EUROPEAN ROOKIES RARING TO GO AT ROBERT TRENT JONES

Albane Valenzuela

Two rookies have been named to the 2024 European Solheim Cup Team by Suzann Pettersen with Esther Henseleit and Albane Valenzuela ready to make their mark.

Germany’s Henseleit secured her place in the team automatically after she jumped into one of the LET Solheim Cup Points spots.

The two-time LET winner secured a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and then followed that up with a second-place finish at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.

Henseleit, who has twice won the Magical Kenya Ladies Open on the LET, was crowned LET Order of Merit champion and Rookie of the Year in 2019.

At the time, she became the third player to achieve the feat behind fellow Solheim Cup stars Dame Laura Davies and Carlota Ciganda.

The 25-year-old began the year with a second-place finish at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented by PIF in Riyadh.

In the European majors, Henseleit finished in a share of seventh place at the Amundi Evian Championship and T37 at the AIG Women’s Open.

The second rookie on the 2024 team is Switzerland’s Valenzuela, who became a member of the Tour just 20 months ago.

Valenzuela, who predominantly plays on the LPGA, decided to come to LET Q-School in December 2022 with the hopes of being able to play in the Solheim Cup one day.

The Swiss star secured a full Tour card and her LET membership for 2023 with a T6 finish in Spain and has two top-10 finishes and one top-20 on the LET that season.

This year Valenzuela has played five LET events and remained consistent finishing in the top 30 in all of them.

Pettersen named the 26-year-old as one of her four captain’s picks after the conclusion of the AIG Women’s Open.

The rookies are the only changes to the team which retained the trophy in Spain in 2023 and will be raring to go at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club from September 13-15.

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