Golf fans have two big international team events that will be held in September beginning with the Solheim Cup, September 7-13 followed by the Presidents Cup, September 22-27.
Solheim Cup
The ladies of the LPGA will travel to the Netherlands’ Bernardus Club, located 60 miles south of Amsterdam. The host venue is not well known in the states, but the DP World Tour has held three tournaments there. Both the 2021 and 2022 Dutch Opens, as well as the 2023 KLM Open were contested on the Dutch course.
Bernardus opened in 2018 and was designed by American architect Kyle Phillips, who also built highly acclaimed Kingsbarns, in Scotland. Bernardus is privately owned, but is open to the public by purchasing a one-day member pass that allows access to the course, the spa, the restaurant and other amenities.
Team USA Automatic Qualifiers
Three Captain’s Picks will be joined by the nine automatic qualifiers, Nelly Korda, Angel Yin, Jennifer Kupcho, Yealimi Noh, Auston Kim, Lauren Coughlin, Allisen Corpuz, Andrea Lee and Allison Lee.
Angel Yin has not played on the LPGA Tour since June and there are questions surrounding her health and readiness to play. Captain Stanford has put two names in an envelope for replacements if Yin is deemed unable to play.
Captain’s Picks
American Team Captain Angela Stanford chose two veterans and one Solheim cup rookie to round out Team USA.
Meghan Kang will be competing in her fifth Solheim Cup and has been an important member of past teams with an overall record of 7-3-3.
Captain Stanford noted that Kang is the emotional leader for the Americans. For a European hosted Solheim Cup a high energy player like Kang could help keep the American team loose and mentally focused.
Rose Zhang will be playing in her third Solheim Cup. She has seen both the good and the bad. Zhang was 0-3-1 in her inaugural Solheim Cup debut in Spain, but was 4-0 in the team’s win two years ago in Virginia.
Lindy Duncan will see her first international team competition at Bernardus. Although this is her first time competing in this event, she has been a pro since 2013 and has seen the lows and highs of professional golf.
After making a quadruple-bogey 8 on the final hole of the 2022 LPGA Q Series, she failed to regain her tour status and struggled with severe mental insecurity. Her mental issues became so problematic that she considered quitting the game.
Lindy may not have the Solheim Cup experience of the other players on the team, but she has seen the depths of despair and now seeks to find joy in her game, as well as her life.
European Team
The European Team is led by Anna Nordqvist, who was a Solheim Cup standout for many years. She will bring her passion to a very strong European team.
While many players on the American Team are younger and relatively unknown, the Europeans have several familiar names on their roster.
The team will consist of eight automatic qualifiers, Charley Hull, Esther Henseleit, Lottie Woad, Maja Stark, Celine Boutier, Carotta Sigunda, Linn Grant and Nanna Koerstz Madsen
Nordqvist’s four Captain’s picks include, Leona Maguire, Julia Lopez Ramirez, Nastasia Nadaud, Mimi Rhodes
Maguire has Solheim Experience and led the team that defeated the U.S. handily at Inverness. Lopez, Nadaud and Rhodes are Solheim Cup rookies.
Something that could help the Americans, three past Solheim Cup stalwarts, Georgia Hall, Madelene Sagstrom and Emily Kristine Pedersen have opted out of the competition. Hall and Sagstrom are both coming off giving birth and Pedersen has seemed to have lost her game of late.
The Americans are 11-7-1 in the Solheim Cup, but the Europeans have won two of the last four events played, plus earned a tie at the 2023 Solheim Cup played in Spain to retain the cup. Team USA is experiencing a ten-year drought and has not won on European soil since 2017.
Team USA will have their work cut out for them against a very strong European Team.
Presidents Cup
The Presidents Cup will be held September 22-27 at historic Medinah Country Club in Chicago. Its distinctive Byzantine-style Moroccan-domed clubhouse features minarets and classic Moorish architecture.
The club boasts three championship courses with No. 3 being the course used for big events. It hosted the 1949, 1975 and 1990 U.S. Opens, plus the 1999 and 2006 PGA Championships. It was also the site of Europe’s triumph in the 2021 Ryder Cup.
The course may look a little different this time as the International Team Captain, Geoff Ogilvy recently completed a renovation of the course.
Team USA
The American Team will be led by Captain Brandt Snedeker. He inherits a very strong team loaded with seven of the Top 10 ranked players on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
The six automatic qualifiers will feature world number one, Scottie Scheffler, who will be joined by Wyndham Clark, Cam Young, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa
After the Tour Championship, Captain Snedeker must decide on his six Captain’s picks. The next six on the Presidents Cup points list are, Chris Gotterup, Ben Griffin, Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Justin Thomas and Jacob Bridgeman.
Will Snedeker pick the next six on the points list, or will he choose #13 Patrick Cantlay, #14 Akshay Bhatia, or #15 Mav McNealy. All good choices to be sure.
He could also decide to give youth a chance. Jackson Koivun, Michael Brennan, and Michael Thorbjornson are young guys who won the final three regular season events at Minneapolis, Detroit & Wyndham.
International Team
Geoff Ogilvy will lead an International Team that, on paper does not stack up favorably versus the deep American Team.
The 2026 International Team will be comprised of six automatic qualifiers, based on OWGR rankings and six Captain’s Picks. The automatic qualifiers will be determined following the TOUR Championship.
Si Woo Kim is currently the leading International player at #13 on the OWGR. Hideki Matsuyama #24 and OPEN Championship winner #25 Ryan Fox are the three highest ranked players for the International team.
Tom Kim recently won on the PGA Tour and has been a solid performer on past Presidents Cup Teams. Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Corey Connors, Nico Echavarria, Sung jae Im, Ryo Hisatsune, Jason day and Casey Jervis round out the top 12 on for the Internationals.
Aldrich Potgieter and Nick Taylor could be possible picks for Captain Olgilvy.
Joaquin Niemann has been dominating the LIV circuit and would be a solid addition to the International squad, but he is suspended from the PGA Tour and not eligible for the Presidents Cup.
Presidents Cup History
The American Team has dominated the Presidents Cup since its inception in 1994. In the previous 15 matches the United States is 13-1-1.
The International Team captained by Peter Thomson won the third Presidents Cup, in 1998, when it was held at Royal Melbourne. The teams dueled to a tie when darkness forced an end to a playoff featuring Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. Captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player declared the 2003 Presidents Cup deadlocked and settled for a tie.
Final Thought
Once again. the American team is much stronger and deeper than the International team. Captain Olgilvy will have his work cut out to keep it close. It will be no surprise if Team USA adds yet another Presidents Cup victory.
