There are just 50 days left until the 19th edition of the Solheim Cup is set to begin at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., and with the end of the Qualification Period coming up in just under a month, the battle to make both the U.S. and European Solheim Cup teams is starting to reach its fever pitch with time running out.
Three players have already mathematically clinched their spots on the U.S. team. Nelly Korda’s sixth victory at the Mizuho Americas Open solidified the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1’s place on the 2024 American squad. It will be her fourth time representing the Red, White and Blue, as the 25-year-old also competed for the U.S. in the 2019, 2021 and 2023 Solheim Cups.
The 14-time LPGA Tour winner boasts a 7-4-1 record, earning 7.5 total points in her previous three Solheim Cup appearances.
Rolex Rankings No. 2 Lilia Vu followed in Korda’s footsteps, clinching her spot on the U.S. team after winning the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and then finishing in a tie for second the very next week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club.
Vu has captured five LPGA Tour victories since the Qualification Period began at the 2023 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, winning the Honda LPGA Thailand, The Chevron Championship, the AIG Women’s Open and The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican in 2023 before collecting her fifth career title at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, Mich.
This will be her second consecutive Solheim Cup appearance, as the Epson Tour graduate made her debut in the event last year at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain. She earned one point for the Americans in her debut, defeating Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom in the Sunday singles matches.
A tie for 10th at The Amundi Evian Championship earned Ally Ewing her place on the 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup team, and the Mississippi native will now be representing the Americans for a fourth consecutive time at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. She has earned an impressive 11 top-10 results since the beginning of the Qualification Period, five of which have come in her last five starts on the LPGA Tour and three of which have come in 2024 major championships.
The three-time LPGA Tour winner competed for the U.S. Solheim Cup team in 2019, 2021 and 2023, earning a 3-8-1 record and collecting 3.5 points for the Americans in her 12 total career matches.
Allisen Corpuz, Megan Khang, Lauren Coughlin and Andrea Lee currently round out the top seven automatic qualifying spots in the U.S. Solheim Cup point standings. Corpuz and Lee were rookies on the U.S. squad in 2023 in Spain, while 2023 CPKC Women’s Open winner Khang is vying for a spot on her fourth U.S. Solheim Cup team.
Coughlin, on the other hand, is trying to qualify for her very first Solheim Cup, something that would be a dream come true for the 31-year-old LPGA Tour veteran. Currently sitting at sixth on the points list, the Virginia native has recorded six top-10 results since last year’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, four of which have come this season and two of which were in major championships.
Coughlin earned her first top 10 of the 2024 seasons with a T8 showing at the Ford Championship presented by KCC and then earned her career-best finish in a major just two starts later at The Chevron Championship, tying for third at The Club at Carlton Woods.
In June, Coughlin tied for ninth at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, and earlier this month, she nearly won her first major title at The Amundi Evian Championship, ultimately finishing solo fourth in Evian-les-Bains, France.
Two spots will also be awarded to the two highest-ranked American players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, who are currently Rose Zhang (No. 9) and Alison Lee (No. 24). Three players will then be picked by U.S. Captain Stacy Lewis after the Qualification Period ends following the AIG Women’s Open, selections who will round out the squad teeing it up in Gainesville, Va.
On the European side, LPGA Tour winners Charley Hull and Linn Grant currently lead the way in the European Solheim Cup point standings. Hull has earned three top-three results on the Ladies European Tour this season, while Grant captured her second career Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed title last month in spectacular fashion in Helsingborg, Sweden.
Six athletes will automatically qualify for the European team based on their position in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. As of Monday, July 22, those six players are currently Celine Boutier (No. 7), Maja Stark (No. 23), Leona Maguire (No. 29), Carlota Ciganda (No. 31), Madelene Sagstrom (No. 34) and Georgia Hall (No. 39).
European Captain Suzanne Pettersen will then select four players as captain’s picks to complete her squad, and like the Americans, the Europeans will finalize their team after the AIG Women’s Open at the Old Course at St Andrews.
The 19th edition of the Solheim Cup will be contested on U.S. soil, just outside the nation’s capital in Gainesville, Va., at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. For more information, please visit https://www.solheimcupusa.com.
