Team Europe for the 2026 Solheim Cup is officially locked up after Anna Nordqvist made her captain’s selections.
The eight automatic qualifiers for the team were Charley Hull, Esther Henseleit, Lottie Woad, Maja Stark, Celine Boutier, Carlota Ciganda, Linn Grant and Nanna Koerstz-Madsen. Of the eight automatic qualifiers, all except Lottie Woad are at least 26-years-old and have played in the Solheim Cup before.
So it is clear that Anna Nordqvist decided to go for a more youthful team in her captain’s selections, going against what captains have done in recent years. The four captain’s picks were Leona Maguire, Julia López Ramírez, Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes.
Maguire, the lone captain’s pick that has played in the Solheim Cup before, is a 31-year-old, two-time LPGA Tour champion from Ireland. Maguire had one of the great amateur careers in history while playing at Duke. This will be Maguire’s fourth appearance in the Solheim Cup, where she has an 8-3-1 career record.
López Ramírez is a 23-year-old from Spain who played college golf at Mississippi State. During her time in Starkville, López Ramírez won two individual SEC Championships and was the SEC Player of the Year in 2023. López Ramírez is still looking for her first LPGA Tour title, but has been a solid, consistent performer in 2026. She is also one of the longest hitters in the world.
Nastasia Nadaud has only spent one year on the LPGA Tour, but has shown some solid flashes. Nadaud has one LET win in her career and has finished in the top 25 in each of the last two Evian Championships, held in her home country of France. Nadaud is just 21-years-old and will be the youngest player on Team Europe.
Finally, Nordqvist used her final pick on Mimi Rhodes, a 24-year-old from England who helped lead Wake Forest to the 2023 Division I National Championship. As a professional, Rhodes has seen a lot of success with three LET wins in 2025. She made the jump to the LPGA Tour in 2026, where she had a strong start to the season with a couple top-10 finishes, but has certainly struggled in recent months.
There were no real surprises here, as these four were certainly some of the favorites to make the team, but players like Chiara Tamburlini and Helen Briem were probably in close discussion as well.
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