2026 Solheim Cup
| Dates | 7−13 September, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Bernardus Golf | ||||
| Location | Cromvoirt, North Brabant, Netherlands | ||||
| Captains |
| ||||
| |||||
| Location map | |||||
  Bernardus Golf Location in Europe  Bernardus Golf Location in The Netherlands | |||||
The 2026 Solheim Cup is the 20th edition of the Solheim Cup matches, held September 7–13 at Bernardus Golf in North Brabant, Netherlands.[1] The Solheim Cup is a biennial team competition between the top women professional golfers from Europe and the United States. It returned to even-numbered years in 2024 after the Ryder Cup returned to an odd-year schedule after 2020.[2] The 2026 edition is the first to be run by IMG, who were appointed by the LET as the delivery partner of the European Solheim Cup from 2026 until 2038.[1]
Format
[edit]The competition is a three-day match play event between teams of 12 players with a similar format to the Ryder Cup, with each match worth one point. The format is as follows:[3]
- Day 1 (Friday): Four foursomes (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and four fourball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session. A total of eight players from each team participate in each session.
- Day 2 (Saturday): Four foursomes matches in a morning session and four fourball matches in an afternoon session. A total of eight players from each team participate in each session.
- Day 3 (Sunday): 12 singles matches. All 12 players from each team participate.
With a total of 28 points, 141⁄2 points are required to win the Cup, and 14 points are required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches are played to a maximum of 18 holes. If the score is even after 18 holes, each team earns one-half point.[4]
Venue
[edit]Bernardus Golf, designed by Kyle Phillips, opened in 2018 and has hosted three editions of the Dutch Open on the European Tour (2021-2023).[1]
Team qualification and selection
[edit]Team Europe
[edit]In order to be eligible to be a member of the European team, players are required to:
- be current members of the Ladies European Tour in any category or membership;
- have played in eight Ranking Events (excluding the Excluded Championships) during the Qualifying Period as a member of the LET, unless the relevant player has been selected by the captain;
- be a "European national". To be a "European national", the player must satisfy the criteria set out in the "Nationality Policy" issued by the International Golf Federation.[5]
Team Europe is made up of eight automatic qualifiers – the top two players from the LET Solheim Cup standings, followed by the top six LET members on the Women's World Golf Rankings who were not already qualified via the Solheim Cup standings – and four captain's selections.[3]
Team USA
[edit]In order to be eligible to be a member of the United States team, players are required to be current members of the LPGA Tour and meet one of these three citizenship criteria:
- U.S. citizens by birth, regardless of their birthplace.
- Those who were naturalized as U.S. citizens before age 18.
- Those who became U.S. citizens by adoption before age 13.
Team USA is made up of nine automatic qualifiers – the leading seven players from the LPGA Solheim Cup points rankings and the top two players in the Women's World Golf Rankings not already qualified via the points rankings – and three chosen by the team captain. LPGA Solheim Cup points were earned for top-20 finishes on the LPGA Tour over a two-year period.[6]
Teams
[edit]In February 2025, Anna Nordqvist was announced as the European captain, after serving as a playing vice-captain in 2023 and 2024.[7]
Team USA have yet to announce their captain.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Date Announced For 2026 Solheim Cup At Bernardus". Solhim Cup. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "Solheim Cup to Move to Even Years Starting in 2024". LPGA Tour. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ a b c "Solheim Cup 2026: Teams, captains, venue, format and how players will qualify for Europe vs USA in the Netherlands". Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "Solheim Cup format, terminology". ESPN. 9 September 2003. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "The 2023 Solheim Cup European Team Qualification" (PDF). Solheim Cup 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ "How to Qualify". Solheim Cup USA. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ Nichols, Beth Ann (24 February 2025). "Anna Nordqvist emerges from toughest period of her life as 2026 Solheim Cup captain". Golfweek. Retrieved 28 February 2025.