00:00The Solheim Cup is a Bionil women's golf tournament played between Team USA and Team Europe and is the
00:05women's equivalent of the Ryder Cup. Let's find out more about this competition's relatively short
00:10but decorated history in this video. The event is named after the Norwegian-American golf club
00:18manufacturers and founders of the PING brand Carsten and Louise Solheim. The pair were
00:23instrumental in the tournament's early development and are still very loyal backers of the event.
00:28The first Solheim Cup was held in 1990 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Florida. The USA,
00:34captained by Kathy Whitworth, cruised to victory by 11.5 points to 4.5. To begin with, the Solheim
00:40Cup was held on even-numbered years as the Ryder Cup took place on odd-numbered years. However,
00:45the 2001 Ryder Cup was postponed until 2002 after the 9-11 attacks, so the Solheim Cup switched to
00:51odd numbers in 2003 to avoid the clashes. The COVID-19 pandemic forced another
00:57postponement of the Ryder Cup and its next tournament was then held in 2021, the same
01:02year as the Solheim Cup. After the two are played in the same year in 2023, the Solheim Cup will
01:08revert
01:09to even-numbered years in 2024. In the Solheim Cup, each team has 12 players. Team Europe comprises of the
01:16two highest-ranked players in the LET Solheim rankings, the top six eligible players in the Rolex
01:22Women's World Golf rankings, and four captains picks. On the other side of the pond, Team USA is
01:27selected by the top seven players on the US Solheim Cup's point list, the two highest-ranked eligible
01:33players in the Women's World rankings, and three captains picks. Like the Ryder Cup, there are 28
01:38matches in total, played over three days of match play, with one point awarded for a win and half a
01:44point awarded to each team when the match is halved. Then, the team that reaches 14.5 points first wins.
01:50If the teams are locked at 14.14, after each match has been played, the team that won the previous
01:56Solheim Cup retains the trophy. After 17 editions through 2021, the USA lead Europe 10.7 overall.
02:04The European countries that have hosted the event are Scotland, Wales, Sweden, Ireland,
02:09Germany and, for the first time in 2023, Spain. Of those, Scotland has held the event the most times,
02:15on three separate occasions. Over in the US, the Solheim Cup has travelled to Florida,
02:19West Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado and Iowa. The only state to have hosted
02:26it twice is Ohio, while no golf course has hosted the event more than once. Dame Laura Davis holds
02:32the record for the most Solheim Cup appearances with 12, while she also holds the record for the
02:37most points scored in the Solheim Cup with 25. Mickey Walker holds the record for the most
02:42appearances as European captain, holding the role four times, while Julie Inkster holds the record
02:47for the US, having captained them three times. Up to and including the 2021 tournament, there had
02:53only ever been one hole-in-one in the Solheim Cup. That was achieved by Team Europe's Anna Nordquist in
02:592013.
03:00Everything you need to know there about the Solheim Cup. For more news and more history
03:04about this great event, check out the Golf Monthly website.
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