Everything You Need To Know About The Solheim Cup

We break down everything you need to know about the Solheim Cup.

Transcript

00:00The Solheim Cup is a Bionil women's golf tournament played between Team USA and Team Europe and is the

00:05women's equivalent of the Ryder Cup. Let's find out more about this competition's relatively short

00:10but decorated history in this video. The event is named after the Norwegian-American golf club

00:18manufacturers and founders of the PING brand Carsten and Louise Solheim. The pair were

00:23instrumental in the tournament's early development and are still very loyal backers of the event.

00:28The first Solheim Cup was held in 1990 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Florida. The USA,

00:34captained by Kathy Whitworth, cruised to victory by 11.5 points to 4.5. To begin with, the Solheim

00:40Cup was held on even-numbered years as the Ryder Cup took place on odd-numbered years. However,

00:45the 2001 Ryder Cup was postponed until 2002 after the 9-11 attacks, so the Solheim Cup switched to

00:51odd numbers in 2003 to avoid the clashes. The COVID-19 pandemic forced another postponement

00:58of the Ryder Cup and its next tournament was then held in 2021, the same year as the Solheim Cup.

01:04After the two are played in the same year, in 2023, the Solheim Cup will revert to even-numbered

01:10years in 2024. In the Solheim Cup, each team has 12 players. Team Europe comprises of the two highest

01:16ranked players in the LET Solheim rankings, the top six eligible players in the Rolex Women's World

01:23rankings and four captains picks. On the other side of the pond, Team USA is selected by the top

01:28seven players on the US Solheim Cup's point list, the two highest ranked eligible players in the

01:34Women's World rankings and three captains picks. Like the Ryder Cup, there are 28 matches in total,

01:40played over three days of match play with one point awarded for a win and half a point awarded to each

01:45team when the match is halved. Then, the team that reaches 14.5 points first, wins. If the teams are

01:5314, after each match has been played, the team that won the previous Solheim Cup retains the trophy.

01:58After 17 additions through 2021, the USA lead Europe 10-7 overall. The European countries that

02:05have hosted the event are Scotland, Wales, Sweden, Ireland, Germany and, for the first time in 2023,

02:12Spain. Of those, Scotland has held the event the most times on three separate occasions. Over in the US,

02:18the Solheim Cup has travelled to Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois,

02:23Colorado and Iowa. The only state to have hosted it twice is Ohio, while no golf course has hosted the

02:29event more than once. Dame Laura Davis holds the record for the most Solheim Cup appearances with

02:3412, while she also holds the record for the most points scored in the Solheim Cup with 25. Mickey

02:40Walker holds the record for the most appearances as European captain, holding the role four times,

02:45while Julie Inkster holds the record for the US, having captained them three times. Up to and

02:51including the 2021 tournament, there had only ever been one hole-in-one in the Solheim Cup. That was

02:56achieved by Team Europe's Anna Nordquist in 2013. Everything you need to know there about the

03:01Solheim Cup. For more news and more history about this great event, check out the Golf Monthly website.