2019 Solheim Cup

Last updated

2019 Solheim Cup
2019 Solheim Cup.png
Dates13–15 September 2019
Venue Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire
LocationScotland
Captains
Flag of Europe.svg 14121312 Flag of the United States.svg
Europe wins the Solheim Cup
  2017
2021  
Scotland relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Gleneagles
Location of the Gleneagles Hotel
in Scotland

The 2019 Solheim Cup was the 16th edition of the Solheim Cup matches, held from 13 to 15 September at the Gleneagles PGA Centenary Course in Scotland. The Solheim Cup is a biennial team competition between the top women professional golfers from Europe and the United States. It is a three-day match play event between teams of twelve players with a similar format to the Ryder Cup. Juli Inkster captained the U.S. team for the third time and Catriona Matthew captained the European team for the first time. [1]

Contents

After the first two days the competition was tied at 8-all. Europe won the singles 612–512 to win the Cup for the first time since 2013.

Format

The Solheim Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The format is as follows: [2]

With a total of 28 points, 1412 points are required to win the Cup, and 14 points are required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. [2] All matches are played to a maximum of 18 holes. If the score is even after 18 holes, each team earns one-half point. [3]

Team qualification and selection

Eligibility criteria

The European and United States teams had different eligibility criteria:

Team Europe
Members of the European team must:

  1. be current members of the Ladies European Tour in any category or membership;
  2. have played in eight Ranking Events, excluding major championships not played in Europe, during the Qualifying Period as a member of the LET, unless selected as a Captain's pick (provided she is otherwise eligible);
  3. must be a "European national". To be a "European national", the player must satisfy the criteria set out in the "Nationality Policy" issued by the International Golf Federation. [4]

Team USA
Members of the United States team must be current members of the LPGA Tour and meet one of these three citizenship criteria:

Team selection

The European and United States teams were selected by different methods.

Team Europe
Team Europe consisted of the top three players from the LET Solheim Cup standings, followed by the top five LET members on the Women's World Golf Rankings who were not already qualified via the Solheim Cup standings, and four captain's selections. The 2019 Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, held at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland, ending on 11 August, was the final event of the qualification period, and the full team, including the captain's picks, was announced on 12 August. [6] [7]

Team USA
Team USA consisted of the leading eight players from the LPGA Solheim Cup points rankings, the top two players in the Women's World Golf Rankings not already qualified via the points rankings and two chosen by the team captain. LPGA Solheim Cup points were earned for top-20 finishes on the LPGA Tour over a two-year period ending on August 25 with the 2019 Canadian Women's Open. Points were doubled in major championships, and top-20 finishes during the 2019 LPGA Tour season earned 50% more points than those in 2017 and 2018. [8]

Teams

Flag of Europe.svg Team Europe
PlayerCountryAgePoints
rank
Rolex
ranking
Previous
appearances
MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Catriona Matthew Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 50Non-playing captain
Laura Davies Flag of England.svg  England 55Non-playing assistant captain
Kathryn Imrie Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 52Non-playing assistant captain
Melissa Reid Flag of England.svg  England 31Non-playing assistant captain^
Carlota Ciganda Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 291133115–4–254.55
Anne van Dam Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 232930Rookie
Caroline Hedwall Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 3031163138–4–165.38
Charley Hull Flag of England.svg  England 234293117–3–168.18
Georgia Hall Flag of England.svg  England 23833152–3–040.00
Azahara Muñoz Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 31363114–6–140.91
Caroline Masson Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 30523113–6–236.36
Anna Nordqvist Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 32146052011–7–260.00
Céline Boutier Flag of France.svg  France 256610Rookie
Jodi Ewart Shadoff Flag of England.svg  England 3178273–4–042.86
Bronte Law Flag of England.svg  England 24250Rookie
Suzann Pettersen Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 3864483316–11–657.58

^Suzann Pettersen, previously named an assistant captain, was chosen as one of the captain's picks. Melissa Reid was named as the final assistant captain. [9]
Bronte Law had not played in the required number of events to gain an automatic place.
Ages on first day of matches, 13 September; Rolex rankings at team selection on 12 August.
Captain's picks shown in yellow.

Flag of the United States.svg Team USA
PlayerAgePoints
rank [10]
Rolex
ranking
Previous
appearances
MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Juli Inkster 59Non-playing captain
Pat Hurst 50Non-playing assistant captain
Nancy Lopez 62Non-playing assistant captain
Wendy Ward 46Non-playing assistant captain
Lexi Thompson 24133115–2–463.64
Nelly Korda 212100Rookie
Danielle Kang 26315143–1–075.00
Lizette Salas 304173104–4–250.00
Jessica Korda 26518141–2–137.50
Megan Khang 216460Rookie
Marina Alex 297320Rookie
Brittany Altomare 288400Rookie
Angel Yin 201031131–1–150.00
Annie Park 2416420Rookie
Morgan Pressel 31205551910–7–257.89
Ally McDonald ^269570Rookie

^Stacy Lewis was originally selected as a captain's pick but withdrew with a back injury. [11]
Ages on first day of matches, 13 September; Rolex rankings at team selection on 26 August.
Captain's picks shown in yellow.

Day one

Friday, 13 September 2019

Morning foursomes

Jessica Korda and Nelly Korda became the first sisters to be paired together in the Solheim Cup. They were 5 up after 7 holes, eventually winning 6&4 and scoring the first point. Of the remaining three matches, Europe won two and halved the other to take a 212 to 112 lead.

Flag of Europe.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Ciganda/Law halved Pressel/Alex
Hall/Boutier Flag of Europe.svg 2 & 1 Thompson/Altomare
Masson/Ewart Shadoff Flag of the United States.svg 6 & 4 J. Korda/N. Korda
Hull/Muñoz Flag of Europe.svg 2 & 1 Khang/Park
212Session112
212Overall112

Afternoon four-ball

Both captains selected the four players who hadn't played in the morning session to play in the opening two afternoon matches. Because of a late finish by Hull and Muñoz in the morning session, Match 3 (Hull/Muñoz v N. Korda/Altomare) started after Match 4 (Ciganda/Law v J. Korda/Thompson). The table below reflects the official order.

Ally McDonald and Angel Yin were dormie 7 up in their match against Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall, and although the Swedish pair won the 12th hole, McDonald and Yin won 7&5, tying a Solheim Cup record for largest four-ball victory. [12] In the last two matches the European pairs led playing the final hole but both American pairs won the 18th to halve both matches.

Flag of Europe.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Pettersen/van Dam Flag of Europe.svg 4 & 2 Kang/Salas
Nordqvist/Hedwall Flag of the United States.svg 7 & 5 McDonald/Yin
Hull/Muñoz halved N. Korda/Altomare
Ciganda/Law halved J. Korda/Thompson
2Session2
412Overall312

Day two

Saturday, 14 September 2019

Morning foursomes

Anna Nordqvist and Anne van Dam were 4 up after 6 holes against Morgan Pressel and Marina Alex but the Americans then won 7 of the next 9 holes, winning the match 2&1. Jessica Korda and Nelly Korda won their second foursomes match, this time winning 6&5, after winning their first match 6&4. Europe won the remaining two matches to leave the session tied.

Flag of Europe.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Nordqvist/van Dam Flag of the United States.svg 2 & 1 Pressel/Alex
Hall/Boutier Flag of Europe.svg 3 & 2 Salas/McDonald
Hull/Muñoz Flag of Europe.svg 4 & 3 Kang/Khang
Ciganda/Law Flag of the United States.svg 6 & 5 J. Korda/N. Korda
2Session2
612Overall512

Afternoon four-ball

Ally McDonald and Angel Yin were 3 up with 5 holes to play against Georgia Hall and Céline Boutier but the European pair won the last five holes to win the match, 2 up. The United States won two matches and halved the other, leaving the match tied with the 12 singles matches to be played.

Flag of Europe.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Pettersen/van Dam Flag of the United States.svg 1 up Altomare/Park
Ewart Shadoff/Masson halved Thompson/Alex
Hall/Boutier Flag of Europe.svg 2 up McDonald/Yin
Ciganda/Muñoz Flag of the United States.svg 2 & 1 Salas/Kang
112Session212
8Overall8

Day three

Sunday, 15 September 2019

Singles

In one of the greatest finishes in the history of match play golf, the Europeans won each of the last 3 games to regain the cup. Bronte Law holed a 15 footer on 16 to go 1-up with 2 to play against Ally McDonald, who missed a short putt on 17 to give Law the win and level it up. Less than a minute later, Suzann Pettersen held her nerve to hole the winning 7-footer on the 18th green of the last match out on the course for Europe's first Solheim Cup win since 2013.

Flag of Europe.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Carlota Ciganda Flag of Europe.svg 1 up Danielle Kang
Caroline Hedwall Flag of the United States.svg 2 up Nelly Korda
Georgia Hall Flag of Europe.svg 2 & 1 Lexi Thompson
Céline Boutier Flag of Europe.svg 2 & 1 Annie Park
Azahara Muñoz Flag of the United States.svg 2 & 1 Angel Yin
Charley Hull halved Megan Khang
Anne van Dam Flag of the United States.svg 1 up Lizette Salas
Caroline Masson Flag of the United States.svg 3 & 2 Jessica Korda
Jodi Ewart Shadoff Flag of the United States.svg 5 & 4 Brittany Altomare
Suzann Pettersen Flag of Europe.svg 1 up Marina Alex
Bronte Law Flag of Europe.svg 2 & 1 Ally McDonald
Anna Nordqvist Flag of Europe.svg 4 & 3 Morgan Pressel
612Session512
1412Overall1312

Individual player records

Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.

Europe

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Céline Boutier 44–0–01–0–02–0–01–0–0
Carlota Ciganda 21–2–21–0–00–1–10–1–1
Jodi Ewart Shadoff 0.50–2–10–1–00–1–00–0–1
Georgia Hall 44–0–01–0–02–0–01–0–0
Caroline Hedwall 00–2–00–1–00–0–00–1–0
Charley Hull 32–0–20–0–12–0–00–0–1
Bronte Law 21–1–21–0–00–1–10–0–1
Caroline Masson 0.50–2–10–1–00–1–00–0–1
Azahara Muñoz 2.52–2–10–1–02–0–00–1–1
Anna Nordqvist 11–2–01–0–00–1–00–1–0
Suzann Pettersen 22–1–01–0–00–0–01–1–0
Anne van Dam 11–3–00–1–00–1–01–1–0

United States

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Marina Alex 21–1–20–1–01–0–10–0–1
Brittany Altomare 2.52–1–11–0–00–1–01–0–1
Danielle Kang 11–3–00–1–00–1–01–1–0
Megan Khang 0.50–2–10–0–10–2–00–0–0
Jessica Korda 3.53–0–11–0–02–0–00–0–1
Nelly Korda 3.53–0–11–0–02–0–00–0–1
Ally McDonald 11–3–00–1–00–1–01–1–0
Annie Park 11–2–00–1–00–1–01–0–0
Morgan Pressel 1.51–1–10–1–01–0–10–0–0
Lizette Salas 22–2–01–0–00–1–01–1–0
Lexi Thompson 10–2–20–1–00–1–00–0–2
Angel Yin 22–1–01–0–00–0–01–1–0

References

  1. "Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in 2019 as Scotland wins bidding". BBC. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 Berhow, Josh (16 August 2017). "What to know and how to watch the 2017 Solheim Cup". Golf Magazine. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  3. "Solheim Cup format, terminology". ESPN. 9 September 2003. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  4. "The 2019 Solheim Cup European Team Selection" (PDF). Ladies European Tour. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  5. "Solheim eligibility criteria changing for U.S. team". Golf Channel. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  6. "The 2019 Solheim Cup Team Europe rankings". Solheim Cup. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018.
  7. "Pettersen handed Solheim Cup wildcard slot". ESPN. Reuters. 12 August 2019.
  8. "How to qualify". Solheim Cup. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  9. "2019 Line Up Complete for Solheim Cup Team Europe". LPGA. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  10. "Solheim Cup". U.S. Solheim Cup. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  11. "McDonald to replace Lewis on 2019 U.S. Solheim Cup team". LPGA. 10 September 2019.
  12. Levins, Keely (13 September 2019). "Unlikely American pair ties Solheim Cup record, as U.S. trails by one but ends Day 1 happy". Golf Digest. Retrieved 13 September 2019.

56°17′09″N3°44′51″W / 56.28583°N 3.74750°W / 56.28583; -3.74750