In less than 50 days, Team USA vs. Team Europe will tee off for the 20th edition of the Solheim Cup at Bernardus in the Netherlands.
The number of events to qualify is limited, with this week’s ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open providing one of the last two opportunities for Europeans to earn points before captain Anna Nordqvist finalizes her roster after the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham. Points are awarded to the top 40 participants, and doubled at major championships.
For the Americans, world No. 1 Nelly Korda is the only player to officially clinch her spot on the U.S. team captained by Angela Stanford.
Here’s a look how the qualifying system works for both teams and who is leading the current standings as the timeline for roster decisions continues to shrink.
U.S. Solheim Cup qualification
The U.S. qualification period concludes at the 2026 CPKC Women’s Open, set for Aug. 20-23. The top seven players in the U.S. Solheim Cup points standings will be named to the team. They will be joined by the top two players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings not already qualified and three captain’s picks.
Europe Solheim Cup qualification
Europe has eight automatic qualifiers, the top two players from the LET points list and another six from the Rolex Rankings. The last four roster spots are captain’s picks.
Current standings
Nordqvist’s European roster is looking like it will be led by Charley Hull who has a commanding lead in LET scoring. Second on that list is less of a sure thing. Chiara Tamburlini enters the Scottish as second in LET points but Helen Briem is not far off. Both are almost sure-things to be at Bernardus regardless of who gets runner-up to Hull and who gets in via the Rolex Rankings.
World No. 5 Lottie Woad looks to also be locked in to make the roster through an automatic qualifying bid. Same goes for Maja Stark (No. 24), Celine Boutier (No. 31), Carlota Ciganda (No. 43) and Linn Grant (No. 45).
European Team Points Standings
On the U.S. side, Angel Yin is second to Korda in points. Yin is followed by Jennifer Kupcho, Auston Kim, Allisen Corpuz, and Yealimi Noh. The seventh and final automatic qualifying spot would go to Lauren Coughlin as of Thursday, July 23.
Under current standings, Andrea Lee (No. 35) and Lindy Duncan (No. 55) hold the two automatic world ranking spots.
Names to watch
Jenny Bae (No. 58) and Alison Lee (No. 61) are next in line for the Americans.
Bae helped her cause Thursday with an even round, tied for lowest scoring U.S. player in the clubhouse at Dundonald.
Other contenders include Megan Khang, Lucy Li, Rose Zhang and Lilia Vu.
Three European names to watch for over the next week who outside the automatic world ranking bubble: Germany’s Esther Henseleit (No. 51), Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen (No. 61) and Ireland’s Leona Maguire (No. 82). Other names to consider would be Agathe Laisne and Cara Gainer.
Henseleit is currently T-4, the top ranking European player at the Scottish Open and four shots back of clubhouse leader Jenny Shin (-6). Madsen and Maguire do bring in past Solheim Cup experience and could be tabbed as eventual captain picks when the time comes, if they don’t qualify.
