Solheim Cup: Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Lexi Thompson set to lead U.S. team looking for first win since 2017

Ryan Young

The United States Solheim Cup team is officially set.

Captain Stacy Lewis announced her three picks to round out the 12-player team that will take on Europe next month in the Ryder Cup-style event at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.

The American team will be led by Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu, who are the top two ranked players in the world. Former Stanford star Rose Zhang, who is at No. 10 in the world, also earned an automatic spot in the team, as did Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Allisen Corpuz, Megan Khang, Andrea Lee and Allison Lee.

Lewis then brought in stars Lexi Thompson, Jennifer Kupcho and Sarah Schmelzel with her three captain’s picks. Thompson will be playing in her seventh Solheim Cup. Nine of the 12 golfers were on the team last year, too.

“I’m just excited to have the team finalized,” Lewis said, via The Washington Post. “Much of this crew is repeating from 2023, so a lot of them have experience.”

Europe retained the Solheim Cup last year after Korda tied in her singles match against Carlota Ciganda at Finca Cortesin in Spain. That would have marked the first win for the Americans on international soil since 2015.

Korda has won six times on the LPGA Tour this season. She went on an incredible stretch where she won in five consecutive starts, too, which is something that’s only been done two other times in Tour history. She won the Chevron Championship earlier this season, as well, and finished second at the women’s British Open.

Vu finished tied for second at the women’s British Open with Korda. She won the Meijer LPGA Classic in June for her fifth career win. Zhang, after dominating at Stanford, has won twice in her career on Tour, including earlier this season at the Cognizant Founders Cup.

Thompson is by far the most experienced person on the team. She holds a 9-7-7 all-time record, and she’s one of just two players on the team who has been on a winning American team. The United States has not won the event since 2017 when it was held in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Experience always helps, no where it is or what event it is,” Thompson said, via The Post. “Just bringing that energy and that positive mindset to the team, but it’s all about coming together as one, especially that week, and being positive for everybody and being there for each other.”

The European Solheim Cup team consists of Charley Hull, Esther Hanseleit, Celine Boutier, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, Leona Maguire, Carlota Ciganda, Madelene Sagstrom, Georgia Hall, Anna Nordqvist, Emily Kristine Pedersen and Albane Valenzuela.

The Solheim Cup is set for Sept. 13-15 in Virginia. The biennial competition is being held in consecutive years for the first time in more than two decades in order to play it opposite of the Ryder Cup.

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