Eight of the 12 players for the European Solheim Cup team are now set in stone, with rising star Lottie Woad leading the way.
The 22-year-old Englishwoman was named to her first Solheim Cup team on Sunday when the automatic qualifiers locked in following the AIG Women’s Open.
Two players, Charley Hull of England and Esther Henseleit of Germany, qualified from the Ladies European Tour’s Solheim Cup points list. Six more clinched via their positions in the women’s world golf rankings: Woad, Sweden’s Maja Stark, France’s Celine Boutier, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, Linn Grant of Sweden and Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark.
Captain Anna Nordqvist of Sweden will name four captain’s picks on Monday to complete her roster.
Woad, a former No. 1 amateur in the world, made a splash last summer when she won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur and captured the Women’s Scottish Open three weeks later in her professional debut. She added another professional win in May at the Kroger Queen City Championship on the LPGA Tour.
She has been part of several winning teams as a junior golfer, including for the Great Britain and Ireland team in the 2024 Curtis Cup, so clinching her first spot on a Solheim Cup team was only a matter of time.
“I’m very excited to make my debut at the Solheim Cup,” Woad said in a statement released by the Ladies European Tour. “For my first one to be on European soil is very special, and I’m really looking forward to having all the European fans there.”
Her countrywoman Hull will be competing in her eighth Solheim Cup. The 30-year-old has a 15-9-3 record at the event and was part of victorious European teams in 2013, 2019 and 2021.
Europe will also have one of the hottest players in the sport in Henseleit, who used two outstanding finishes in Europe to clinch second place in the LET Solheim Cup points standings.
Henseleit took fourth place at the Women’s Scottish Open last month and nearly pulled out her first major title Sunday at the Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes. Henseleit sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force a playoff with Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki before settling for runner-up.
“I’m really happy to be part of the European Solheim Cup Team again,” Henseleit said in a statement. “It was a great experience last time out in the U.S. but I’m very excited to be in the team on European soil. With it being so close to Germany, I hope a lot of fans come out and watch.”
The Solheim Cup will be played Sept. 11-13 at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands. Angela Stanford will captain the American team, which will defend its ownership of the cup after a three-point home victory in 2024.
–Field Level Media
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