The roster for the U.S. Solheim Cup team was announced Tuesday morning, with captain Stacy Lewis revealing her three picks to complete the 12-player American side set to face Europe next month. The U.S. team is bidding to end a record drought at the team event, staged this year at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va.
Highlighting a lineup filled with firepower are Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu, the two top-ranked players in the world who are both two-time major champions. The U.S. team also features world No. 10 Rose Zhang, as well as four more players ranked in the top 25.
The rest of the automatic qualifiers for the United States include Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Allisen Corpuz, Megan Khang, Andrea Lee and Alison Lee, who will be playing in her second Solheim Cup but first since 2015, the longest span for an American between appearances. They had secured automatic berths following the final qualifying event last week at the Women’s British Open.
“I’m just excited to have the team finalized,” said Lewis, who is serving as U.S. captain for a second consecutive cycle. “Much of this crew is repeating from 2023, so a lot of them have experience.”
Nine players from that team — Korda, Vu, Ewing, Corpuz, Khang, Zhang, Thompson, Kupcho and Andrea Lee — are seeking redemption following last year’s 14-all tie in Andalusia, Spain, that allowed the Europeans to retain the trophy. The United States lost the previous two meetings, in 2021 and 2019, by a combined three points.
The United States, which had not gone winless in more than two straight Solheim Cups until this current downturn, last prevailed in 2017 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. Lewis was a player on that team, as was Thompson, who announced in late May during an emotional news conference at the U.S. Women’s Open that she would be stepping away from a full-time schedule at the end of the year.
Thompson, 29, is by far the most experienced player for the United States with six previous Solheim Cup appearances. Korda, Ewing and Khang all will be making their fourth appearance. Coughlin, the ACC individual champion in 2016 at Virginia, and Schmelzel will be making their Solheim Cup debuts.
