Solheim Cup – Team Europe

Well we nearly got the final line up right in that we predicted three of the four captain’s picks. European Captain Catriona Matthew went for France’s Celine Boutier, English stars Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Bronte Law and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen.

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The eight players who automatically qualified for Team Europe following the conclusion of yesterday’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club were Carlota Ciganda, Anne Van Dam, Caroline Hedwall, Charley Hull, Georgia Hall, Azahara Munoz, Caroline Masson and Anna Nordqvist.

It was no surprise that Bronte Law and Celine Boutier were selected by Matthews. Law has had a good season, including her first LPGA win, and is the second highest European player in the world rankings. Boutier was on the fringes of automatic qualification and had a strong finish in the Women’s British Open at Woburn where she came sxith.

The selection of Suzann Pettersen will raise some eyebrows particularly as she has played little golf since coming back from time off from the game to have a baby. She has missed the cut in both her two starts in 2019 but brings a wealth of experience. This will be Pettersen’s ninth Solheim Cup and she was originally selected to be one of Matthew’s non playing vice-captains.

Jodie Ewart Shadoff  will be competing in her third Solheim Cup both her previous appearances in 2013 and 2017 have been on US soil. She has had a steady, if not spectacular, season with four top ten finishes on the LPGA tour.

Scotland’s Matthew, who has played in nine Solheim Cups, explained the reasoning behind her four selections: “Bronte and Celine’s excellent recent form speaks for itself in terms of why I selected them, and I think they are both going to have fantastic Solheim Cup debuts. I chose Jodi and Suzann for their vast experience, their recent good form and because I know exactly what they bring to the European team room. With our only other rookie being Anne Van Dam, who has also had an excellent year, I feel the experience of our team will be a great advantage to us along with the home crowd support.”

As Pettersen is now playing, Mel Reid will step into her shoes as a Vice Captain. Reid will join Dame Laura Davies and Kathryn Imrie who had already been named as the other two Vice captains.

Team USA has yet to be finalised with the final qualifying event being the CP Women’s Open in Canada, between 22nd and 26th of August. Lexi Thompson, Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Lisette Salas and Jessica Korda are all safely in the team but the rest of the spots are up for grabs.

Juli Inkster, Team USA’s captain will have two picks once the automatic places are decided. It may well be that the likes of Cristie Kerr and Stacy Lewis, who have starred in the event previously, may have to rely on being one of those picks.

For the final rankings of the European team and latest US team rankings, please click HERE