Solheim Cup

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Solheim Cup
Tournament information
LocationEurope or United States
Established1990
Tour(s)Ladies European Tour
LPGA Tour
FormatMatch play
Prize fundNone
Month playedSeptember
Current champion
Europe Europe
2023 Solheim Cup

The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force behind its creation.

The inaugural Cup was held in 1990, and the event was first staged in even numbered years until 2002, alternating years with the Ryder Cup (the equivalent men's event). As part of the general reshuffling of team golf events after the one-year postponement of the 2001 Ryder Cup following the September 11 attacks, the Solheim Cup switched to odd numbered years beginning in 2003. Another reshuffle of team golf events took place in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Solheim Cup will return to even numbered years from 2024 onwards.[1]

The United States teams have won the cup ten times, compared with eight for Europe. The current holders are Europe, who retained the cup with a 14–14 draw at Finca Cortesin in Málaga in 2023.

The cup[edit]

The trophy is a cut-glass Irish Waterford Crystal, designed in 1990 by one of Waterford's top designers, Billy Briggs. Weight: about 20 pounds. Height: 19 inches, including the mahogany base. Diameter of wooden base: 8 inches. Diameter at top: 4 inches.[2]

Format[edit]

The tournament is played over three days. Since 2002, there have been 28 matches—eight foursomes and eight four-balls played on days 1 and 2, and 12 singles on the final day. This format is also used in the Ryder Cup. Before 1996, and also in 2000, the Solheim Cup used a similar, but abbreviated format.

One point is awarded to the team that wins each match; in the event of a tie, both teams score half a point. After all matches are complete, the team with more points wins or retains the Cup. Any ties are broken in favor of the defending champion team.

In addition to the indicated number of players, each team includes one captain and a set number of assistant captains (three as of 2015), none of whom play in the matches.

Year Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Total
Points
Players
per team
Morning Afternoon Morning Afternoon
1990 4 foursomes 4 fourballs 8 singles 16 8
1992 4 foursomes 4 fourballs 10 singles 18 10
1994 5 foursomes 5 fourballs 10 singles 20 10
1996–1998 4 foursomes 4 fourballs 4 foursomes 4 fourballs 12 singles 28 12
2000 4 foursomes 4 foursomes 6 fourballs 12 singles 26 12
2002–
present
4 foursomes 4 fourballs 4 foursomes 4 fourballs 12 singles 28 12
or or
4 fourballs 4 foursomes 4 fourballs 4 foursomes

Team qualification and selection[edit]

The U.S. team[3] is selected by a points system, with American players on the LPGA Tour receiving points for each top-twenty finish on tour.[4] Through the 2013 event, U.S. citizens born outside the country were ineligible for consideration; beginning in 2015, eligibility for Team USA was expanded to include many more categories of (female) U.S. citizens.[5][a] For the European team,[6] up to 2005, seven players were selected on a points system based on results on the Ladies European Tour (LET). This allowed top European players who competed mainly on the LPGA Tour to be selected to ensure that the European team was competitive. Since 2007, only the top five players from the LET qualify and another four are selected on the basis of the Women's World Golf Rankings. This reflects the increasing dominance of the LPGA Tour, where almost all top European players spend most of their time.[7] In addition, each team has a number of "captain's picks", players chosen at the discretion of the team captains, regardless of their point standings, though in practice the captain's picks are often the next ranking players.

Captains[edit]

Team captains are typically recently retired professional golfers with Solheim Cup playing experience, chosen for their experience playing on previous Cup teams and for their ability to lead a team.

Results[edit]

Year Venue Winning team Score USA captain Europe captain USA top
point scorer[b]
European top
point scorer[b]
2023 Finca Cortesin, Spain Tied

Retained by Europe Europe

14–14 Stacy Lewis Norway Suzann Pettersen Khang
3.5 / 4
Ciganda
4 / 4
2021 Inverness Club, Ohio, USA Europe Europe 15–13 Pat Hurst Scotland Catriona Matthew Kupcho; Salas
2.5 / 4
Maguire
4.5 / 5
2019 Gleneagles, Scotland Europe Europe 1412–1312 Juli Inkster Scotland Catriona Matthew J. Korda; N. Korda
3.5 / 4
Boutier; Hall
4 / 4
2017 Des Moines Golf and Country Club, Iowa, USA United States United States 1612–1112 Juli Inkster Sweden Annika Sörenstam Kerr
3.5 / 4
Nordqvist
3.5 / 4
2015 Golf Club St. Leon-Rot, Germany United States United States 1412–1312 Juli Inkster Sweden Carin Koch Kerr; Piller
3.5 / 4
Hull
4 / 5
2013 Colorado Golf Club, Colorado, USA Europe Europe 18–10 Meg Mallon Sweden Liselotte Neumann Lang
3 / 4
Hedwall
5 / 5
2011 Killeen Castle Golf Resort, Ireland Europe Europe 15–13 Rosie Jones England Alison Nicholas Pressel
4 / 4
Gustafson
4 / 4
2009 Rich Harvest Farms, Illinois, USA United States United States 16–12 Beth Daniel England Alison Nicholas Wie
3.5 / 4
Nocera
3.5 / 4
2007 Halmstad GK, Sweden United States United States 16–12 Betsy King Sweden Helen Alfredsson Creamer
3.5 / 5
Matthew
3 / 4
2005 Crooked Stick Golf Club, Indiana, USA United States United States 1512–1212 Nancy Lopez Sweden Catrin Nilsmark Creamer
3.5 / 5
Sörenstam
4 / 5
2003 Barsebäck Golf & Country Club, Sweden Europe Europe 1712–1012 Patty Sheehan Sweden Catrin Nilsmark Inkster; Kerr
3 / 4
Pettersen; Sörenstam
4 / 5
2002 Interlachen Country Club, Minnesota, USA United States United States 1512–1212 Patty Sheehan Scotland Dale Reid Diaz; Klein; Mallon
3 / 4
Koch
4.5 / 5
2000 Loch Lomond Golf Club, Scotland Europe Europe 1412–1112 Pat Bradley Scotland Dale Reid Robbins
3 / 4
Koch; Nilsmark
3 / 3
1998 Muirfield Village, Ohio, USA United States United States 16–12 Judy Rankin Sweden Pia Nilsson Pepper
4 / 4
Davies
3.5 / 5
1996 St Pierre Golf & Country Club, Wales United States United States 17–11 Judy Rankin England Mickey Walker King
3 / 3
Sörenstam
4 / 5
1994 The Greenbrier, West Virginia, USA United States United States 13–7 JoAnne Carner England Mickey Walker Burton; Mochrie
3 / 3
Alfredsson; Fairclough;
Nicholas; Reid
2 / 3
1992 Dalmahoy Country Club, Scotland Europe Europe 1112–612 Kathy Whitworth England Mickey Walker Mallon
2 / 3
Davies
3 / 3
1990 Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, Florida, USA United States United States 1112–412 Kathy Whitworth England Mickey Walker Daniel
3 / 3
Davies
2 / 3

In the 18 competitions through 2023, the United States leads the series 10 to 8 (including 1 tie, but retained by Europe).

Future venues[edit]

Records[edit]

Sources[10][11][12]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ More specifically, the following groups of women became eligible:
  2. ^ a b If more than one player ties for top points scorer, players with the highest win% are shown

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Solheim Cup to move to even years from 2024 to avoid Ryder Cup clash". BBC Sport. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ "Solheim Cup USA". solheimcupusa.com. Solheim Cup USA. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Points distribution for 2009 U.S. Solheim Cup Team qualifying" (PDF). LPGA Tour. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Solheim eligibility criteria changing for U.S. team". Golf Channel. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  6. ^ SolheimCup2019. "Solheim Cup Europe". solheimcup2019.com. Solheim Cup Europe. Retrieved 12 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Solheim selection process changes". BBC Sport. 18 April 2006. Retrieved 24 April 2007.
  8. ^ "Solheim Cup: Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia to host 2024 contest". BBC Sport. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Solheim Cup: Europe confirm Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands as hosts for 2026 contest". SkySports. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  10. ^ The Solheim Cup All-Time Records Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Solheim Cup Records
  12. ^ The Solheim Cup - Match history & records

External links[edit]