The European qualification process for the Solheim Cup concluded this Sunday with the AIG Women’s Open and there are already eight golfers who are automatically in the team. They are Charley Hull and Esther Henseleit, through the Ladies European Tour points list, and Celine Boutier, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, Leona Maguire, Carlota Ciganda and Madelene Sasgtrom by the world ranking. Regarding the golfers who qualified directly, there are two changes compared to Finca Cortesín a year ago. Henseleit and Sagstrom come in instead of Georgia Hall and Anna Nordqvist.
The Solheim team, as you all know, is made up of twelve players, so the names of the four who will complete the Old Continent’s squad are still to be known. Captain Suzann Pettersen will announce them this Monday at five in the afternoon, Spanish peninsular time. You only have to wait a few hours, but you already know how journalism works and in its eagerness to try to anticipate what is going to happen.
In this article we make a prediction about those four names that will come out of the charismatic Norwegian’s mouth. There are two that are really simple. They are on everyone’s mind. Precisely, the aforementioned ones. Both Nordqvist and Hall, two heavyweights of the team, have been left out by very little and will undoubtedly be in Virginia in three weeks. So, there are two other places to be awarded and here there are more doubts.
We could say that the candidates that have been considered in the last hours have been about eight: Nanna Madsen, Alexandra Forsterling, Albane Valenzuela, Gemma Dryburgh, Caroline Hedwall, Emily Pedersen and Jodi Ewart. Unfortunately, beyond Carlota, no other Spaniard has managed to get into the final battle to be in the Solheim. Of those seven, only two can remain.
Hedwall is something like the Poulter of the Solheim. Her performance at Finca Cortesín was decisive on Sunday, she has a lot of grit and Pettersen likes her, but her results in 2024 have been very poor. She has not played a single LPGA tournament, not a Major and has barely added a top 10 in the LET. She is, therefore, automatically ruled out.
Jodi Ewart has missed the last five cuts and was already left out at the last moment at Finca Cortesín, as Pettersen is not entirely convinced by her. She is a reliable player, but needed to do much more in recent weeks to earn a place.
Nanna Madsen already played the Solheim two editions ago and performed at a magnificent level. The Dane seems to be regaining her best form in recent weeks, but even so her results in 2024 are too discreet. She was tenth in the British and was eighth two weeks ago in Canada, but failed in the Games and missed the cut in the three previous Majors. She has a lot of birdies and is well regarded, but needed something more to knock down the door.
Gemma Dryburgh was indeed at the 2023 Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesín, although her participation was minor. She played only two points, a fourball with Sagstrom and the individual. She tied both. Again, her most recent performances have not been good. She has missed seven of the last ten cuts, including the British, Scotland, did not participate in the Games and her best result in a Major this year was 17th at the Evian. Her last top 10 in the LPGA was in March.
Alexandra Forsterling has done almost everything she could to be in the Solheim Cup. She has won three tournaments in the last year on the LET, including an Aramco, however her performances on the LPGA Tour and in the Majors have not been good. She has played eleven tournaments on the American circuit and her best result has been a 27th. Pettersen already made it clear that she wanted players seasoned on the LPGA Tour. It has been Forsterling’s great handicap, although no one doubts that sooner rather than later she will be on the team.
So, Pettersen’s two chosen ones will be Emily Pedersen and Albane Valenzuela. Pedersen is a weakness of Pettersen. She showed it at Finca Cortesín playing all five points. Her performance, moreover, was very good, winning 2.5 points. She has not had a good year, but it has not been a disaster either. She has achieved two top 10s in LPGA tournaments plus two more in Aramco tournaments. Her results in the Majors have been bad, but she blindly trusts her birdie ability and her connection with other players. She is a golfer who makes a dressing room.
This year’s big novelty and bet will be Albane Valenzuela. She will be the first golfer in Swiss history at the Solheim Cup. She has come very close to qualifying and her results are a model of solidity and consistency. She is not the player with the most birdies, but a lot of trust is placed in her for the foursomes. She finished second this year in Thailand on the LPGA Tour and has added eleven places among the top 30 in 22 tournaments. She has only missed three cuts and has done well in some important events: 20th in the British, 20th in Scotland, 13th in the Games and 22nd in the Evian. She is a prodigy of regularity.
These are our two bets with their corresponding arguments, although the last word, as is logical, will have Suzann Pettersen. By the way, write down this name for the coming years: Nataliya Guseva. The Russian is very young, but her rise in the world ranking in the last year has been meteoric. She is already among the top hundred and already has very good results. She was second in Portland and sixth in Canada and at the JM Eagle. This Solheim comes perhaps a little early and without having yet demonstrated things in the Majors. Who knows if another rooster would have sung if she had played in Scotland, Games or British. Her statistics are very good, she has a lot of birdies, is long and very solid. Don’t lose sight of her for 2026 if she maintains this evolution.
