Team Europe get set for Solheim Cup showdown in Spain

The Solheim Cup brings two 12 strong teams together from Europe and the US who will battle it out across three days of fierce competition, mirroring the Ryder Cup model.

On Friday and Saturday there will be both a morning and afternoon session featuring four foursomes matches, alternate shot with one ball, and four fourball matches, own ball with the best score being taken, all featuring two players from each team.

Sunday sees every team member take to the course for their respective singles match which is just straight match play. The US team need to accumulate 14.5 points to wrestle back the trophy but as defending champions the Europeans need 14 to retain.

The European and US teams are captained by two stalwarts of the women’s game in Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, who memorably holed the winning putt at the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles, and two-time major winner Stacy Lewis.

It won’t be easy for Pettersen to keep the winning machine rolling but she does have, arguably, one of the strongest and most experienced teams in history at her disposal.

Spain’s Carlota Ciganda has five appearances to her name while Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall, who famously won every match in every session in 2013, is all set for her fourth Solheim Cup.

That makes them two of the more battle-hardened players that Pettersen can rely on to dig in if the going gets tough and to provide wise words to some of their younger and less-experienced teammates.

Two of those rookies are Hedwall’s compatriots, Linn Grant and Maja Stark.

Grant has continued her upward trajectory having won five times on the Ladies European Tour in the past two seasons, including the 2022 Scandinavian Mixed where she became the first woman to win a DP World Tour event, and she recently secured her maiden victory on the LPGA Tour. 

Grant’s close friend Stark, who she competed alongside at the 2017 Junior Solheim Cup, also makes her debut and will be keen to make her mark.

Stark secured her spot by finishing in the top two of the European standings this year, behind France’s Celine Boutier, following a remarkable couple of years on the Ladies European Tour that has included six tournament victories.

Don’t be surprised when the young duo are paired together during this week’s event.

Team Europe also has a recent major winner in their ranks in the form of Boutier. A key member of the last two victorious European teams, she has had an incredible season so far, highlighted by her maiden major title at the Evian, which she then backed up by winning the Women’s Scottish Open the following week.

She is the in-form player of the squad and was particularly formidable during the 2019 edition where she won all her matches and formed a great partnership with England’s Georgia Hall, who is also on this year’s team.

Lewis’ U.S. outfit are usually the bookmaker’s favourites, but they’ll have it all to do this time out if they want to bring the trophy back to American soil.

Five of her team are making their debuts with only three of the 12 players in her line-up having tasted Solheim Cup success and Lexi Thompson the only person to have done so on European soil.

Thompson is a veteran of the US team, with this now being her sixth appearance. Many of the squad will be looking to her for inspiration and guidance, especially the five rookies.

However, the 28-year-old has faced a recent struggle for form, missing the cut at seven out of 10 LPGA Tour tournaments this year, calling into question her readiness for the Solheim Cup. But if anyone can bounce back, it’s Thompson, who sports a respectable match play record.

One of those aforementioned rookies who really needs no introduction is Rose Zhang.

Anyone who has followed golf this year will be familiar with the name. The 20-year-old star has been on a steep upward trajectory ever since she graced the professional ranks, winning on debut at the Mizuho Americas Open, becoming the first woman to do so since 1953.

A further three Top 10’s would follow, signifying her ability to perform under serious pressure, a quality which will make her extremely dangerous against the Europeans.

On paper, the American’s hold the world ranking advantage, with an average Rolex Ranking of 24.42 compared to Europe’s 42.58. The US team has two of the top three players in the world on their roster, in the form of rookie Lilia Vu, who only lost the World No.1 spot last week, and the formidable Nelly Korda who will be looking to tap into her experiences from 2019 and 2021.