Georgia Hall, Charley Hull and Mel Reid are all in Europe’s team for their defence of the Solheim Cup against the United States in September.
Hall and Hull qualified automatically, while Reid is one of six captain’s picks made by Catriona Matthew.
Reid missed out on a pick last time out at Gleneagles and took on vice-captain duties during Europe’s victory. The 2020 ShopRite LPGA Classic winner is raring to go and excited to return to the Solheim Cup stage. “I’m not shy when I speak about how much the Solheim Cup means to me, so to be back on that team again means the world. I think the team is looking strong and I’m already excited to see everyone in just over a week,” Reid said.
Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Madelene Sagstrom, Matilda Castren, Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Celine Boutier are Matthew’s other captain’s picks. The remaining four players that qualified automatically are Women’s Open champion Anna Nordqvist, Germany’s Sophia Popov, Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda.
Maguire becomes the first Irish player to represent Europe at the Solheim Cup. The 26-year-old, who finished T6 at The Amundi Evian Championship, put on a good performance at Carnoustie to end the tournament T13. She said: “I’m really excited. I played in the PING Junior Solheim Cup in 2009 and 2011, and it was an incredible thing to be part of the junior side, so to be on the ‘big’ team is something really special, especially as no Irish person has ever done it before. I think it’s going to be great for Irish golf and to show the young girls coming up that it is possible to do things if you set your mind to it.”
While Koerstz Madsen just missed out on automatic qualification through the LET points, her consistent performances and T5 finish at Carnoustie secured her pick. Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom, who played in the 2017 matches, also returns to the side after putting on a show at Carnoustie this week. The 28-year-old finished in a tie for second place and can’t wait to be back with the European team at the Solheim Cup. She said: “I feel super excited to represent Europe at the Solheim Cup, yet another time. 2017 was my first time and it’s what everyone dreams about doing. The atmosphere is phenomenal and it’s playing on the world’s biggest stage. It’s an honour to be there.”
Among the leading names to miss out include Bronte Law and Jodi Ewart Shadoff. Law, the 26-year-old from Stockport who impressed on her debut in the biennial matches two years, was fancied for a spot in the team after Matthew previously extolled her competitive spirit. Yet Law’s mediocre run of form continued with a missed cut in Carnoustie. giving the European captain little choice but to look elsewhere. Ewart Shadoff, meanwhile, has proven a valuable team member, playing in two winning squads, but she too has been out of sorts of late.
Matthew’s toughest task was to tell Sanna Nuutinen that she had fallen short. She went into the last qualifying event in second place on the LET standings, but despite showing up well at the Women’s Open – challenging for three days until fading away on Sunday into a tie for 26th – she was leapfrogged by Hall.
Matthew said: “Sanna is unlucky. She was playing well coming into it and played well this week. She just maybe didn’t quite finish it off. You could say that Sanna’s misfortune was that so many of the others played well. We had most of our picks set but that last kind of one or two with so many of our players playing well this week, there were so many kind of different scenarios. We had about three or four different teams that could happen depending on what happened at Carnoustie. It was obviously a difficult conversation with Sanna, but she was very good about it.
Speaking about the balance of her team, Matthew added: “I’m really happy with my team right now. Congratulations to Anna [Nordqvist] on her AIG Women’s Open win and securing a qualifying spot in the team. There is plenty of experience there and it is great to have Sophia [Popov] representing Europe for the first time. Over the past few months, so many European players have been playing well and throwing their name in the hat. Choosing picks is always the toughest part, but I believe we’ll have a great team.”
World number one Nelly Korda leads the US challenge in the biennial event which will be held at Inverness Club in Ohio from September 4-6. The 23-year-old is the emerging star of the women’s game after winning her first major at the Women’s PGA in June and backing that up with gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games. She will be joined by her sister Jessica, Danielle Kang, Ally Ewing, Austin Ernst, Lexi Thompson, Megan Khang, Lizette Salas and Jennifer Kupcho. US captain Pat Hurst will name her three picks later today.
Europe’s 2021 Solheim Cup team
Automatic Qualifiers: Georgia Hall, Charley Hull, Anna Nordqvist, Sophia Popov, Emily Kristine Pedersen, Carlota Ciganda.
Captain’s Picks: Mel Reid, Leona Maguire, Madelene Sagstrom, Matilda Castren, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Celine Boutier.
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