Maguire secures third Solheim Cup appearance as skippers prepare to announce wildcards
Stacy Lewis of the United States speaks in a press conference ahead of the AIG Women's Open at St Andrews Old Course on August 21, 2024 in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Kate McShane/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Leona Maguire will make her third Solheim Cup appearance next month, with European skipper Suzann Pettersen set to finalise her team by naming her four captain’s picks at 4 pm on Sky Sports News today.
The eight automatic places were set after the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews with England’s Charley Hull and Germany’s Esther Henseleit, the Olympic silver medalist, claiming the two spots via the LET Solheim Cup Points list.
Europe will be bidding to lift the trophy for the fourth time in a row at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia from September 13-15 after following wins at Gleneagles in 2019 and Inverness Club in Toledo 2021 with a tied match in Spain last year.
Six players qualified via the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings with France’s Celine Boutier, Swedish duo Maja Stark and Linn Grant and Maguire joined by Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Sweden’s Madelene Sagström.
Maguire will be making her third appearance in a row, having won 7.5 points from the 10 matches she has played so far.
Pettersen said: “The European team is looking great right now for the 2024 Solheim Cup. Congratulations to the eight players who have automatically qualified.
“We have so much experience on the team but it’s also great to have Esther making her Solheim Cup debut this year. The European players have been putting in great performances this year and we’re excited for September.”
US captain Stacy Lewis will announce her three captain’s picks tomorrow after the nine automatic qualifiers were decided at St Andrews on Sunday.
World number one Nelly Korda, who has won six times on the LPGA Tour this season, leads the list of seven players named to the team via the US Solheim Cup Team points standings.
She is joined by Lilia Vu, Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Allisen Corpuz, Megan Khang and Andrea Lee, with Rose Zhang and Alison Lee as the two highest Americans in the Rolex Rankings not among the seven qualifiers from the US Solheim Cup Team points standings.
“I’m just excited to have the team finalised,” Lewis said. “Much of this crew is repeating from 2023, so a lot of them have experience.
“We had five that were qualified coming into the week, and I’m happy to have Megan and Andrea back again. They were big parts of last year's success.”