The Solheim Cup is fast approaching, with just a handful of months left for the best players from Europe and the United States to stake their claim to a spot on the team. Here are our picks for the most likely players to be teeing it up the second week of September:
No. 1 – Nelly Korda – No surprise here, Korda will likely clinch a spot relatively early, as she currently leads in Solheim Cup points by a healthy margin thanks to nine top-10 finishes in 2025 and her season-opening win. It would be hard to think of any type of argument for her not being the best American player in the world.
No. 2 – Megan Khang – Though Khang ranks No. 9 in the Solheim Cup standings and No. 45 in the Rolex Rankings, her spot should be safe. Khang is 6-0-1 in her last two Solheim Cup appearances, being the strongest player and the emotional leader on the teams. She went 3-0-0 last time out and none of her matches even made it to hole 16. She has done more than enough to earn her spot for the near future, regardless of her form coming in.
No. 3 – Allisen Corpuz – Like Khang, Corpuz earns her spot this high because of her past performances. She is 5-2-1 in her two previous appearances, and has teamed up with Korda to go 4-0-0 in foursomes play. Not only does she put points on the board individually, with her win over Anna Nordqvist in 2024, but she makes the best player on the team even more valuable, which is essential.
No. 4 – Angel Yin – I feel pretty confident that Angel Yin’s spot on this team is locked in. She generally does pretty well in match play, going 5-3-1 in her Solheim Cup career and went 3-1-1 in the 2025 International Crown. She is also the second highest ranked American in the world currently and no doubt would’ve been on the last Solheim Cup team if her health was more stable. That shouldn’t be an issue this time around, and she should feel comfortable at the moment.
No. 5 – Lauren Coughlin – Coughlin is another one of these players that, regardless of form, should get a spot on this team thanks to her match play/partner golf skill. Coughlin went 3-0-1 in the last Solheim Cup and 3-1-1 at the International Crown, pairing excellently with Lilia Vu. She also won the Grant Thornton Invitational in 2025, which should help her stock here a bit. Coughlin is ranked No. 8 in the Solheim Cup standings, but that shouldn’t be much of a worry.
No. 6 – Rose Zhang – There are absolute concerns here, Zhang hasn’t exactly been a picture of health or consistency recently, which is why she ranks No. 15 in the Solheim Cup standings and No. 68 in the Rolex Rankings. That being said, she gave a solid performance at the Tournament of Champions this year to get started on the right foot. Zhang is mostly here because, she was fantastic in 2024, going 4-0-0 and really demolishing every opponent in her path. While there are only three spots for captain’s selections, one of which she will likely need, I think it is safe to assume she would get one.
No. 7 – Andrea Lee – Quietly, Andrea Lee is the third highest ranked American in the world, and No. 5 in the Solheim Cup standings. Lee plays consistently really solid golf week in and week out, even if she isn’t always at the top of leaderboards. She has finished top 20 in 12 of her last 15 starts and hasn’t missed a cut in over a full calendar year. That type of consistency will get you on this team. She has also been solid in the Solheim Cup, going 3-2-2 in her career, including 2-0-1 last time out. She is the last player on this list that should feel secure in her spot.
No. 8 – Auston Kim – Kim is one of two players who should feel good about her chances to make a debut in this event. Kim has all the talent in the world, and is starting to really show it off. She has finished top 20 in both of her starts this year, including runner up in Singapore last week. She ended 2025 well also, with two consecutive top-10 finishes. The biggest question for Kim is if she can improve her consistency this season, as she has missed 13 cuts in her first two seasons on the Tour. Kim seems to be the most likely rookie to earn a spot.
No. 9 – Lindy Duncan – Duncan is certainly in the conversation to make this team right now, which is just a showcase of how far she has come. Duncan has no experience in Solheim Cups or International Crowns, which won’t help her, especially since this is a road event for the United States. She does have strong results though, like four top-15 finishes in her last six events and overall a career year in 2025. She will have to come close to matching that campaign here in 2026, but if she can get a few more top-10 finishes, I think it feels likely she will be on that team.
No. 10 – Yealimi Noh – It is hard to ignore that Noh is No. 3 in the current Solheim Cup standings, and thus has a major head start on many of the bubble players. She needs to start playing more like she was early in 2025 though if she wants to secure a spot. The season has started rough for Noh coming off a 2025 where she had just one top-10 finish after the first week in May. She is still benefitting largely from the stretch in 2025 where she finished top 11 in her first four starts. Noh is 2-1 in her Solheim Cup career and went 3-1-1 in the International Crown, pairing fantastically with Angel Yin, but she needs to step up her game because there aren’t a lot of captain’s picks to go around.
No. 11 – Jennifer Kupcho – Like Noh, Kupcho is here because she has a bit of a head start for qualifying automatically, currently sitting at No. 6 in the Solheim Cup standings. The issue Kupcho faces is that she has to be a qualifier, because it seems unlikely she would get a captain’s selection. Kupcho is 1-4-1 over her last two Solheim Cup appearances, with the only win coming over Linn Grant in singles last time out, probably the only player on either team who played worse than Kupcho over that week. She easily could qualify on points, but I think it is time that the United States moves on if she doesn’t.
No. 12 – Sarah Schmelzel – Schmelzel is the only player listed who we haven’t yet seen this year, so it is tough to know her form, but she is coming off arguably the best season of her career, so if she continues to play at that level, she should be here. Though her high results weren’t as frequent, she missed just three cuts and was pretty consistent other than that. She played well in majors and is a solid partner golfer. She did just enough in 2024 to earn some trust in this competition, going 2-2 in her debut.
HM – Lilia Vu, Lexi Thompson – It feels weird to imagine a Solheim Cup without Lilia Vu, who when healthy is still a top three American player in the world. She ranks below Marina Alex though in the Solheim Cup standings, who hasn’t played since 2024. Vu also isn’t particularly strong in this event, with a 2-5-1 record, though the Lauren Coughlin pairing looks promising. While it remains difficult to imagine a player who won two majors just three years ago missing the team, the confidence in her isn’t particularly high. On the Lexi Thompson side, it isn’t impossible to see her making the team, but she does seem to be playing a bit of a lighter schedule than even last year with her upcoming wedding. If she has another strong middle of Summer, she has a chance, but it wouldn’t be a strong bet at the moment.
About the Author
