Solheim Cup captains put faith in youth as teams finalised

 Juli Inkster and Annika Sorenstam 

Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster have both opted to give rookies a chance as they name their wildcard picks for the biennial contest...

Solheim Cup captains put faith in youth as teams finalised
Annika Sorenstam and Juli Inkster have opted to give youth a chance as they announced the final additions to their Solheim Cup teams that will go head-to-head at Des Moines in two weeks’ time.

European skipper Sorenstam has handed Solheim Cup debuts to Madelene Sagstrom and Emily Pederson, as well as veterans Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Masson.

Inkster, who only had two wildcard picks, added novices Austin Ernst and Angel Yin.

The teams were completed following the conclusion of the last qualifying event, the Women’s British Open, and the countdown is now on until the action gets underway in Iowa.

The European team’s qualifying system saw four players from a points system – Georgia Hall, Florentyna Parker, Mel Reid and Carlota Ciganda took those – with four more made up from the world rankings. They were taken by Charley Hull, Karine Icher and Jodi Ewart Shadoff all making the cut following Kingsbarns.

For the Americans, eight players qualified in the points system – Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller, Cristie Kerr, Jessica Korda, Danielle Kang, Michelle Wie and Brittany Lang – with Brittany Lincicome and Lizette Salas taking the rankings spots.

Solheim Cup teams in full

Europe

Georgia Hall
Florentyna Parker
Mel Reid
Carolta Ciganda
Suzann Pettersen
Charley Hull
Karine Icher
Jodi Ewart Shadoff
Anna Nordqvist
Caroline Masson
Madelene Sagstrom
Emily Pedersen

United States

Stacy Lewis
Gerina Piller
Cristie Kerr
Jessica Korda
Danielle Kang
Michelle Wie
Brittany Lang
Brittany Lincicome
Lizette Salas
Angel Yin
Austin Ernst

The Solheim Cup takes place from August 14-20 at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in Iowa. Of the 14 meetings, the US have won nine. Only one of Europe’s five has come on American soil.