The Solheim Cup is a biennial

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It is named after the Norwegian- American

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety ...

manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force behind its creation. The inaugural Cup was held in 1990, and the event was first staged in even numbered years until 2002, alternating years with the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

(the equivalent men's event). As part of the general reshuffling of team golf events after the one-year postponement of the

2001 Ryder Cup The 34th Ryder Cup was held 27–29 September 2002 in England, on the Brabazon Course at The Belfry in Wishaw, Warwickshire (near Sutton Coldfield). The European team won the competition by a margin of 15 to 12, the largest margin of victory ...

following the

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, the Solheim Cup switched to odd numbered years beginning in 2003. Another reshuffle of team golf events took place in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and the Solheim Cup will return to even numbered years from 2024. The United States teams have won the cup 10 times, compared with seven for Europe. The current holders are Europe, who won at the Inverness Club in

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, in 2021.

Format

The tournament is played over three days. Since 2002, there have been 28 matches—eight foursomes and eight four-balls played on days 1 and 2, and 12 singles on the final day. This format is also used in the

. Before 1996, and also in 2000, the Solheim Cup used a similar, but abbreviated format. One point is awarded to the team that wins each match; in the event of a tie, both teams score half a point. After all matches are complete, the team with more points wins or retains the Cup. Any ties are broken in favor of the defending champion team. In addition to the indicated number of players, each team includes one captain and a set number of assistant captains (three as of 2015), none of whom play in the matches.

Team qualification and selection

The U.S. team is selected by a points system, with American players on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of wee ...

receiving points for each top-twenty finish on tour. Through the 2013 event, U.S. citizens born outside the country were ineligible for consideration; beginning in 2015, eligibility for Team USA was expanded to include many more categories of (female) U.S. citizens. For the European team, up to 2005, seven players were selected on a points system based on results on the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal str ...

(LET). This allowed top European players who competed mainly on the

LPGA The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

Tour to be selected to ensure that the European team was competitive. Since 2007, only the top five players from the LET qualify and another four are selected on the basis of the

Women's World Golf Rankings The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by eight women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association ( ...

. This reflects the increasing dominance of the LPGA Tour, where almost all top European players spend most of their time. In addition, each team has a number of "captain's picks", players chosen at the discretion of the team captains, regardless of their point standings, though in practice the captain's picks are often the next ranking players.

Captains

Team captains are typically recently retired

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

s with Solheim Cup playing experience, chosen for their experience playing on previous Cup teams and for their ability to lead a team.

Results

In the 17 competitions through 2021, the United States leads the series 10 to 7.

Future venues

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Finca Cortesín Golf Club In English usage, a ''finca'' (; ) refers to a piece of rural or agricultural land, typically with a cottage, farmhouse or estate (land), estate building present, and often adjacent to a woodland or plantation. Overview Especially in tourism, t ...

in Casares near Málaga,

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; it has previously hosted three Volvo World Match Play Championships. *2024: Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in

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; it has previously hosted four Presidents Cup matches. *2026: Bernardus Golf in

Cromvoirt Cromvoirt is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Vught. History The village was first mentioned in 1312 as Crumvoert, and means "crooked fordable place". The Catholic St Lambertus Church was ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

; it has previously hosted two editions (2021, 2022) of the

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Records

*Most appearances: 12
°

Laura Davies Dame Laura Jane Davies, (born 5 October 1963) is an English female professional golfer. She has achieved the status of her nation's most accomplished female golfer of modern times, being the first non-American to finish at the top of the LPGA ...

(Eur), 1990–2011 *Most points: 25
°

(Eur) (22–18–6 record) *Most singles points won: 7
°

Juli Inkster Juli Inkster (born Juli Simpson; June 24, 1960) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. With a professional career spanning 29 years to date, Inkster's 31 wins rank her second in wins among all active players on the LPGA ...

(USA) (6–1–2 record) *Most foursome points won: 11
°

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 intern ...

(Eur) (11–3–1 record) *Most fourball points won: 11
°

Cristie Kerr Cristie Kerr (born October 12, 1977) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. She has 20 wins on the LPGA Tour, including two major championships, and over $19 million in career earnings. Kerr was the number one-ranked go ...

(USA) (11–5–1 record) *Top point percentage (Minimum of 3 Solheim Cup Matches)
° Janice Moodie (Eur) (7–2–2)
°

Carin Koch Anna Carin Pernilla Hjalmarsson Koch (née Hjalmarsson; born 23 February 1971) is a Swedish professional golfer who previously played on the Ladies European Tour and on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was captain of the 2015 European Solheim Cup te ...

(Eur) (10–3–3)
°

Dottie Pepper Dottie Pepper (born August 17, 1965) is an American professional golfer and television golf broadcaster. From 1988 to 1995 she competed as Dottie Mochrie, which was her married name before a divorce. She won two major championships and 17 LPGA T ...

(USA) (13–5–2)
°

Christina Kim Christina Kim (born March 15, 1984) is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour and on the Ladies European Tour (LET). She is known for her animated style of play, flamboyant dress, and outgoing personality. Kim compet ...

(USA) (6–2–2) *Most points in a single contest: 5
° Caroline Hedwall (Eur) 2013 *Youngest player:
° Charley Hull (Eur) 2013 *Oldest player:
°

(USA) 2011 SourcesThe Solheim Cup - Match history & records
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Notes

References

External links

* {{Golf Team golf tournaments Women's golf tournaments Ladies European Tour events LPGA Tour events Women's golf tournaments in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1990