US tries to win back Solheim Cup from Europe in Spain. Next week is the Ryder Cup in Italy
By The Associated Press
Posted 9/19/23
Two weeks of USA versus Europe starts in Spain. First up is the Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin. Europe will be trying to win for the third straight time. This is the first time the Solheim Cup has …
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US tries to win back Solheim Cup from Europe in Spain. Next week is the Ryder Cup in Italy
Solheim Cup team US golfer Lexi Thompson attends a press conference at Finca Cortesin, near Estepona, southern Spain, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Captains: Stacy Lewis (U.S.) and Suzann Pettersen (Europe).
Notes: Europe didn't lose a match in the opening session two years ago and held on to win at Inverness before a one-sided gallery because of COVID-19 travel restrictions. ... Pettersen holed the winning hope for Europe when it won at Gleneagles in 2019. ... Europe is going after its third straight victory. It has never won the Solheim Cup more than twice in a row. ... The Americans have five Solheim Cup rookies on their team. Two of them, Lilia Vu and Allisen Corpuz, have won three of the five majors this year. ... Another rookie is Rose Zhang, who didn't turn pro until June. She earned a spot through the world ranking. ... Lexi Thompson is playing on her sixth consecutive Solheim Cup team. She has not won in four years and is danger of losing her LPGA card this year. ... Pettersen and Stacy Lewis will be captains again at the Solheim Cup next year when the matches return to being held in even-numbered years.
Notes: Robert MacIntyre is the only Ryder Cup player in the field as he prepares for his debut at Marco Simone next week. ... Two of the European assistant captains, Nicolas Colsaerts and Edoardo Molinari, also are playing. Colsaerts won the French Open two years ago. ... Billy Horschel is playing a European tour event for the third straight week. Tom Kim is playing in Europe for the second straight week. ... Daniel Hillier won the Swiss Challenge on the Challenge Tour at this time last year. Now he is five spots out of the top 10 players in the Race to Dubai who would be eligible for PGA Tour membership next year. ... Adrian Meronk is playing for the third straight week after being left off the European Ryder Cup team. ....Le Golf National hosted the last Ryder Cup on European soil, which the Europeans won handily. ... Marcel Siem is a past champion of the French Open. He is No. 14 in the Race to Dubai and on the cusp of being eligible for a PGA Tour card.
Last week: Steve Stricker won the Sanderson International.
Notes: Steve Stricker leads the PGA Tour Champions with six victories this year. The record is nine in one season, most recently by Bernhard Langer in 2017. ... Three of the five assistant captains in the Ryder Cup next week are in the field — Davis Love III, Fred Couples and Stewart Cink. Stricker withdrew on Monday. Jim Furyk also is not playing. ... John Daly tied for seventh last week in South Dakota. It's his first top 10 on the PGA Tour Champions since June 2022. ... K.J. Choi, the runner-up last week, won his only PGA Tour Champions event two years at Pebble Beach. The defending champion. Steve Flesch won two weeks ago in St. Louis. ... Stricker's winning percentage in his PGA Tour Champions career is 27.4. ... Stricker now has 19 consecutive top 10s on the senior circuit. ... The 66-year-old Langer shot a 64 on Sunday, making it the 10th time he has bettered his age on the PGA Tour Champions, and fourth time this year.
Next tournament: Constellation Furyk & Friends on Oct. 6-8.
Last tournament: Cameron Smith won LIV Golf-Bedminster.
Notes: LIV Golf returns after a five-week break. ... Only two events remain before the team championship at Doral to conclude the second season. ... Brooks Koepka will leave from the Chicago suburbs for Rome and the Ryder Cup. He is the only LIV player in the Ryder Cup, a captain's pick based on his win and runner-up finish in two of the majors. ... LIV Golf has eight players who were in the last Ryder Cup. ... Smith is coming off a victory last month at Trump Bedminster that gave him the season points lead over Talor Gooch. ... Gooch leads LIV with three wins this year. Smith has two wins. ... Smith and Koepka are the only players from LIV who remain in the top 50 in the world ranking. ... This will be the second time in the last month that Chicago gets top names in golf. The BMW Championship was at Olympia Fields. ... Rich Harvest Farms is best known for hosting the Solheim Cup in 2009.