The 2026 Solheim Cup is in the books, and it is time to hand out grades, starting with the two captains Anna Nordqvist and Angela Stanford:
Anna Nordqvist – A
As was the case with her predecessor Suzann Pedersen, Nordqvist seemed to captain much more on a feel level than an analytical one, a strategy she pulled off much better.
There were strokes of brilliance with Nordqvist, starting with her captain’s picks. Each of her four picks has .500 records or better, with the two most difficult selections, Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes, both contributing winning records. She was given the ideal eight-person roster for the qualifiers, and she couldn’t have done better building the rest of the team out.
Pairings wise, she corrected the mistake from 2024, where Maja Stark and Linn Grant didn’t play together once. They played three rounds together and went 3-0, defeating the undefeated pairing of Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz and the pairing of Lauren Coughlin and Megan Khang, who were both on long winning streaks. The other star pairing, Nadaud and Rhodes, was not expected by the commentary team, but they went 2-0 and played well in both formats.
Another corrected mistake, getting more out of Leona Maguire. While she went only 2-2 for the week, she is such a pivotal and intimidating member of the team that needs to be out there. She can rally at any time and she mostly carried her foursomes matches.
Now, it wasn’t a perfect week from Nordqvist, though it was dang close. The only real criticism from me is her sending Charley Hull and Lottie Woad for a fourth round. The pairing clearly wasn’t living up to its potential, and three times is one thing, but she should’ve tried something different for that last go around. I would also question her playing Celine Boutier and Nanna Koerstz Madsen for a second round on Friday, but she managed Koerstz Madsen well on Saturday to cover that up.
More than anything though, Nordqvist was clearly just a player the team wanted to win for. She seemed to handle the personalities well and bring back the cohesion we are so used to seeing from the Europeans. She got the most out of the team on Sunday to win and always seemed to know the right group to be with.
If I was in charge of naming the next Solheim Cup captain for Europe, I would not hesitate to name Nordqvist once again.
Angela Stanford – B-
In most cases, you can win because of great captains, but it is hard to lose because of the captain. I think that applies to Angela Stanford.
Stanford didn’t make glaring mistakes, but there weren’t really any moments of brilliance either. She didn’t necessarily find a new incredible partnership or get the most out of her star players. Those would be the two biggest critiques here.
It is hard to win a road Solheim Cup, and I do not envy the position she was in. The European crowds were rowdy but mostly respectful, still it did get under the skin of some American players. The thing I would commend Stanford on most as keeping that team room positive. The United States fell down in a lot of matches early and rallied back. On Saturday, it seemed like Team USA was in danger of letting it slip away before singles even started. They did an incredible job of forcing an 8-8 tie.
Pairings wise, she did the obvious positives. You have to pair Allisen Corpuz and Nelly Korda together and Alison Lee and Megan Khang is always a good move. Finding the Lauren Coughlin and Lee pairing was probably her biggest accomplishment in this facet of the job. They looked great together and it led to Lee having a phenomenal performance.
Sending Jennifer Kupcho and Rose Zhang out for a second round wasn’t a great idea and it seemed like she really struggled to find what to do with Auston Kim. She also never paired Zhang and Andrea Lee together, who played spectacularly in 2024.
Nelly Korda, Allisen Corpuz and Megan Khang were expected to be three players who carried this team, but none of them provided more than two points. On the flip side, she got good production out of Lindy Duncan, and correctly didn’t count her out after she struggled in round one. This team also had the glaring issue of Angel Yin, which was out of Stanford’s control. It really felt like the Americans only had 11 players out there.
I don’t think Stanford should be automatically be out of the running for the next captaincy, but she certainly shouldn’t be a lock either. It was a fine week, but nothing to write home about.
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