By: Max Bechtoldt
Believe it or not, the Solheim Cup in early September is fast approaching, and with all the majors plus the Olympics happening in the meantime, it can be easy to forget about. But team speculation is a fun aspect of women’s golf discussion. So here, I will be breaking down who I would make as a captain’s selection if the Solheim Cup were this week.
Note, I won’t be selecting any players currently qualifying. That means for the purposes of this exercise, Charley Hull, Alexandra Försterling, Celine Boutier, Maja Stark, Carlota Ciganda, Leona Maguire, Linn Grant and Georgia Hall are already on the team.
So without further ado, these are the players I would choose to round out that Solheim Cup team:
ANNA NORDQVIST
It would just feel wrong to have a European Solheim Cup team without Nordqvist. She’s played in every Solheim Cup since 2009, which adds up to eight total. She has a solid career 15-13-3 record in the event, brought down a bit by her performance in 2023. Nordqvist was one of the weaker performers on the team, going 1-3, but she did get a big Sunday singles win. While Nordqvist hasn’t had a lot of high results this year, she does have four top-20 finishes.
MADELENE SAGSTRÖM
I said at the beginning of the year that Sagström would need a good season to earn a Solheim Cup spot on a very competitive European squad. And she is off to a good enough start to make it here. Sagström has three top 10 finishes, including her narrow loss to Rose Zhang at the Founders Cup. She’s only missed one cut, at the Ford Championship, and is ranked No. 14 in the CME Standings. While she doesn’t have a great Solheim Cup resumé, 3-5-1 in three appearances, her level of golf is rock solid.
EMILY KRISTINE PEDERSEN
On paper, Pedersen doesn’t have a great Solheim Cup record, she’s 5-6-1 in three appearances, but that is a bit skewed. She went 0-3-0 in 2017, her first appearance. Since then she is 5-3-1 including 2-2-1 in 2023. Pedersen has some struggles around the green, which we saw at times in Spain, but when her putter is working, which we also saw in Spain, she can be unstoppable. This season, she is actually putting better than she has in recent memory, which has led to two top-seven finishes on the LPGA Tour. While she isn’t the most consistent player on tour, that is a bit less of a factor in the Solheim Cup.
ESTHER HENSELEIT
It is likely that captain Pettersen will employ a similar strategy to her captain’s picks as she did in 2023, picking for experience first. Caroline Hedwall will probably find a spot on the team despite her struggles in 2024. If I were picking though, I would go with Henseleit. Like Pedersen, she isn’t the most consistent player, but she has had some fantastic 2024 results. She has two top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour, including at The Chevron Championship. She also was a runner-up at the Aramco Ladies International against a loaded field. I think Pettersen could pair first-time German players Försterling and Henseleit together, similar to her usage of Grant and Stark in 2023.
