Solheim Cup 2019 Preview

The European and United States teams will clash for the 16th time when they go head-to-head in the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland from September 13-15.

The United States will be bidding for a third straight victory in the Solheim Cup having won the 2015 edition at Golf Club St Leon-Rot in Germany and followed it by retaining the trophy at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa in 2017.

Juli Inkster lead the US to those two victories and will be back at the helm at Gleneagles, where home favourite Catriona Matthew will attempt to lead the Europeans to what will be only a sixth Solheim Cup success with the current tally 10-5 in the favour of the Americans.

The battle looks set to be intense over three days of competition on the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles. Who will come out on top?

Solheim Cup Teams

The European team was selected from eight automatic qualifiers and four wildcards selected by Matthew, with the process resulting in a blend of youth and experience that the captain will hope will be the winning formula.

Three-time veterans Carlota Ciganda and Caroline Hedwall made the line-up along with rookie Anne van Dam as the three players at the top of the LET Solheim Cup points standings. Charley Hull, Georgia Hall, Azahara Munoz, Caroline Masson and Anna Nordqvist earned their spots as the top five best ranked players in the world not already qualified.

Matthew decided to split her four picks equally with two rookies in Celine Boutier and Bronte Law joined by the experience of Suzann Petterson, who had originally been a vice-captain, and Jodi Ewart Shadoff. That pair have appeared in eight and two previous Solheim Cups respectively.

In a slightly different qualifying process, the leading eight players in the Solheim Cup points standings made the United States team as well as the highest two players in the world rankings not to have already qualified.

It features five rookies in Nelly Korda, Megan Khang, Marina Alex and Brittany Altomare who all earned their spots via the points standings, and fellow debutant Annie Park who qualified through the world rankings.

Five Solheim Cup veterans made the line-up in Lexi Thompson and Lizette Salas, both who have played three previous times, and Danielle King, Jessica Korda and Angel Yin, who all have one previous appearance to their name.

Inkster’s two wildcard picks saw her add experience to the team having selected Stacy Lewis and Morgan Pressel, who have featured in nine previous Solheim Cups between them—four for the former and five times for the latter.

Solheim Cup Format

The familiar format will once again be used during the 2019 Solheim Cup, start with four foursomes matches on the opening morning on Friday, September 13 followed by four fourballs matches in the afternoon.

The format is repeated on day two with morning foursomes and afternoon fourballs, with four players from each team sit out each session. All 12 players then contests the Sunday singles when it will be decide which side of the Atlantic the Solheim Cup will be heading.

Each match is worth one point, with a half for a tied match. With 28 points in total up for grabs, the United States need 14 points to retain the Solheim Cup while the European team need 14.5 points to regain it.