Solheim Cup - Meet the Teams

Bernardus Golf

The Solheim Cup returns for its 20th edition from September 11-13, 2026, when Team Europe and Team USA meet at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, the Netherlands.

Launched in 1990 and named after Karsten and Louise Solheim, the founders of PING, the biennial match-play contest between the best professional women golfers from Europe and the United States has grown into one of the most fiercely contested team events in the sport. The United States leads the all-time series 11-7-1, but Europe has won or retained the trophy in three of the last four editions, with the Americans reclaiming it in dramatic fashion at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia in 2024, winning 15.5-12.5.

This year marks the first Solheim Cup staged in the Netherlands, and the first at Bernardus Golf. European captain Anna Nordqvist finalised her 12-player roster following the AIG Women’s Open on August 3 blending veteran match-play performers with four debutants. American captain Angela Stanford's team was completed at the conclusion of the CPKC Women's Open on August 23 with her three Captains picks.

Team Europe

Eight players qualified automatically — two through the Ladies European Tour Solheim Cup points list and six through the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings — before Nordqvist added four captain's picks to complete the team.

Image courtesy of LPGA and Solheim Cup

Automatic Qualifiers - Solheim Cup Points List

Charley Hull

World Ranking: 8

Solheim Cup Record: 15-9-3

Hull topped the LET Solheim Cup points list, built on victory at the PIF Saudi Ladies International and a string of top 10 finishes through the qualifying period. The Englishwoman climbed to a career-high World No. 3 in early 2026 and produced one of the season's stand-out performances with a runner-up finish at the U.S. Women's Open, closing with rounds of 65 and 67 at Riviera to match a championship scoring record over 36 holes.

This will be Hull's eighth Solheim Cup appearance, matching the experience of teammate Carlota Ciganda as the most seasoned player in the European team.

Hull played in the 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019Australian Women’s Open. She also played the 2015 New Zealand Women’s Open.

Esther Henseleit

World Ranking: 20

Solheim Cup Record: 1-1-1

Henseleit claimed the second automatic qualifying spot on the LET points list in the most dramatic fashion possible, holing a 40-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the AIG Women's Open to force a play-off with eventual champion Shiho Kuwaki. The German lost the extra holes but left Royal Lytham with a career-best major finish and enough points to leapfrog Chiara Tamburlini for the final automatic berth by less than a single point.

The 27-year-old Olympic silver medallist from Paris 2024 will make her second successive Solheim Cup appearance. Henseleit won the LET's Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year double in 2019 — a feat previously managed only by Laura Davies and Carlota Ciganda.

Henseleit played the 2019 Ladies Classic, The Canberra Classic and NSW Open, and the Australian Open in 2020.

Automatic Qualifiers - World Ranking

Lottie Woad

World Ranking: 6

Solheim Cup Record: Rookie

Woad qualified via the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings in what has been a remarkable rookie professional season. The Englishwoman climbed to World No. 5 after winning the Kroger Queen City Championship in May, adding to a maiden professional victory at last year's Women's Scottish Open, where she became only the third player in LPGA Tour history — after Rose Zhang and Beverly Hanson — to win in her tour debut.

This will be Rhodes Solheim Cup debut, and the only automatic qualifier among the eight without prior experience in the event. Woad was part of the winning 2024 Curtis Cup team so has team golf experience, but this will be on another level, both in skill required and atmosphere.

Woad has never played a tournament in Australia, however she is a brand ambassador for the company FM which was recently named as a major sponsor the Men’s Australian Open so perhaps that connection will entice Woad downunder.

Maja Stark

World Ranking: 28

Solheim Cup Record: 3-3-2

Stark, the winner of the 2025 U.S. Women's Open makes her third appearance at the Solheim Cup. The Swede's breakthrough major title added to nine professional victories since turning professional in 2021, six of them on the Ladies European Tour.

A former Oklahoma State standout who led Sweden to three straight European Team Championship titles as an amateur, she was named Swedish Golfer of the Year in 2025 and brings both major-winning pedigree and Solheim Cup pairing experience into Nordqvist's line-up.

Stark is also one of three European team members who have won in Australia, along with vice-captain Mel Reid. Stark won the 2022 NSW Women’s Open, an LET co-sanctioned event. She also played the Australian Women’s Classic finishing second behind Meghan Maclaren.

Céline Boutier

World Ranking: 34

Solheim Cup Record: 7-6-1

Boutier qualified via the Rolex Rankings to make her fifth Solheim Cup appearance. The Frenchwoman has been a consistent presence on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tours and remains one of the squad's most experienced

Boutier's steady world ranking position throughout the qualifying period reflected another campaign of dependable form rather than a single standout result, and it is precisely that consistency Nordqvist will lean on across the more pressurised sessions at Bernardus. Her Solheim Cup history includes pairing success in each of the last two editions, and she arrives in the Netherlands as one of the team's senior voices.

Boutier has also tasted success in Australia winning the 2018 Australian Ladies Classic, and the 2019 ISPs Handa Victorian Open. Boutier also played in the 2018, 2019 & 2020 Australian Opens.

Carlota Ciganda

World Ranking: 60

Solheim Cup Record: 12-11-4

Ciganda secured her spot through the world rankings to make her eighth Solheim Cup appearance, matching Hull as Europe's most experienced player this year. The Spaniard has been an ever-present in the European team since her 2013 debut and remains one of the format's most respected competitors, despite a quieter 2026 that included missed cuts in four of the five majors.

Ciganda's Solheim Cup pedigree speaks for itself: in 2023 at Finca Cortesín, she beat Nelly Korda 2&1 in the singles to secure the point that allowed Europe to retain the trophy in front of the King of Spain, finishing as the tournament's top points-scorer that year. "It's my favourite event," Ciganda said of her selection, and Nordqvist will again rely on her matchplay know-how regardless of recent stroke-play form.

Ciganda played the 2013 Australian Ladies Masters and the 2019 Australian Open.

Linn Grant

World Ranking: 61

Solheim Cup Record: 3-6-0

Grant qualified via the Rolex Rankings for a third consecutive Solheim Cup appearance. The Swede has twelve professional victories since turning professional in 2021, including two on the LPGA Tour and six on the Ladies European Tour, and was the LET's Rookie of the Year, Order of Merit winner and Player of the Year in a single breakout 2022 season.

Grant has had top ten finishes at four of the five majors (T17 at Chevron), and her long game remains one of the most powerful in the women's professional ranks. Alongside compatriot Maja Stark, she gives Nordqvist a formidable all-Swedish pairing option, with the pair having partnered successfully in previous editions of the event.

Grant has not played in Australia. The closest she has come is competing, and winning, in South Africa in 2022.

Nanna Koerstz Madsen

World Ranking – 68

Solheim Cup Record: 1-1-1

Madsen rounds out the automatic qualifiers, returning to the European team for the first time since helping Europe win the 2021 Solheim Cup at Inverness Club. The Dane, who made history in 2022 as the first Danish player to win an LPGA Tour event at the Honda LPGA Thailand, qualified this year via the Rolex Rankings after a season of steady form across both the LPGA and Ladies European Tours.

A former University of South Carolina golfer, she also represented Denmark at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

Madsen was runner-up at the 2017 Australian Women’s Open at Royal Adelaide and also played the event in 2016, 2018, 2019 & 2020. Madsen played the 2017 Victorian Open and 2019 Ladies Classic. She played the 2015 & 2016 New Zealand Women’s Open.

Captain’s Picks

Leona Maguire

World Ranking: 78

Solheim Cup Record: 8-3-1

Maguire was Nordqvist's first and most straightforward captain's pick, described by her captain as the highest-ranked European left outside the automatic qualifiers and an obvious selection given her Solheim Cup record. The Irishwoman will make her fourth consecutive appearance, having gone unbeaten as a rookie during Europe's away win at Inverness in 2021 before further appearances in 2023 and 2024.

Maguire recorded three top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour in 2026 and remains one of the format's most reliable performers under pressure. "I love the Solheim Cup, it brings the best out of my game," she said after her selection was confirmed, and Nordqvist was unequivocal in her praise: "She is a player you want on your team, especially in match play."

Maguire played the 2019 Victorian Open, The Canberra Classic and the Australian Ladies Classic. In 2020 she played the Victorian Open and in 2020 she played the Australian Open.

Julia López Ramírez

World Ranking: 93

Solheim Cup Record: Rookie

Lopez Ramirez earns her Solheim Cup debut as one of three rookie captain's picks, and the second Spaniard on the European team alongside Ciganda. The Málaga native ranks second on the LPGA Tour in driving distance this season, averaging 288.55 yards off the tee, a weapon Nordqvist believes will suit Bernardus' more demanding par-5s and longer par-4s.

"I'm living the dream right now," López Ramírez said of her selection. "This is what you dream of when you're a kid — to be on the team and be able to experience it and all the big crowds." Her rise from a top amateur at the 2023 AIG Women's Open to a Solheim Cup debutant within three years underlines the depth of young talent Nordqvist has been able to call upon.

Lopez-Ramirez is yet to make her debut on Australian soil.

Nastasia Nadaud

World Ranking: 89

Solheim Cup Record: Rookie

Nadaud is the youngest of Europe's four rookies at 21, selected after making the cut in every major championship she played in 2026. The Frenchwoman won her maiden Ladies European Tour title at the season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España in 2025 and earned her LPGA Tour card through the Q-Series before finishing third on the LET's 2025 Order of Merit.

"It's unbelievable — if you'd have told me six months ago I'd be on the European Solheim Cup team, I wouldn't have believed you," Nadaud said after learning of her selection at Royal Lytham, where she had just carded a tie for 44th. Nordqvist described her as a player who "has grown" on the captaincy team through the qualifying period, and she arrives as one of the form players in the squad.

In 2024 and 2025 Nadoud played the Australian Women’s Classic and the New South Wales Open.

Mimi Rhodes

World Ranking: 105

Solheim Cup Record: Rookie

Rhodes completes Nordqvist's captain's picks after a breakout 2025 season in which she won three times on the Ladies European Tour — the Ford Women's NSW Open, the Joburg Ladies Open and the Dutch Ladies Open — to claim the Tour's Rookie of the Year award. The Englishwoman, who grew up in Spain, has two top 10s on the LPGA Tour this season.

"I've watched a lot of it with my grandparents, especially the Cup at Gleneagles in 2019," Rhodes said, recalling Suzann Pettersen's winning putt. "I had a moment in my head that I want to be there." That moment arrives at Bernardus, where she debuts as one of four rookies in a European team Nordqvist describes as blending the continent's deepest young talent with proven Solheim Cup nous.

Rhodes rise to Solheim Cup selection started in Australia in 2025 when she won the New South Wales Open. She also played the Australian WPGA Championship and The Australian Women’s Classic in the same year.

Team USA

Seven players qualified automatically through the U.S. Solheim Cup points standings, with the top two Americans in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings not otherwise on the team claiming the remaining automatic berths. Stanford then confirmed her three captain's picks on the morning of August 25. The Americans are chasing a first win on European soil since 2015, having reclaimed the trophy on home turf in 2024.

Image courtesy of LPGA and Solheim Cup

Automatic Qualifiers — Points List

Nelly Korda

World Ranking: 1

Solheim Cup Record: 10-5-1

Korda was the first American to clinch her place, locking up the top spot on the points list weeks before qualifying closed. The World No. 1 has been in outstanding form throughout 2026, winning four times including back-to-back major titles at the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women's Open, the latter completed with a one-stroke victory over Charley Hull at Riviera Country Club.

Korda's return to form follows a winless 2025, and she now arrives at Bernardus as the player every European in the field will be most wary of. "I am truly excited Nelly is the first to qualify for our team," said Stanford, and Korda's blend of world-ranking dominance and major-winning form makes her the standard-bearer for the Americans' bid to defend the trophy on foreign soil.

Korda was the Australian Open Champion in 2019. She also played the event in 2020, 2018 & 2017.

Angel Yin

World Ranking: 25

Solheim Cup Record: 5-3-1

Yin clinched her spot through the points standings for the first time, having previously made the team as a captain's pick in 2017 and 2023 and via the Rolex Rankings in 2019. This will be her fourth Solheim Cup appearance, and she has a 5-3-1 record.

Since the start of the qualifying period, Yin has added a title at the Honda LPGA Thailand and thirteen top 10 finishes although she has approximately three months without playing due to health issues.

Yin played in the 2017 Australian Open and Victorian Open. She also played the 2018 and 2019 Australian Opens. Yin played the 2016 New Zealand Women’s Open

Jennifer Kupcho

World Ranking 33

Solheim Cup Record: 3-5-2

Kupcho secured her spot alongside Yin, confirming a fourth consecutive Solheim Cup appearance for the Coloradan. She has previously qualified via the Rolex Rankings in 2021 and the points standings in 2023, and was a captain's pick in 2024, meaning this year marks the first time all four of her selections have come through a different route.

Kupcho led the American rookies with 2.5 points on her 2021 debut and carries an overall 3-4-1 record into her fourth appearance. She has one win this season, at the ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern, and eight top 10 finishes since the qualifying period began.

Kupcho played in the Australian Women’s Open in 2022.

Auston Kim

World Ranking 22

Solheim Cup Record: Rookie

Kim clinched an automatic spot through the points standings following the AIG Women's Open, confirming what will be her Solheim Cup debut. The Vanderbilt graduate turned professional in 2022 and earned her LPGA Tour card for 2024 after winning that year's Epson Tour Championship, and her runner-up finish at last year's KPMG Women's PGA Championship remains the best major result of her young career.

Kim's rise has been rapid — from Epson Tour graduate in 2023 to Solheim Cup qualifier within two seasons — and she arrives at Bernardus as one of five players on the American team who took part in a scouting visit to the venue earlier this year.

Kim has not played in Australia.

Yealimi Noh

World Ranking 42

Solheim Cup Record: 2-1-0

Noh secured her spot through the points standings after moving to No. 5 on the list following a solo third at the AIG Women's Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes. This will be her second Solheim Cup appearance for the United States.

Noh's form through the closing stages of the qualifying period, capped by that runner-up-adjacent finish in the season's final major, proved decisive in locking down her place.

Noh played in the 2020 Australian Women’s Open.

Lauren Coughlin

World Ranking 17

Solheim Cup Record: 3-0-1

Coughlin qualified automatically for a second consecutive Solheim Cup, having gone undefeated on her debut in the Americans' 2024 win at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, contributing 3.5 points from a possible four. The Virginian's breakthrough 2024 season, which included two LPGA Tour wins and nine top 10 finishes, carried into a title at last year's Grant Thornton Invitational and this year's Aramco Championship.

Coughlin's 3-0-1 career Solheim Cup record is excellent, and her all-round game — built on a reliable short game and calm temperament — makes her one of Stanford's most trusted pairing options.

Coughlan played in the 2018 Australian Open.

Allisen Corpuz

World Ranking – 32

Solheim Cup Record: 5-2-1

Corpuz rounded out the points-list automatic qualifiers to make her third straight Solheim Cup appearance. The Hawaiian, who won the 2023 U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach, made her debut in 2023 pairing with Nelly Korda to win both of their foursomes matches, and returned in 2024 as part of the winning American side.

Corpuz carries a 2-1-1 record into Bernardus and remains one of the most reliable ball-strikers on the American roster. Her major-winning pedigree and two-time record of thriving in the foursomes format make her a likely candidate for one of Stanford's higher-leverage pairings across the opening two days.

Corpuz has not played in Australia.

Automatic Qualifiers – World Ranking

Andrea Lee

World Ranking 45

Solheim Cup Record: 3-2-2

Andrea Lee claimed the first of the two Rolex Rankings berths, booking her spot as the highest-ranked American not to qualify via the points list. This will be her third consecutive Solheim Cup appearance, having previously qualified automatically in both 2023 and 2024.

Lee carries a 3-2-2 record into the matches, highlighted by two commanding four-ball victories in 2024 — 5&4 and 6&4 — alongside Rose Zhang. She leads the LPGA Tour in fairways-in-regulation percentage this season, having also topped that category in 2025, and recorded a tied-10th at this year's HSBC Women's World Championship among 18 top 25 finishes over the past two seasons.

Lee played the 2020 Australian Open.

Alison Lee

World Ranking 57

Solheim Cup Record: 2-5-0

Alison Lee completed the automatic qualifiers by claiming the second Rolex Rankings spot after The Standard Portland Classic, capping a season played almost entirely after returning from maternity leave. The 31-year-old will make her third Solheim Cup appearance, having previously won with the United States in 2015 and 2024, and is the only player on this year's team to have featured on a winning U.S. side in Europe.

Lee will become the first mother to compete for the U.S. team since Cristie Kerr in 2017, having given birth to her son Levi in April 2025. Despite missing the start of the qualifying period, she posted three top five finishes in 2026 — at the Mizuho Americas Open, the Dow Championship alongside Lilia Vu, and the KPMG Women's PGA Championship — form Stanford has repeatedly praised as one of the season's most pleasant surprises.

Lee played the 2018 & 2019 Australian Open.

Captain's Picks

Megan Khang

World Ranking 81

Solheim Cup Record: 7-3-3

Khang earns her fifth consecutive Solheim Cup selection, carrying a 7-3-3 career record and a 7-0-1 mark across her last eight matches into Bernardus — the standout points return of anyone on either roster. Despite a difficult 2026 season that has seen her slip to 85th in the Rolex Rankings and make just one cut in her last eight starts, her match-play pedigree made her selection a formality.

"She does a great job when we play in America, but she's the energy we need when we go over there," Stanford said of Khang's selection. Her value lies less in stroke-play form than in the intensity and chemistry she has repeatedly brought to the American team room, qualities Stanford identified as essential to completing the side.

Khang played the 2017 & 2018 Australian Open.

Rose Zhang

World Ranking 47

Solheim Cup Record: 4-2-1

Zhang was picked for a third straight Solheim Cup after going 4-0-0 in the Americans' 2024 win, a perfect record in which none of her matches reached the 17th hole. "It was easy for me to include Rose," Stanford said of the 23-year-old, whose selection was among the least contentious of the three picks despite a quieter 2026 that has produced only one top 10 finish since April.

Zhang did show signs of returning form immediately before selection, finishing tied for eighth at the Standard Portland Classic the week before the picks were announced. Alongside her proven record in the team format, that late form was enough to convince Stanford to include her for a third consecutive edition.

Zhang has not played in Australia.

Lindy Duncan

World Ranking 64

Solheim Cup Record: Rookie

Duncan is the headline inclusion among Stanford's picks, making her Solheim Cup debut at 35 to become the oldest member of either team. The Florida native has recorded 14 top 25 finishes on the LPGA Tour over the last two years and held one of the automatic Rolex Rankings spots for much of the qualifying period before missing out on the final positions.

"I think ultimately it came down to Lindy's a great putter," Stanford said of the decision. "From the beginning I said the make-up of this team, two of the things we needed to have are putting and chemistry." Duncan's selection rounds out a 12-player squad Stanford has described as built specifically around those two qualities heading into hostile territory in the Netherlands.

Duncan played 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020 Australian Open.

Who will Win

On paper the USA are firm favourites however team golf does not always follow the form book. Team dynamics, home advantage are just a few things that can make team golf so much different to the usual individual pursuit that these players confront every week.

Europe have the advantage of playing at home and no doubt the majority of the crowd will be cheering for team Europe. Anecdotally US Teams, men and women, have had difficulty travelling. With some exceptions their best players do not travel much outside the US to play whereas the European players have been travelling the globe on the LET and/or living on a different continent to play the LPGA.

Our prediction – a close thing with the US coming away in a tight finish.

Whatever the result this will be one of the best weeks in the golfing calendar.

Ozziegolf will be on the ground at Bernardus Golf and will bring you all the news and updates.

*Every effort has been made to check the details of participation in Australian events, but they may not be complete.

*World rankings are as of 31 August and not the selections dates.