2026 Solheim Cup Player Profiles: Team Europe

Celine Boutier

Status: Automatic Qualifier
World Ranking: 35
Solheim Cup Experience: Four appearances (2019, 2021, 2023, 2024)
Overall: 7-6-1
Singles: 3-1-0
Foursomes: 3-3-1
Fourball: 1-2-0

It’s hard to believe this is Celine Boutier’s fifth Solheim Cup appearance. It doesn’t seem that long ago when she and Georgia Hall wiped the floor with everyone they faced at Gleneagles in 2019. Boutier won four matches that week, a number she hasn’t met in the three ensuing Solheim Cups combined. Captain Nordqvist has a hard puzzle to solve, figuring out who to partner with Boutier. She lacks distance off the tee, and both players she was paired with in foursomes in 2024 — Albane Valenzuela and Nordqvist — aren’t available. The logical choice would be an all-French team with rookie Nastasia Nadaud, helping ease Nadaud into the Solheim Cup cauldron. -Meg Adkins

Carlota Ciganda

Status: Automatic Qualifier
World Ranking: 60
Solheim Cup Experience: Seven appearances (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024)
Overall: 12-11-4
Singles: 4-2-1
Foursomes: 2-4-1
Fourball: 6-5-2

Ciganda’s superpower might be her complete lack of shame when it comes to her own slow play, and this is particularly grating in match play. She has the ability to not only jam up her own match, but she can jam up the entire field if you put her out in one of the first few matches. But it’s probably unfair to only blame Ciganda, who is just playing within a set of rules that officials are reluctant to enforce. In 2023, she ground out a win against Nelly Korda in singles — memorably hitting her approach to two feet on the 17th — to earn the Cup-retaining point for the Europeans. It capped off a perfect 4-0-0 week in front of fans in her native Spain. She didn’t play well at Robert Trent Jones in 2024, so perhaps being back in Europe will inspire one last great performance in this event. -Kevin Van Valkenburg

Linn Grant

Status: Automatic Qualifier
World Ranking: 61
Solheim Cup Experience: Two appearances (2023, 2024)
Overall: 3-6-0
Singles: 0-2-0
Foursomes: 1-2-0
Fourball: 2-2-0

We were introduced to Linn Grant's captivating, powerful, and flowing golf swing during her breakout 2022 season on the Ladies European Tour that included four wins, one of which was a dominant nine-shot victory at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed. Linn has since become a mainstay Swedish talent on the LPGA, with wins in 2023 and 2025. Grant has not yet lived up to expectations in majors, and that trend has carried over to the Solheim Cup, where she boasts a middling 3-6 record. That said, Linn has been successful when paired with Carlota Ciganda in fourball. It’s been an up-and-down season for the 27-year-old, and a big question for the Europeans will be: which Linn shows up in the Netherlands? -Matthew Galloway

Esther Henseleit

Status: Automatic Qualifier
World Ranking: 21
Solheim Cup Experience: One appearance (2024)
Overall: 1-1-1
Singles: 0-0-1
Foursomes: 1-1-0
Fourball: 0-0-0

Esther Henseleit, 27, is Germany's rising women’s golf talent and now a two-time Solheim Cup participant for Europe. An Olympic silver medalist from the 2024 Games in Paris, Henseleit also picked up her first LPGA win at the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open and made her Solheim Cup debut later that same year. Known for her consistent ball-striking, accuracy, and toughness, I’d look for her to be utilized heavily in foursomes. -Matthew Galloway

Charley Hull

Status: Automatic Qualifier
World Ranking: 8
Solheim Cup Experience: Seven appearances (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024)
Overall: 15-9-3
Singles: 3-3-1
Foursomes: 6-3-1
Fourball: 6-3-1

Charley Hull hasn’t been able to get across the line in a major, but the fiery 30-year-old remains the heartbeat of the European Solheim Cup squad. She nearly sparked a big comeback in 2024 by thumping Nelly Korda, 6 and 4, in the first singles match out on Sunday. Hull admits that it’s hard for her to get up for regular-season tournaments and that the majors are the only thing that really get her juices flowing, but the Solheim Cup is the exception. With Hull, it often comes down to putting. When the putter goes cold, she’s a good player but not a great one. When the putter heats up (like it did on the weekend at the U.S. Open, where she finished T-2), she’s as good as anyone in the game. -Kevin Van Valkenburg

Julia Lopez Ramírez

Status: Captain’s Pick
World Ranking: 98
Solheim Cup Experience: First appearance

The 23-year-old Spaniard brings major firepower to Bernadus. Effortless distance is the strongest part of Ramirez’s game, averaging almost 290 yards off the tee. It makes sense to ease the rookie into the Cup proceedings by pairing her up with fellow Spaniard and veteran Carlota Ciganda. The benefits might be two-fold for captain Nordqvist: Ramirez will be motivated to establish herself as the next Spanish stalwart for Team Europe, and Ciganda will want to improve upon her disappointing 1-3-0 record from 2024 and mentor the up-and-coming talent. She’ll also bring her youthful exuberance to the team room with plans of taking on the very important role of the team’s DJ. -Meg Adkins

Nanna Koerstz Madsen

Status: Automatic Qualifier
World Ranking: 68
Solheim Cup Experience: One appearance (2021)
Overall: 1-1-1
Singles: 0-0-1
Foursomes: 0-0-0
Fourball: 1-1-0

Nanna Koerstz Madsen returns to the European side for the first time since her debut in 2021 off a rather ho-hum season. Madsen did her best work early in the year, notching two top-10 finishes by April, but didn’t crack an egg in majors. That said, she ranks in the top 10 in driving distance on tour and is 13th in SG: Putting, two traits that should bode well for her in match play. -Adam Woodard

Leona Maguire

Status: Captain’s Pick
World Ranking: 80
Solheim Cup Experience: Three appearances (2021, 2023, 2024)
Overall: 8-3-1
Singles: 3-0-0
Foursomes: 2-2-0
Fourball: 3-1-1

Leona Maguire, 31, is Ireland’s best export to women's golf and one of Europe's most trusted Solheim Cup competitors of late. In 2022, Leona became the first Irish woman to win on the LPGA, following a standout career at Duke. A fixture for Europe, Maguire carries an impressive 8-3-1 record after going undefeated and breaking the all-time rookie points record in 2021. Despite a few down seasons on the LPGA fighting swing changes and chasing distance, Leona returns for her fourth appearance as a captain's pick in the Netherlands. Captain Anna Nordqvist is hoping Maguire can step up to the moment and be the gritty veteran leader she was once herself on the European side. -Matthew Galloway

Nastasia Nadaud

Status: Captain’s Pick
World Ranking: 90
Solheim Cup Experience: First appearance

If you aren’t familiar already, this is a name you’ll want to know. Nastasia Nadaud will make her Solheim Cup debut coming off a breakout season in 2025 on the LET where she earned her first professional win and finished third in the season-long standings. A rising star in the game, the 21-year-old from France played her way onto the LPGA in 2026 via Q-Series and fared well in her first season on a new tour in a new country, missing just four cuts and placing inside the top 25 four times. -Adam Woodard

Mimi Rhodes

Status: Captain’s Pick
World Ranking: 107
Solheim Cup Experience: First appearance

Mimi Rhodes has won at every level. A key member of Wake Forest’s 2023 national championship team, Rhodes wasted no time in the professional ranks, winning three events in her first LET season to claim Rookie of the Year honors in 2025. After securing her LPGA card via Q-Series for this year, the 24-year-old was hot out of the gate with a pair of top 10s in her first four starts but has since cooled off. -Adam Woodard

Maja Stark

Status: Automatic Qualifier
World Ranking: 29
Solheim Cup Experience: Two appearances (2023, 2024) 
Overall: 3-3-2
Singles: 1-0-1
Foursomes: 2-2-0
Fourball: 0-1-1

Maja Stark has been a problem for competitors since she turned pro in 2021 and won her second-ever event. Since then, the 26-year-old Swede has already racked up six LET wins and two on the LPGA, including her first major last year at the U.S. Women’s Open. She’s been relatively consistent this season with three top 10s across 13 made cuts in 16 events, but enters this week off consecutive missed cuts. Ranking 13th in SG: Tee to Green and 12th in SG: Approach will make Stark a valuable play in foursomes. -Adam Woodard

Lottie Woad

Status: Automatic Qualifier
World Ranking: 7
Solheim Cup Experience: First appearance 

Expectations are high for Lottie Woad’s debut Solheim Cup appearance. A rookie in name only, captain Anna Nordqvist needs Woad to get points on the board for the Euros. The drop-off is steep for the back half of the team, meaning Woad and the rest of the top players must perform. She’ll have the benefit of making her debut on home soil, plus her steely demeanor and ultra-competitive personality are the right ingredients for Solheim Cup success. Keep an eye on the flatstick though. It’s been the weakest part of her game this year. Every player will have to make putts late in their matches this week. Seeing a couple of those drop for Woad might be the difference between Solheim Cup glory or heartache. -Meg Adkins