08/03/26 12:17:00
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08/03 12:16 CDT Team Europe fills out Solheim Cup team with Leona Maguire and 3
rookies
Team Europe fills out Solheim Cup team with Leona Maguire and 3 rookies
LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) --- Europe captain Anna Nordqvist finalized her
Solheim Cup team Monday by adding veteran Leona Maguire and three rookies as
her picks for the Sept. 11-13 matches in The Netherlands.
Charley Hull of England easily earned one of the two automatic spots from the
Ladies European Tour points list. The other went to Esther Henseleit of
Germany, who surged to No. 2 in the final two events.
Henseleit finished fourth in the Women's Scottish Open and then lost in a
playoff at the Women's British Open (points are double in a major) to narrowly
beat Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland for the second spot.
Henseleit's 40-foot birdie putt to force a playoff with AIG Women's Open winner
Shiho Kuwaki wound up costing Tamburlini a spot. Even without making it on
points, Henseleit would have made her second straight team as one of the
leading six players in the world ranking.
Those six spots instead fell to Solheim rookie Lottie Woad of England, Maja
Stark and Linn Grant of Sweden, Carlota Ciganda of Spain, Celine Boutier of
France and Nanna Koertz Madsen of Denmark.
Nordqvist added Maguire and rookies Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain, Nastasia
Nadaud of France and Mimi Rhodes of England. Rhodes is No. 91 in the world
ranking. Tamburlini is at No. 109.
Missing from Team Europe is Dewi Weber of The Netherlands, who is ranked ahead
of three of the captain's picks. She was ineligible, however, because the Dutch
player did not realize she had to be an LET member. Weber finished third at the
KPMG Women's PGA.
The 31-year-old Maguire's record is 8-3-1 in her three Solheim Cup appearances
but she missed the cut in four of the five majors this year and has not won in
two years.
Europe will try to win back the Solheim Cup after a three-point loss in
Virginia two years ago. Team USA, which has yet to fill out its team, hasn't
won on European soil since 2015.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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