Sugar Grove, IL (My Sportsbook) - It's one of those jobs where, if your team does well, you get the credit. If they don't, blame is all your's.

Such is the nature of being a Solheim Cup captain.

It is not limited to just the Solheim Cup. All of your captains in these team events, be it the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup or Seve Trophy have truly thankless jobs.

Neither American captain Beth Daniel, nor her European counterpart Alison Nicholas have exactly knocked it out of the park.

For Daniel, it's a philosophical strategy that's raising the most eyebrows. She said flatly on Friday night that no one on her side would be playing all five sessions.

"I want them strong for Sunday," Daniel said. "I don't want them tired, and we'll see if it works out. It may not. It basically boils down to the singles."

That's a perfectly valid strategy that I couldn't disagree with more.

Daniel sat Cristie Kerr Friday afternoon after she made every putt she looked at down the stretch in the morning four balls. She is ranked third in the world rankings, has been a steady contributor on many teams and probably should've been out there in the afternoon.

There's a Johnny Miller theory that if you win in the morning, you play in the afternoon. Momentum is the single biggest factor in these matches and in sitting Kerr, Daniel robbed the Americans of a chance for forwarding that momentum.

Paula Creamer played both sessions on Friday. More correctly, she won both matches Friday and holed crucial putts late in both matches. She sat Saturday morning's four balls.

Creamer turned 23 a few weeks ago. You don't get tired at that age. She's as physically fit as anyone in the Solheim Cup. Granted, Creamer has battled some illness issues this season, but she is relentless in this competition. She should've been out there Saturday morning.

The only players according to Daniel's plan who would definitely be sitting out Saturday afternoon would be Angela Stanford and Brittany Lincicome. They played both sessions on Friday and teed it up Saturday morning.

Sitting Stanford is fine. She didn't win on Friday and her and Brittany Lang turned a 2-up lead with two to play into a halve on Saturday.

Lincicome is leading a huge charge back in her match, and has squared the contest from 3-down. She made two huge birdies before Kristy McPherson finally helped out with a birdie at 15. McPherson is playing her third straight session on Saturday afternoon, though.

(Two matches on are on the course in Saturday four balls at the time this column was filed.)

Nicholas hasn't had it much easier, but the reasons are harder to figure out.

First, Nicholas doesn't have the depth Daniel has. Nicholas had to play some of her squad in all five and elected to use Suzann Pettersen and Maria Hjorth the whole time.

No one knows everything that happens behind the scenes, but where is Laura Davies?

She's the only player to compete in all 11 Solheim Cups. Davies is one of the most respected golfers in European history and acknowledged this week that she has been offered the captaincy in the past, but turned it down.

So Nicholas is benching her three sessions for the likes of Gwladys Nocera? Judy Rankin said on The Golf Channel broadcast Saturday morning that Davies is not happy. How could she be? She's been disrespected and by not giving her a chance to figure her game out, Davies could be no factor on Sunday.

Catriona Matthew has twice in the four balls led her team back to gutsy halves. She'll be watching like the rest of us on Saturday afternoon. Granted, Matthew just gave birth a few months back and won the Women's British Open, but starters belong on the floor.

It's a hard job being captain. In all fairness, the matches probably come down to Sunday's singles, but neither captain is making the best decisions to give their respective teams chances to win.

That's their only charge and right now, Daniel and Nicholas aren't getting it done.