steven Stamkos or Sidney Crosby and take a less than what the market would pay for the betterment of the cap. The Leafs made their decisions -- like spending $11 million annually through 2025 on his center John Tavares and giving Matthew what he wanted -- and now Marner is allowed to make his.

What I've been thinking about lately is what Brian Burke would have done if he were still general manager of the Leafs and this was happening. Not that he'd have it figured out, or would ultimately play it better than whatever endgame Kyle Dubas reaches. Just that I feel like the rhetoric, optics and atmosphere would be dramatically different than they currently are, for better or worse.

Listen To ESPN ON ICE

The full season archive of our podcast can be found on iTunes. Myself and Emily Kaplan will return very shortly, and already have some stellar NHL guests lined up.

Alex Ovechkin, clean up in aisle No. 8

In case you haven't heard, Alex Ovechkin has his own brand of cereal called "Ovi O's" that are available in the Washington, D.C. area. I recently opened a box, and the prize inside was actually one of Andrei Svechnikov's teeth.

Ovechkin spent a day at a local Giant supermarket to publicize the brand, which included him stocking the shelves with it:

Stocking the shelves in aisle 8. He accidentally knocked a few other boxes off the shelf pic.twitter.com/xC2Ez3jArh

— JJ Regan (@JJReganNBCS) September 10, 2019

Later, he played cash register clerk, paying for wife Anastasia's groceries in a precedent-setting move for the profession:

#Capitals Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8)

"see you at home"

After he rings up AND PAYS for his wife's groceries at @GiantFood!!! @wusa9 @WUSA9sports @Capitals ???? pic.twitter.com/UkDWsqXsIT

— Darren M. Haynes (@DarrenMHaynes) September 10, 2019

As you may have noticed, Ovechkin looks a bit banged up, having fallen off his bike in Virginia. (The bike has an in-person hearing scheduled with the Department of Player Safety.) As he told a class of kids during his cereal tour: "Wear a helmet, it saved my life."

Blake Wheeler gets raw

Winnipeg Jets star Blake Wheeler has often been a candid guy, and this was some raw nerve stuff with TSN's Sara Orlesky.

"I think I have my priorities where they need to be. I was disappointed for the first time in myself after last year not because we didn't win the Stanley Cup. I lost touch with myself as a dad, as a husband, first and foremost, because I invested so much into trying to win. Everyone was talking about this is our year to win and I felt like we had a real opportunity to win and when I was home, that's where I was -- I was trying to win the Stanley Cup. And when I was in the building, sometimes I was spitting nails just because I wanted to win the Stanley Cup. I was so focused on that. When it was all done and I got home, it's like, 'Man, Mason's almost two. My daughter's growing up, my son's in kindergarten. None of this is that important.' It took me some time to get over that feeling of disappointment where I left some things at home.

"That's where I'm at. I'm going to be me here and I'm going to do everything I do here and give everything I have when I'm in this building, but being a husband and dad is No. 1 in my life."

It's a heck of an interview. It's rare you hear players talk about the rigorous balance between their professional and private lives -- until they retire, usually -- so this candor is welcome and appreciated.

Puck headlines

Loui Eriksson also got pretty honest about his status with the Vancouver Canucks after comments about coach Travis Green to Swedish media.

The great Alexandra Mandrycky, NHL Seattle's Director of Hockey Administration, speaks with the Sound of Hockey podcast.

The Kaapo Kakko era is upon us. "This feels weird to say, given all his hype and the natural uncertainty about how a teen will develop-Kakko doesn't feel like a question mark at all."

The director of "Red Army" is back with a doc called "Red Penguins," a "wild tale of hockey, strippers, and beer-drinking bears."

Citing concerns that building the New York Islanders' arena at Belmont Park will turn them into a "soft target for terrorism," The Village of Floral Park has filed a lawsuit to halt it.

Always happy to see love conquer the intense Canada vs. USA feud.

Fun piece by Craig Custance on having current players redraft the 2015 NHL draft. Jack Eichel did not go second! ($$$)

Finally, here's KHL goalie Pavel Khomchenko of Spartak Moscow winning a game in overtime for the opposition with an own-goal. Yikes.

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У всех нас бывают плохие дни. ? We all have bad days.

A post shared by КХЛ (@khl) on Sep 10, 2019 at 12:33pm PDT

Hockey tl;dr (too long; didn't read)

Rob Rossi's piece on Evgeni Malkin, including his fractured relationships with Phil Kessel and Mike Sullivan, was terrific. ($)

In case you missed this from your friends at ESPN

Loved this piece by Emily on women on-ice officials. "It's just been an issue of exposure ... Women didn't really think of officiating as an option. I didn't [when I was playing]. If you don't see women out there, you wouldn't really think about it."

Tiger Woods is teaming with musician/actor Justin Timberlake to support relief and rebuilding efforts in areas of the Bahamas that were impacted by Hurricane Dorian.

The One Bahamas fund has collectively pledged to donate $6 million to help the area recover from the Category 5 storm and will also match funds donated by the public with a minimum goal of $12 million.

“It’s horrifying to see the videos and hear the stories about the effects of Hurricane Dorian,” Woods said in a statement. “The need in The Bahamas is very real.”

Woods hosts the Hero World Challenge each December at Albany on New Providence and partnered with other members of that community along with the Royal Bank of Canada and Nexus, a real estate development and asset management company, to create the One Bahamas fund.

Albany was not severely impacted by Dorian and is set to host this year’s Hero World Challenge.

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – So what did the European players think hearing American Danielle Kang say the Solheim Cup was all about wanting to “take souls,” make opponents cry and “just crush” the other team because “that’s the fun of it.”

Suzann Pettersen smiled playfully when asked about it in Thursday’s news conference on the eve of the matches.

“We’re just going to step on their necks,” she said.

Her line was delivered in apparent good humor, though we’ll all find out Sunday with what level of sincerity it might also have been delivered.

Jodi Ewart Shadoff said Kang did get the Europeans talking.

“I think it’s just extra motivation for us, really,” Shadoff said. “I don’t think there will be any tears on our team, just of happiness.”

The Americans are trying to win their third consecutive Solheim Cup.

Kang was 3-1 as a rookie in the American rout in Iowa two years ago.

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Suzann Pettersen’s back.

She has played so many roles in the Solheim Cup, from the heart and soul of the European team’s revival, to the villain the American team wanted to rebuke in its historic comeback in Germany four years ago.

Somehow, some way, Pettersen always seems to be a thorn in the Americans’ side. She always seems to a factor in how these matches turn out.

She’s back as the boldest and most controversial of Catriona Matthew’s four captain’s picks. At 38, she has played in just three stroke-play events in the last two years, taking time off around the birth of her first child. She missed the cut in two of those three starts, with all of them coming within in the last month or so.

Matthew said she liked the way Pettersen’s form was coming around so quickly, despite those missed cuts, and she likes the determination she brings to the lineup.

“I think Suzann’s record and her game and her attitude is just fantastic for Solheim Cup,” said Laura Davies, one of Matthew’s vice captains. “I've heard people say that, ‘Oh, she's a surprise pick.’ Not to us, because as soon as [qualifying] was over, she fancied she'd been practicing hard enough and let it be known that if she was in the chance for a pick, she'd love to play.”

Pettersen sounded like she might not be ready in her news conference Thursday, not based on her demeanor, but on her raspy, raw voice. She said she isn’t exactly sure what she picked up, but she feels just fine, overall.

“My golf game is in great shape,” Pettersen said. “Being here, it feels like I never left the game, which is kind of nice. I don't know if it's the atmosphere, the energy, or everything that Solheim is all about, that always kind of brings out the best of all of us.”

The Americans won three straight Solheim Cups (2005, ’07 and ’09), but Pettersen helped the Euros bounce back to win the next two.

Pettersen hasn’t played in a Solheim Cup since the loss in Germany in 2015, when she called out Alison Lee for picking up an 18-inch putt that wasn’t conceded in a fourballs match just before singles play. Europe won that match, but it launched a social media firestorm that Pettersen later said brought her to tears.

Pettersen has won 15 LPGA titles, more than any player in this event. Two of those titles are major championships. She is 16-11-6 in Solheim Cup play. Her 19 points are more than anyone in this week’s competition, trailing only Davies (25), Annika Sorenstam (24) and Matthew (22) in the European record book.

Still, there was some controversy in Europe over Pettersen being chosen as a captain’s pick a few weeks ago, because of her inactivity. Pettersen was asked how she felt about that.

“I'm not the captain, so I don't have to speak for that,” Pettersen said. “All I have to do is show up with my golf game.”

Davies had more to say.

“Catriona asked us all [the vice captains], and we all said yes,” Davies said. “Why wouldn't you want Suzann Pettersen on your team? She hasn't played a huge amount of tournaments, but match play is very different. Don't have to string together 72 holes. In the end, it might be hard for someone who hasn't played, but in 18-hole match play, I'd back Suzann every time.”

Davies said Americans would probably rather not have to play her.

“Suzann can be quite tricky out there,” Davies said. “It's great for us. It's great that she brings that reputation to our team, and I'd never doubt Suzann Pettersen.”