One of the biggest stories to come out of the last couple of weeks in women’s golf is Lottie Woad’s emergence on the professional scene. Of course, Woad was already a superstar amateur, but the last two weeks she has proven that she can hang with the best of the world. Today, she announced she would be accepting membership on both the LPGA Tour and the European Tour.
Nordqvist will have an interesting job as captain of Europe in the 2026 Solheim Cup. Some of the stalwarts on the team over the past decade probably aren’t so easy of picks. Georgia Hall has fallen out of the top 100 in the world. Emily Kristien Pedersen had a good week at Evian but is still ranked No. 132. Nordqvist herself won’t be playing this year as she has in the past.
While all three of these players have been valuable team members and have had some great moments, their current level of play would put Europe at a massive talent disadvantage. Coming off a loss in 2024, new blood seems to be necessary.
In addition, a bubble player like Albane Valenzuela certainly does not have a guaranteed spot at the moment.
It should be assumed that one potentially open slot will go to Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad, the young star who won the 2024 Annika Award for best women’s college golfer. Her LPGA Tour career has gotten off to a bit of a rocky and inconsistent start, but the good moments have made her look like a star. She won the JM Eagle LA Championship and is ranked No. 40 in the Rolex Rankings. That should only improve over the next year.
Then it comes to Woad.
Woad’s resumé as a 21-year-old who has yet to make her debut as a professional is loaded. She won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2024, has been ranked No. 1 as an amateur for over a full year, has three top-25 finishes in majors (including two top-10 finishes) and a win on the Ladies European Tour.
Woad has now qualified with points in the LPGA Tour’s LEAP program. This means she has earned her LPGA Tour card and she announced today that she will be accepting membership.
Nordqvist already indicated that Woad would be in consideration for a spot on the team when the time comes. Woad figures to be a part of this team for the next decade at least, so getting valuable experience could be essential.
There are a couple of other names in the mix. Julia Lopez Ramirez is still ranked low, but many became familiar with her immense talent at the U.S. Women’s Open and she has been in solid form ever since. Adela Cernousek has had a rough first year on the LPGA Tour, but as she proved at the NCAA Division I National Championship last year, she has elite talent.
LET players should be considered as well, like Helen Briem who played well in the early rounds at Evian and Chiara Tamburlini who has been in contention seemingly every week on the LET.
There’s a lot of names that will be in consideration for the next European Solheim Cup team, and some of the stalwarts should not take that for granted.
