St Andrews, Scotland - August 6, 2017: European Captain Annika Sörenstam has named her 12-woman team for The Solheim Cup, which will take place at Des Moines Golf & Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa, in a fortnight, on Aug. 18-20.
After the final qualification event, the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Kingsbarns Golf Links, Annika named Anna Nordqvist, Caroline Masson, Emily Kristine Pedersen and Madelene Sagstrom as her four selections.
They joined four players who qualified from the Ladies European Tour points list: Georgia Hall, Florentyna Parker, Mel Reid and Jodi Ewart Shadoff; as well as four players who qualified through the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings: Carlota Ciganda, Suzann Pettersen, Charley Hull and Karine Icher.
Sörenstam said: "The past 18 months has been an incredible journey. We have put in a lot of preparation and now that the team is finalised, we can focus on the event. I am excited about our team. We have a nice mix of veterans and fresh young talent and look forward to the challenge ahead and the memories we will build together."
Speaking about the reasons for her picks, she said of Nordqvist, who will make her fifth appearance for the European team: “She is Europe’s highest ranked player, but due to a recent bout with mono, she wasn’t able to play the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open, which she needed in order to have the minimum six events to qualify via the LET Solheim Cup points or Rolex World Rankings. However, with her skills and record, she is a no-brainer pick.”
Outlining her reasons for selecting Caroline Masson, who will make a third appearance for Europe, she commented: “She won last year and is coming into good form. She played well the last two weeks and is a two-time Solheim Cup participant and part of Europe’s winning team in Colorado in 2013.”
On Madelene Sagstrom, who will also be a rookie on the European team, she commented: “Another upcoming talent. She had a lot of success on the Epson Tour last year, earning a battlefield promotion to the LPGA. She has had several top-10 finishes on the LPGA this year. A lot of players want to play with her. She will be a great addition to the team.”
Commenting on Emily Kristine Pedersen, who will be a rookie on the European team, she said: “She is a young upcoming Scandinavian player from Denmark. I know she missed the cut this week, but her recent performances on the LPGA have been impressive. She is an aggressive long hitter, but has also shown a lot of consistency this year. I think she is ready and she will do well on the team.”
The European team has four Solheim Cup rookies and eight returning players who have a combined total of 23 Solheim Cup appearances between them.
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