Who is playing for Team Europe in the 2024 Solheim Cup?
Last updated:
Suzann Pettersen confirms her lineup of 12 European players heading to Virginia in hope of retaining the Solheim Cup against Team USA from September 13-15.
Less than 12 months on from the dramatic 14-14 tie in Spain last September for the 2023 Solheim Cup, Team Europe, and Team USA captains – Suzann Pettersen and Stacy Lewis – are counting down to another three-day tussle, this time in Virginia at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
First to show their hand was Pettersen, naming 10 players from her trophy-retaining team of 2023 with Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela and Germany’s Esther Henseleit set to make their debuts as Team Europe eye a second consecutive victory on American soil.
Carlotta Ciganda, the home heroine from the Costa del Sol thriller earns her seventh Solheim Cup appearance, qualifying via the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings alongside Celine Boutier, Leona Maguire, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, and Madelene Sagstrom.
England’s Charley Hull topped the LET Solheim Cup Points List and will line up for her seventh Solheim Cup also, with second-place finisher Esther Henseleit qualifying via the same route.
The four remaining spots were reserved for captain’s picks with Pettersen opting largely for experience in the form of Emily Kristine Pedersen, Georgia Hall, and Anna Nordqvist while also rewarding Albane Valenzuela a debut for her strong 2024 season.
2024 Solheim Cup: Team Europe
Captain: Suzann Pettersen
Age: 43
World ranking: n/a
Solheim Cup appearances: 9
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 18-12-6
Major wins: 2
Worldwide wins: 21
Take another look at that playing record in the Solheim Cup. It’s almost laughably good and on three occasions she was the star of the show. The first time was her second match in 2003 when she top-scored with Annika Sorenstam to help Europe win in Sweden, the second was when she galvanised her team-mates during a weather break to win from behind in Ireland in 2011, and then she drained an 8-foot putt when nothing else would do on the final green at Gleneagles in 2019. Given that her fury about Alison Lee’s assumption of a gimme prompted an astounding American fightback you could even argue that she’s been the key performer in four matches.
When 4-0 down after the opening foursomes last year she didn’t panic. She had held Carlota Ciganda back from that session and then unleashed her. It proved critical and asked about her captaincy methods after the tie she said: “If you get knocked down, you stand back up. Life can be tough, but it’s how you stand back up that shows character. I think (the result) really shows the character of my team.”
Vice-captain: Laura Davies
Age: 60
World ranking: 1444
Solheim Cup appearances: 12
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 22-18-6
Major wins: 4
Worldwide wins: 87
Dame Laura Davies is to the Solheim Cup what Seve was to the Ryder Cup: a magnetic force of will, a stubborn force of nature, a rebellious force of spirit. She gained at least three points in three of her first five appearances – and even on debut she won two when only three sessions were played.
Vice-captain: Caroline Martens
Age: 37
World ranking: n/a
Solheim Cup appearances: 0
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 0
Martens acts as Pettersen’s day-to-day Vice Captain throughout the campaign and they make quite the pair, something akin to a maverick detective and faithful sidekick. Although the Norwegian achieved little on the course, she bounced back from injury and illness with immense courage, qualities the captain admires.
Vice-captain: Mel Reid
Age: 36
World ranking: 312
Solheim Cup appearances: 4
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 6-7-3
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 7
She plays less these days but the Englishwoman, based now in Florida, was always going to be a neat fit for the Solheim Cup owing to her background in team sports and so it proved with her making key contributions to winning teams in 2011 and 2021, as well as being second top-scorer in the 2015 defeat.
The key players for Team Europe
Celine Boutier
Age: 30
World ranking: 10
Solheim Cup appearances: 3
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 5-4-1
Major wins: 1
Worldwide wins: 14
In one sense, Celine Boutier has experienced only success and triumph at the Solheim Cup. Europe won at Gleneagles on her debut, the team retained the trophy at Inverness GC in her second start and they tied in Spain last time out to keep their hands on the trophy. But dig a little deeper and the 30-year-old winner of the 2023 Evian Championship has had three very contrasting experiences representing her continent.
That debut five years ago was spectacular. She was not only undefeated she also claimed 100% of her points in two foursomes, one fourball and a crucial win in the singles to end the week as joint top-scorer alongside Georgia Hall (her partner for all three matches on Friday and Saturday). Two years later, however, she was sluggish, losing a fourball and halving a foursome before polishing off Mina Harigae 5 and 4. And last year’s effort in Spain was a complete let down: defeated twice in the foursomes with Hall, not selected for the fourballs and another loss in the singles. Captain Pettersen will want to halt the dramatic loss of form and also address the refuted rumours from last year that the Parisian refused to play with two of her team mates.
Linn Grant
Age: 25
World ranking: 26
Solheim Cup appearances: 1
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 3-2-0
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 12
It was not entirely surprising that Linn Grant took to the Solheim Cup at the first time of asking last year. This is a golfer, after all, who contended in her major championship debut aged 18 (at the 2018 US Women’s Open), who was the Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year in 2022, who beat the men in her first start against them in the same year’s Scandinavian Mixed, and who claimed a victory in her first full season on the LPGA. The next step never seems to faze her and so it proved in Spain.
That said, like her team-mates, she was initially blown away by the USA’s blistering start last year. But Pettersen had faith in her compatriot and it bore fruit in spectacular style. Trailing 0-4 after that first session, Europe clawed their way back to parity ahead of the singles and Grant won three of those eight points alongside Spanish heroine Carlota Ciganda in the fourballs and her best friend Maja Stark in the foursomes. She didn’t win her singles but the fact she was sent out first by Pettersen is a reminder that the captain views her as an on-the-course leader and we can expect more of the same this September.
Charley Hull
Age: 28
World ranking: 12
Solheim Cup appearances: 6
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 12-7-3
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 6
The Englishwoman was, aged 17, the Solheim Cup’s youngest-ever competitor on her debut in 2013, but she was far from over-awed. In fact, she thrashed Paula Creamer 5 and 4 before casually asking her to sign a ball for a friend who was a big fan of the Team USA Solheim Cup legend. She’s a tremendous operator on the first two days, owning a 5-2-1 record in both foursomes and fourballs, but her captain might be a little concerned that the returns have somewhat diminished in recent matches. She was 6-2-0 after her first two appearances, won 50% of her points in her next three matches and could only muster 1-2-0 in Spain last year.
It wouldn’t take much to relight the fire, however, and Hull has little doubt that the Solheim Cup is the perfect stage for her. Her Polish grandmother fought for the resistance movement in the Second World War and Hull says: “Gran was a very strong woman and I have the same spirit on the course. We keep fighting.” She’s also convinced that the week is the ideal match for her ADHD. “I’m full on and impatient,” she said. “I need a challenge. At the Solheim, there is so much going I can’t get bored.”
The rest of Team Europe
Carlota Ciganda
Age: 34
World ranking: 33
Solheim Cup appearances: 6
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 11-8-4
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 10
After a spectacular debut in 2013 (3-0-0) Ciganda struggled in vain to win more points than she lost in her next four appearances, but it all came together in spectacular style 12 months ago. Surprisingly held back from the opening session in front of adoring fans, when let loose she fuelled the European renaissance and even holed the Cup-retaining putt to prompt scenes of wild celebration. “Amazing,” she said. “I love my team. I love Europe. I love Spain. I love the Solheim Cup. It’s been a great week and I’m just so happy to be here right now.”
Georgia Hall
Age: 28
World ranking: 46
Solheim Cup appearances: 4
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 8-7-2
Major wins: 1
Worldwide wins: 8
The Englishwoman’s recent AIG Women’s Open performance was somewhat representative of her entire 2024 because having carded an excellent 71 in the worst of the first round weather she thereafter slipped backwards to 22nd. Interestingly, one of her two top five finishes this year was in the pairs event alongside Charley Hull, a partnership the duo have avoided in the Solheim Cup despite their long-standing friendship. It might be something of a concern that although her career record shows more points won than lost this is a direct consequence of winning all four matches at Gleneagles in 2019. In her other three matches she lost more than she won.
Esther Henseleit
Age: 25
World ranking: 30
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 3
The German, who has twice won in Kenya on the LET, has highlighted her ability to perform at elite level throughout 2024. She was seventh in the Chevron Championship, 14th in the KPMG Women’s Championship and seventh again in the Evian Championship. Then she peaked by winning the silver medal in the Paris Olympics and another runner-up finish a week later in the Women’s Scottish Open confirmed her automatic selection for a Solheim Cup debut. An aggressive chaser of birdies she has the potential to be a popular fourball partner.
Leona Maguire
Age: 29
World ranking: 34
Solheim Cup appearances: 2
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 7-3-1
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 5
The winner of four points in the 2016 Curtis Cup, a semi-finalist and finalist in the LPGA’s annual match play tournament, Europe’s unbeaten top-scorer on her Solheim Cup in 2021 and Europe’s joint second top-scorer last year. Yes, Leona Maguire is very, very good at match play golf. When asked about her head-to-head secret in Spain she said: “I just don’t give up. Jessica Korda tweeted that I was annoying at match play, and the goal this week was to be as annoying as possible.” She won an Aramco event in July but her form otherwise has been a concern (she opened the Olympics 78-79-83).
Anna Nordqvist
Age: 37
World ranking: 73
Solheim Cup appearances: 8
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 15-13-3
Major wins: 3
Worldwide wins: 13
“To have been picked to play in my ninth Solheim Cup is beyond my wildest childhood dreams,” the Swede said when given the nod by Pettersen and she probably knew it was coming because she’s a vice captain, as she was last year in Spain. A straight hitter she’s the kind of player everyone thinks would make a great foursomes partner and, indeed, only one captain in her eight matches hasn’t played her in both sessions. Oddly, though, her fourball record is better (5-3-0 against 7-8-0) and Pettersen ought to know it (they were 2-0-0 together in better ball).
Emily Kristine Pedersen
Age: 28
World ranking: 104
Solheim Cup appearances: 3
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 5-6-1
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 6
Something of a surprise selection last year, the Dane played all five sessions and more than reiterated the captain’s faith in her. In scoring two and a half points from the final three fourball and foursome sessions she was a key part of the fightback and although defeated by Lexi Thompson in the singles she took the match to the penultimate hole. Her form has not been great this summer but Pettersen wanted her back. “Suzann doesn’t need to say anything,” she said. “She gives me the look, nods her head and, I’m like, I got it.”
Madelene Sagstrom
Age: 31
World ranking: 40
Solheim Cup appearances: 3
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 3-5-1
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 4
The Swede’s third appearance last year was something of a flip from her first two. In 2017 and 2019 she lost all four matches with a partner but won both her singles. Last year she gained one and a half points when unbeaten in partnerships, but was thrashed 4&3 by Lilia Vu. A notable trend has been a reluctance to include her in the foursomes. She didn’t play in 2017 or 2024 and lost her only outing in 2019. A runner-up in the LPGA Founders Cup in May, her late summer form has been poor.
Maja Stark
Age: 24
World ranking: 25
Solheim Cup appearances: 1
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): 2-1-1
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 8
A school-mate of both Grant and Ludvig Aberg, Stark was a ball of energy throughout her debut in Spain last year. Moreover, she was gun down the singles stretch, earning a critical 2&1 victory over Corpuz late on Sunday. “I’ve never had so much fun in my life,” she said afterwards. “I had hoped that the pressure would make me play better and I think it did. It’s such a great feeling to actually hit those crucial shots at the end. Probably the best experience of my life.” She hasn’t won this year but she did finish runner-up in the Chevron Championship in April.
Albane Valenzuela
Age: 26
World ranking: 62
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie
Solheim Cup record (W-L-H): n/a
Major wins: 0
Worldwide wins: 0
The daughter of a Mexican father and a French mother, Valenzuela was born in New York City, spent her early years in Mexico City and moved to Geneva aged six. She represents Switzerland (and Europe) but said two years ago: “I have four passports and a very international family.” She’s yet to win on the LPGA but is very consistent, logging three major championship top 30s this summer and adding T13th at the Olympics. “It is absolutely surreal,” she said of getting a captain’s pick. “I’m ecstatic, I’m proud, I’m happy – all the emotions.”
About the author
Matt Cooper
Contributing Writer
Matt Cooper has been a golf journalist for 15 years. He’s worked for, among others, Golf365, SkySports, ESPN, NBC, Sporting Life, Open.com and the Guardian. He specializes in feature writing, reporting and tournament analysis.
He’s traveled widely in that time, covering golf from Kazakhstan to South Korea via Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
More straightforwardly, he’s also covered numerous Majors, Ryder Cups and Solheim Cups.
-
Suzann Pettersen has confirmed her 2024 European Solheim Cup team
-
Esther Henseleit (left) won the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics
