Six Solheim Cup contenders have the best chances on Sunday in St. Andrews

Six Solheim Cup contenders have the best chances on Sunday in St. Andrews

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – There is one day left until 17 players – nine Americans and eight Europeans – qualify for the Solheim Cup.

Given the current 54-hole rankings of the AIG Women’s Open, there is likely to be little change in the players moving in and out of the automatic spots. The most likely is that Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom will give up her automatic spot via the Rolex rankings to Georgia Hall, although both players would certainly still be selected as captains if they did not finish in the top six. The same goes for American Andrea Lee, who holds onto seventh and final spot on points. Veterans Lexi Thompson and Jennifer Kupcho are also likely to be sure winners.

US captain Stacy Lewis will announce her three favourites on Monday, while European captain Suzann Pettersen will announce her four favourites on Tuesday. Both captains will be at the Old Course on Sunday for some final scouting.

“We will inform the players on Sunday night once the results are in,” Lewis said. “As quickly as we can make decisions, we will inform people and then they have to keep quiet until Tuesday. … Mathematically, I can tell you there are still a lot of players in the running.”

Here are the six players who have the most to win at St. Andrews on Sunday:

Angel Yin

She began the year with a walking shoe and didn’t return to action until the T-Mobile Match Play in April, where she made the quarterfinals but has struggled since. She managed two MCs, a WD and a solo 72nd in the first four majors, but a T-2 in Portland has revived her chances of making the American team. On Saturday she shot a 69 to break into the top 30. A backdoor top-10 finish could be what she needs, as there aren’t many good options outside of Thompson and Kupcho.

Sarah Schmelzle

At the beginning of the year she made it into the top 10 four times in a row, but since then it has only been two. With T-43 after three rounds on the Old Course she has not made it easy for Lewis. A round of 60 seconds on Sunday could appeal to the captain.

Alexa Pano

She’s an underdog, but with many question marks among her competitors, the 20-year-old Pano would be an investment for the U.S. team. She finished second in the season opener in Orlando, but hasn’t done much since. “I think I was thinking about it too much at the beginning of this year,” Pano said of the Solheim Cup. “Maybe I was trying to really push myself for it, and now I’m pushing myself for myself.” Some might say she needs a win on Sunday, but if she can get a top-three finish in sixth place, that could be enough.

Albane Valenzuela

Valenzuela is ranked 68th in the Rolex rankings and is unlikely to qualify automatically, even after shooting 66 (6 under par) on Saturday to move up to 10th place. But a strong result on Sunday could move her past Anna Nordqvist (MC) and make the Swiss the second-best player among Pettersen’s favorites.

Alexandra Forsterling

She’s probably the last player on the team right now, so she’d like a nice Sunday to make no doubts. She’ll start the final round in T-43, one stroke behind fellow Sun Devil Strom.

Linnea Strom

Strom is the only European to win on the LPGA this season. Otherwise, she has not played well, is ranked 107th in the world and has not heard from the European captain. However, she is putting in a strong performance. Perhaps she can pop up on Pettersen’s radar at the last minute.

Current Solheim Cup picture

USA

SOLHEIM POINTS
Nelly Korda (1)
Lilia Vu (2)
Lauren Coughlin (3)
Ally Ewing (4)
Allisen Corpus (5)
Megan Khang (6)
Andrea Lee (7)
Rose Zhang (8)
Julia Lee (9)
Sarah Schmelzel (10)
Jennifer Kupcho (11)
Angel Yin (12)

ROLEX RANKINGS
Nelly Korda (1)
Lilia Vu (2)
Rose Zhang (9)
Lauren Coughlin (14)
Ally Ewing (16)
Megan Khang (21)
Alison Lee (25)
Allisen Corpus (27)
Angel Yin (34)
Lexi Thompson (43)
Andrea Lee (44)

CAPTAIN’S LIKELY TIPS
Thomas
Kupicho

OTHER POSSIBLE CHOICES
Yin
Melting
Alexa Pano


EUROPE

SOLHEIM POINTS

Karl-Heinz Hull (1)
Esther Henseleit (2)
Linn Grant (3)
Maja Stark (4)
Alexandra Forsterling (5)
Carlota Ciganda (6)

ROLEX RANKINGS
Celine Boutier (8)
Charley Rumpf (10)
Maja Stark (24)
Linn Grant (26)
Esther Henseleit (29)
Leona Maguire (32)
Carlota Ciganda (33)
Madelene Sagstrom (35)
Georgia Hall (40)
Anna Nordqvist (66)
Albane Valenzuela (68)
Alexandra Forsterling (74)

CAPTAIN’S LIKELY TIPS
room

OTHER POSSIBLE CHOICES
Nordqvist
Valenzuela
Foresterling
Bronte Law
Linnea Strom

Bold-in position to automatically qualify
Italics – would apply elsewhere

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *