Tournament information | |
---|---|
Location | Europe or United States |
Established | 1990 |
Tour(s) | Ladies European Tour LPGA Tour |
Format | Match play |
Prize fund | None |
Month played | September |
Current champion | |
United States | |
2024 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 eleven times, compared with eight for Europe. The current holders are the US, who regained the cup with a 15.5–12.5 win in 2024.
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]
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 |
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] [lower-alpha 1] 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.
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.
In the 19 competitions through 2024, the United States leads the series 11–7–1 with Europe retaining as holders when the teams tied in 2023.
Year | Hosts | Course | Location | Dates | Last hosted | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026 | Europe | Bernardus Golf | Cromvoirt, North Brabant, Netherlands | 7−13 September | n/a | [8] |
2028 | United States | Valhalla Golf Club | Louisville, Kentucky | TBD | n/a | [9] |
Bernardus Golf has previously hosted three editions (2021, 2022, 2023) of the men's European Tour's Dutch Open and will be the Netherlands' first Solheim Cup or Ryder Cup venue.
Valhalla Golf Club has hosted the men's PGA Championship four times in 1996, 2000, 2014 and 2024 as well as the Senior PGA Championship twice in 2004 and 2011. Despite being a first-time Solheim Cup venue, it previously hosted the Ryder Cup in 2008 and will become just the fourth course after The Greenbrier, Muirfield Village and the Gleneagles Hotel's PGA Centenary to host both events.
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between European and United States teams. The competition is contested every two years, with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named after the English businessman Samuel Ryder who donated the trophy. The event is jointly administered by the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe, the latter a joint venture of the PGA European Tour (60%), the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland (20%), and the PGAs of Europe (20%).
Annika Charlotta Sörenstam is a Swedish professional golfer regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 96 international professional tournaments, making her the female golfer with the most wins to her name. She has won 72 official LPGA tournaments including ten majors and 24 other tournaments internationally.
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Juli Inkster is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. With a professional career spanning 29 years to date, Inkster's 31 wins rank her second in wins among all active players on the LPGA Tour; she has over $14 million in career earnings. She also has more wins in Solheim Cup matches than any other American, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Inkster is the only golfer in LPGA Tour history to win two majors in a decade for three consecutive decades by winning three in the 1980s, two in the 1990s, and two in the 2000s.
Dottie Pepper is an American professional golfer and television golf broadcaster. From 1988 to 1995 she competed as Dottie Mochrie, which was her married name before a divorce. She won two major championships and 17 LPGA Tour events in all.
Suzann Pettersen is a retired Norwegian professional golfer. She played mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour, and was also a member of the Ladies European Tour. Her career best world ranking was second and she held that position several times, most recently from August 2011 until February 2012. She retired on 15 September 2019 after holing the winning putt for the European team at the 2019 Solheim Cup, notwithstanding that she had been away from golf for almost 20 months on maternity leave prior to the event.
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The 2011 Solheim Cup was the 12th Solheim Cup matches, held 23–25 September in Ireland at Killeen Castle in County Meath, northwest of Dublin. The biennial matches are a three-day contest for professional female golfers, between teams of 12 top players from the United States and Europe. Entering the 2011 matches, the U.S. had won the three recent competitions, with Europe's last victory coming eight years earlier in 2003 in Sweden.
The 2013 Solheim Cup was the 13th edition of the Solheim Cup matches, held on August 16–18 at the Colorado Golf Club in Parker, Colorado, southeast of Denver. The Solheim Cup is a biennial team competition between the top women professional golfers from the United States and from Europe. Similar to the Ryder Cup, it is a three-day match play event between teams of twelve players. Europe won the matches by a score of 18–10.
The 2015 Solheim Cup was the 14th edition of the Solheim Cup matches, held 18–20 September at the St. Leon course of Golf Club St. Leon-Rot, St. Leon-Rot, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. 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.
The 2017 Solheim Cup was the 15th edition of the Solheim Cup matches, held August 18–20 at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa. 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 second time and Annika Sörenstam captained the European team for the first time.
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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.
The 2021 Solheim Cup was the 17th edition of the Solheim Cup matches, held from September 4–6 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The Solheim Cup is a biennial team competition between the top women professional golfers from Europe and the United States. Pat Hurst was captain of the U.S. team for the first time and Catriona Matthew was captain of the European team for the second time. The Inverness course was a par 72 and 6,903 yards (6,312 m).
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