Solheim Cup
| Solheim Cup-logo.png | |
| 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.
Contents
The cup
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
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
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.
Captains
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
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.
Future venues
| 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.
Records
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- Most appearances: 12
° Laura Davies (Eur), 1990–2011 - Most points: 25
° Laura Davies (Eur) (22–18–6 record) - Most singles points won: 7
° Juli Inkster (USA) (6–1–2 record) - Most foursome points won: 111⁄2
° Annika Sörenstam (Eur) (11–3–1 record) - Most fourball points won: 111⁄2
° Cristie Kerr (USA) (11–5–1 record) - Top point percentage (Minimum of 3 Solheim Cup Matches)
° Janice Moodie (Eur) (7–2–2) 72.7%
° Carin Koch (Eur) (10–3–3) 71.9%
° Leona Maguire (Eur) (8–3–1) 70.8%
° Dottie Pepper (USA) (13–5–2) 70.0%
° Christina Kim (USA) (6–2–2) 70.0% - Most points in a single contest: 5
° Caroline Hedwall (Eur) 2013 - Longest winning streak: 7 matches
° Carin Koch (Eur) 2000–2002
° Morgan Pressel (USA) 2009–2013 - Longest unbeaten streak: 10 matches
° Paula Creamer (USA) 2005–2009 - Youngest player: Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.
° Charley Hull (Eur) 2013 - Oldest player: Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.
° Juli Inkster (USA) 2011
See also
Notes
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- ↑ The Solheim Cup All-Time Records Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Solheim Cup Records
- ↑ The Solheim Cup - Match history & records
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- Solheim Cup
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