(Back L-R) Donna Caponi | Rosie Jones | Meg Mallon | Beth Daniel | Wendy Ward | Laura Diaz | Pat Hurst
(Front L-R) Cristie Kerr | Michele Redman | Juli Inkster | Nancy Lopez | Christina Kim | Paula Creamer | Natalie Gulbis

Paula Creamer
Known since her junior golf days as the Pink Panther (one glance at her club head covers, the grip on her putter or her normal Tour attire will tell you why), Paula Creamer made her rookie debut this year in style. Just four months into her first season as an LPGA professional, Creamer won the Sybase Classic presented by Lincoln Mercury to become the youngest winner of a multi-round event in LPGA history at the age of 18 years, 9 months and 17 days. Four days later, Creamer graduated from high school. In July, Creamer won again with an impressive eight-stroke win at the Evian Masters to become the youngest and fastest to reach $1 million in career earnings.

With two tournament victories and the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award locked up, Creamer has achieved every goal she set for herself this season, including a berth on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team. A member of the U.S. PING Junior Solheim Cup Team just two years ago in Sweden (and in 2002), Creamer's rise to eighth in the U.S. Team standings is remarkable considering she had only one season in which to earn points.

Creamer, who hails from Mountain View, Calif., and now lives in Bradenton, Fla., won the 2004 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament Presented by American Airlines by five shots to earn her LPGA card. And although she's a rookie, playing on Tour is not new to Creamer. Before turning professional, she played in seven LPGA tournaments in 2004 and finished in a tie for second at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

Beth Daniel
Beth Daniel once joked that her age had become her first name, and that Beth was relegated to a middle name, as in 47-year-old Beth Daniel, 48-year-old Beth Daniel, etc. An outstanding athlete with one of the purest swings the LPGA Tour has ever seen, Daniel's age had become the main focus of interviews, rather than the incredible Hall of Fame career she had built since joining the Tour in the late 70s.

Daniel did her part to change her anointed first name back to "Tournament Champion" with a win at the 2003 BMO Financial Group Canadian Women's Open, her first victory since 1993 and the 33rd of her stellar career. With the title, Daniel happily accepted the moniker of oldest winner in LPGA history, breaking an LPGA record set by fellow Hall of Famer JoAnne Carner 18 years earlier. Since that time, with the topic of teenage phenoms dominating golf headlines, Daniel has continued to perform at the highest level. She racked up seven top-20 finishes this season en route to earning one of Nancy Lopez's two captain's picks.

While the U.S. has fielded one of the youngest Solheim Cup Teams in history, Daniel's skill as an eight-time Team member will be an invaluable asset. This Charleston, S.C., native and three-time Rolex Player of the Year will take her 10-8-5 record to Crooked Stick tied with Meg Mallon as the most experienced U.S. Team member.

Laura Diaz
Laura Diaz, 30, possesses a formidable game, drive, and eye-catching style, making her one of the most consistent American contenders on the LPGA Tour. Steadily climbing the ranks since turning pro in 1997 and joining the LPGA in 1999, Diaz won her first LPGA tournament at the Welch's/Circle K Championship in March 2002. She didn't wait long for her second triumph, capturing the LPGA Corning Classic just seven events later.

With 42 top-10 finishes in her career and heart-stopping performances on both the 2002 and 2003 U.S. Solheim Cup Teams, Diaz is well-equipped to handle the demands of this year's Solheim Cup competition, although her experience as a member of the U.S. Team will be slightly different than her last two. Diaz and husband Kevin are expecting their first child in January 2006. Five months pregnant during this week's competition, Diaz is the second U.S. player in Solheim Cup history to compete while pregnant (Tammie Green was the first, in 1998). She finished 10th on the points standings to earn a spot on the Team for the third consecutive time.

As an amateur, Diaz won the 1995 North-South Amateur Championship and the 1996 Eastern Championship. A former All-American at Wake Forest University, Diaz was crowned Wake Forest's Female Athlete of the Year in 1997, and the top rookie on the women's European tour in 1998. Since turning pro in 1997, Diaz's earnings have eclipsed the $3 million mark.

Natalie Gulbis
Natalie Gulbis, 22, is one of the players leading the LPGA Tour's youth movement. Ever since qualifying for an LPGA Tour event in 1997 at the age of 14, the golf world has been looking for big things from the tall (5', 9") photogenic blonde. Not only did she have an impressive record as a teenage amateur, but also receives instruction from Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods' former coach. A solid performer since joining the Tour in 2002, Gulbis has stepped into the spotlight this year with more top-10 finishes than in her first three seasons combined, including a career-best tie for third at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill.

Thanks to her stellar play this year, Gulbis, is making her Solheim Cup debut, as she jumped from 15th on the U.S. Team points standings at the end of last year to sixth when the Team was named in August.

A native of Sacramento, Calif., who now lives in Henderson, Nev., Gulbis attended the University of Arizona, where she was a First-Team All-American and won four collegiate events, including the NCAA West Regional. Gulbis turned professional in July 2001.

Pat Hurst
Pat Hurst, 36, is no stranger to The Solheim Cup. Hurst has made three of the four previous U.S. Teams since winning her first LPGA major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, in 1998. Compared to her first appearance in the competition seven years ago, life is certainly different now for the California native, as she has added a wealth of Solheim Cup experience and another LPGA tournament victory to her resume, not to mention two children. Hurst and her husband Jeff Heitt, the LPGA Tour represenative for PING, are the proud parents of Jackson (6) and Reilley (3), who are sure to be in the crowd this week cheering for Hurst, one of two moms on the U.S. Team.

Hurst's impressive Solheim Cup record (6-4-1) will be an asset to Captain Nancy Lopez's young squad. Hurst also enters this week's competition with tons of momentum. Since June, she has posted six top-10 finishes and climbed from 11th in the points standings (just outside an automatic berth) to her final position of fifth.

Hurst, a three-time LPGA tournament winner and the 1995 Rolex Rookie of the Year, has earned more than $4 million in her career. Her successful amateur resume includes victories at the 1986 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and the 1990 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. She was also medalist at the 1989 U.S. Women's Amateur. At San Jose State University, Hurst led the women's golf team to the 1989 championship title and was the NCAA Individual Champion. She currently lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Juli Inkster
The Solheim Team would not be complete without the patriotic, energetic and competitive Juli Inkster. An LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member with 30 wins to her credit, Inkster brings her wealth of Solheim Cup experience to Crooked Stick for her sixth appearance on the U.S. Team, for which she has earned 11 points in her career.

A rookie in 1983 (the year teammate Natalie Gulbis was born), Inkster wasted little time making a name for herself as a confident competitor on the LPGA Tour. She won her first tournament almost immediately then added two major championships during her rookie season. Since her record-setting start, Inkster has slowed down only twice, and for two very important reasons.

One is named Hayley (15) and the other Cori (11). Balancing motherhood and a professional golf career in perhaps the most flawless fashion the Tour has ever seen, Inkster has won seven tournaments since her 40th birthday, including a major championship win at the McDonald's LPGA Championship the day after she turned 40. This year, Inkster has posted five top-10 finishes, including second place at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, to bolster her position in the U.S. points standings, where she
finished third.

Rosie Jones
After 24 years, more than 550 tournament starts and $8 million-plus in career earnings, Rosie Jones has stated that 2005 will be her final full season on the LPGA Tour. But in a style that mirrors her competitive spirit, Jones seems to be going out on top with seven top-10 finishes this season and her sixth-straight appearance on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team (she was also a Team member for the first Solheim Cup in 1990).

Jones has always been one of the most consistent players on Tour, as evidenced by more than 185 career top-10 finishes. A gritty contender with a penchant for sneaking up the leader board on Sunday to steal the win, Jones is as competitive in her 40s as she was as a fresh-faced 22-year-old rookie. She now owns 13 career victories, three coming since her 40th birthday.

Jones, who has scored 10 points for the U.S. Team, was born in Santa Ana, Calif., grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., and currently resides in Atlanta, Ga. As an amateur, she was the 1974-76 New Mexico Junior Championship winner and claimed the 1979 New Mexico State Championship. As a competitor for the Ohio State University women's golf team, Jones was a 1981 AIAW All-American and a semi-finalist at both the U.S. Women's Amateur and Trans-National.

Cristie Kerr
At the age of 27, it's hard to believe Cristie Kerr is a veteran of the Tour, of winning and of Solheim Cup competition. But since joining the LPGA in 1997 just months after her 19th birthday, Kerr has been a consistent performer on Tour and now, in her ninth season, has risen to the top of the game. She owns six LPGA tournament titles, including two this season, and is the leading points-earner to make the U.S. Solheim Cup Team, her third appearance for the red, white and blue.

Kerr, hailed as one of the Tour's best American players and a possible challenger to Annika Sorenstam's stranglehold on the number-one position, has transformed her body and her game into winning shape, becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2002 Longs Drugs Challenge, adding three more victories during the 2004 season and recently notching her fifth and sixth career wins this season - all while losing more than 50 pounds. As the LPGA Tour's third-leading money winner this season so far, her career earnings have surpassed the $4.8 million mark.

Kerr, sure to be a dominating force for the U.S. and build on her 4-4-0 record, is a native of Miami, Fla., and owns an impressive amateur record. In 1994, she captured the Junior Orange Bowl Classic, the Doral Publix Junior Classic and the Women's Western Junior Championship. In 1995, she was named the American Junior Golf Association Junior Player of the Year after winning the Harder Hall Women's Championship, the Women's Western Amateur Championship and the Florida State Women's Championship. In 1996, she was a member of the U.S. Curtis Cup Team and also won the South Atlantic Women's Amateur title.

Christina Kim
The future of the LPGA continues to shine with young players such as Christina Kim. She joined the Tour in 2003 and has been an exciting competitor to watch ever since. Kim tied for fourth in her very first event as an LPGA professional and then found the winner's circle in 2004 at the Longs Drugs Challenge, where she recorded all four rounds in the 60s.

Kim, known as much for her wild outfits and outgoing personality as she is for her aggressive game, is a "rookie" on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team this year. A virtual lock on the Team since winning in September 2004, Kim has racked up points this season thanks to nine top-20 finishes, including a season-best tie for third at the Franklin American Mortgage Championship benefiting the Monroe Carell, Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Kim, whose father Man is also her caddie, turned professional shortly after her 18th birthday and competed on the Futures Tour, where she finished second on the money list to earn her LPGA Tour card for 2003. As an amateur, Kim was medalist at the 2001 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, thanks to a USGA record 62 (-8). The 21-year-old California native now resides in Orlando, Fla.

Meg Mallon
With a relatively young and inexperienced U.S. Team, Captain Nancy Lopez will surely be looking to Meg Mallon to fill a leadership and motivational role. Mallon is competing on her eighth U.S. Team and in her career only missed the first Solheim Cup, staged in 1990. Mallon holds the U.S. Team record for most Solheim Cup matches played (26) and is tied with Dottie Pepper for most points earned for the Americans (14), a record she is sure to take sole possession of after this week.

Mallon spent the first four years of her LPGA career wondering if she would ever win a tournament, but after a four-win season in 1991- including two major championships- she only had to wonder how many trophies she would collect by the end of her career. And at 42, the end is nowhere in sight for Mallon, who enjoyed a dream season last year by capturing her second U.S. Women's Open title and two additional tournament trophies in a span of five weeks.

The ever-smiling Mallon competes each week with a gifted crop of 20-somethings- some of whom were probably too young to hold a golf club when she was winning titles at The Ohio State University in the mid-80s- but Mallon has continued to match her proven skills against a new wave of talent on Tour. With 18 tournament titles, including four major championships, Mallon, who currently resides in Ocean Ridge, Fla., is ranked fourth on the LPGA career money list with more than $8.7 million.

Michele Redman
Michele Redman has consistently, albeit quietly, gone about her business on the LPGA Tour for the past 14 seasons, posting solid performances each and every year. The 2005 season is no exception, as the Zanesville, Ohio, native has recorded 10 top-20 finishes and earned enough points to qualify for her fourth-consecutive U.S. Solheim Cup Team. Redman has earned four points for the U.S. Team in her career and has gone from a rookie member of the squad in 2000 to one of the more experienced and consistent performers for Captain Nancy Lopez's team this year.

Redman's LPGA resume includes two tournament wins, the last coming at the 2000 First Union Betsy King Classic. Despite a five-year winless drought, Redman has remained at the top of the Tour, finishing in the top 25 on the season-ending ADT Official Money List the past five years. She has recorded a total of 69 top-10 finishes in her career and earned more than $4.3 million.

As an amateur, Redman was the 1983 Ohio State Junior champion and played collegiate golf at Indiana University, where she won four tournaments and was twice named an All-American. She was the Big Ten Conference champion in 1987.

Wendy Ward
Wendy Ward's return to the U.S. Solheim Cup Team comes as no surprise after her stellar start to the 2005 campaign. In April, Ward claimed the LPGA Takefuji Classic title to snap a three-year winless drought and went on to rack up four top-10 finishes. She sharpened up her match-play experience this summer by advancing to the semifinals of the HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship. With all of her success this season, Ward caught the attention of Nancy Lopez and earned one of two captain's picks.

This year marks the third Solheim Cup appearance for Ward. She has played in the previous two competitions. In 2002, Ward went head-to-head with Annika Sorenstam in the Sunday singles matches and gained a valuable half-point for the Americans.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, and a resident of Edwall, Wash., Ward had a successful amateur career that saw her claim the 1992 Texas State Women's championship and the 1994 World Team Amateur champion and medalist. She went on to play at Arizona State University, where she helped lead the Sun Devils to three straight national titles (1993-95). During that span, Ward finished third in the NCAA Championship in 1993 and was the runner-up in 1994 and 1995. She turned professional in 1996 and qualified for the Tour on her first attempt.