Decisions, decisions: Here’s where we stand with a week remaining in the respective Solheim Cup races

U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis expected this version of the matches to mirror the 2023 edition at Finca Cortesin. With the matchup having only one year between contests this time, thanks to the LPGA opting to move it to even years, the second-year captain thought only a few players would change between the teams. However, with a week to go before the American and European rosters are finalized following the AIG Women's Open, there is a possibility to have three new American faces at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club next month in Virginia.

"I was expecting the team to be very similar, maybe one person kind of switching out," Lewis said in Portland. "But to have Lauren [Coughlin] go on the run she's gone on, and you've had some other people going the wrong way, so, yeah, it's surprising."

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Europe looks to have multiple players change as well, with Esther Henseleit's silver medal in the Paris Olympics cementing a likely ticket to her first Solheim Cup. With only the final major of the season remaining before both teams are solidified, here's a glance at how the 12-player squads are shaking out for Lewis and European captain Suzann Pettersen.

United States

Selection criteria: The top seven players from the U.S. Solheim Cup points list, and the top two players in the world rankings not in on points automatically qualify for the team. Lewis has three captain's picks after the automatic spots are settled.

Automatically qualified from the U.S. points list: Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Allisen Corpuz

The Americans have three major champions over the qualifying period in Korda, Vu, and Corpuz. After winning the Scottish Women's Open, Coughlin’s second title in her last three events, the 31-year-old formalized her first appearance. Ewing, the only player of the group not to win over the qualifying period, is tied for the second-most experience on the team alongside Korda.

Would be nearly impossible not to qualify: Megan Khang, Rose Zhang

There is only one way Khang doesn't automatically qualify by points––either Zhang, Andrea Lee, Alison Lee, Sarah Schmelzel, Jennifer Kupcho or Angel Yin need to win on the Old Course. Andrea Lee must finish in the top five, and Khang has to end up outside the top 21.

Zhang is not the lock that Khang is, but she is still virtually assured via her world ranking spot. The World No. 9 is well ahead of Alison Lee (25), Yin (34) and Kupcho (50). A win for any of those three might get them past Zhang but seeing two players surpass the 21-year-old would be shocking.

Either way, both American LPGA winners should already have their flights booked to D.C., and if either miracle to get passed happens, Lewis should use a captain's pick on them.

Currently qualified, likely in: Andrea Lee, Alison Lee

Andrea Lee is no longer chasing the seventh spot going into the final event, but rather is holding it. She needed a top-13 finish in Canada last season to take the final points position from Lexi Thompson and earned it on the dot with a T-13. While Lee isn't completely secure, it'll take one out of a set of stellar finishes to get passed. Zhang needs a top 10, Alison Lee a top seven, Sarah Schmelzel a top six, Kupcho or Yin a top five, and Lee scoring no points.

Alison Lee holds a nine-spot lead over Yin on the final Rolex ranking prediction, giving her a solid cushion going to make her first Solheim Cup team since 2015.

Locked in captain's pick: Lexi Thompson

Unprompted at Lewis' press conference ahead of the Portland Classic, the captain brought up Thompson's name, giving a firm vote of approval after Thompson scraped her way onto the team last year off the world rankings.

"Lexi with the run this summer was a big relief off my shoulders," Lewis said. "Makes things a little bit easier to for me just one, to her there, but have her playing good golf."

Thompson posted three straight top 10s in June, including a T-2 in the Meijer LPGA Classic, making the 11-time winner a scream it from the rooftops clear pick for her seventh, and potentially final, Solheim Cup appearance. During the U.S. Women's Open, the 29-year-old announced she'd be retiring from full-time competitive play, though remaining ambiguous on what that means.

Good side of the bubble: Jennifer Kupcho, Sarah Schmelzel

Kupcho nudged herself into the better part of the bubble with three top-fives over her last eight starts, including a runner-up alongside Ewing in the Dow Championship. Like Cheyenne Knight winning the team event last year, Kupcho earned no points for second place, lending another solid argument for incorporating points from that event into future Solheim Cup consideration. Arguably the best player during the U.S.'s last stateside Solheim, going 2-1-1 in 2021 as a rookie, is in good position for Lewis's second pick.

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Schmelzel vs. Yin for the 12th spot is Lewis's likely most challenging decision. Schmelzel's healthier 2024 campaign with six top 10s, tied for the second most of any American on the LPGA, compared to the two-time veteran's injury-filled campaign, gives Schmelzel the slight nod.

Needs to make their case in the Women's British: Angel Yin, Cheyenne Knight

Lewis told Golf Digest in Portland that with three events remaining, she had a pool of 16 potential players she was looking at based on who could mathematically play their way onto the team from the points list. Now, there are only 13 remaining who could play onto the roster. Knight would fall a painful 13 points shy of passing Lee's current points (1197.5) for the seventh spot if Knight earns her maiden LPGA major this week.

Given Yin's two Solheim appearances, it's odd to have her sitting on the outside looking in. But a foot injury has hampered her 2024 campaign, only making noise during her return in Las Vegas with a T-5 back in April before a poor run in the middle of the season. Yin didn't finish in the top 30, including five missed cuts over nine starts and a WD, until a T-2 in Portland in August stopped the cold streak. Yin, unlike Knight, can still play her way onto the team but needs to make a case with another top finish at the Old Course.

American summary

Automatically qualified from the U.S. points list: Korda, Vu, Coughlin, Ewing, Corpuz

Would be nearly impossible not to qualify: Khang, Zhang

Currently qualified, likely in: Andrea Lee, Alison Lee

Locked in captain's pick: Thompson

Good side of the bubble: Kupcho, Schmelzel

Needs to make their case in the Women's British: Yin, Knight

Europe

Selection criteria: The top two players from the LET points list, and the top six in the world rankings not qualified on points, earn automatic spots to Europe. Pettersen has four captain's picks to make following the Women's British.

Qualified from the LET Points list: Charley Hull, Esther Henseleit

Henseleit's back-to-back second-place finishes moved her into second on the points list, making her the only rookie on the team from an automatic qualifying position. Hull remains a perennial match-play force, winning 61 percent of her points over a six-Solheim appearance career at 28 years old.

Locks from the world rankings: Celine Boutier, Maja Stark, Linn Grant

Boutier has had a muted 2024 after her breakout four-win 2023 campaign, including the only major title won by a European over the past two seasons in the Evian Championship. The Frenchwoman posted only one top 10 this season, a runner-up in Singapore back in February. As the only European in the top 10 in the world rankings, she is assured to head to D.C. alongside Swedish LPGA winners Stark (No. 24) and Grant (No. 26).

Currently qualified, definitely in: Leona Maguire, Carlota Ciganda, Madelene Sagstrom

The three veterans are scrunched together in the world rankings, as the trio are all within four places of each other––Maguire is No. 32, Ciganda No. 33 and Sagstrom No. 35. It all feels moot, as it's impossible to see Pettersen not take any of them should Georgia Hall, World No. 40, pass one of them this week. Maguire should start resting for another five-match marathon, as the Irishwoman has not had a session off since her 2021 debut.

Virtual locks: Georgia Hall, Anna Nordqvist

Hall has slowly moved down the world rankings this season, with the 2018 Women's British champion falling from No. 22 in January to No. 40 today. Nordqvist gets the veteran selection, likely earning a nod for her ninth Solheim. Should Pettersen select her vice captain, it would tie the 37-year-old for the second most cups ever alongside her captain, Cristie Kerr, Juli Inkster and Catriona Matthew.

Inside the bubble for captain's picks: Albane Valenzuela, Emily Kristine Pedersen

Valenzuela is primed to make her rookie debut with a consistent LPGA season. The Swiss native started her case with a runner-up in Thailand in February, her best LPGA finish, and has earned three top 25s over her last five starts, not even including her T-13 in the Olympics. The steady campaign has Valenzuela as the fourth-highest European on the tour's CME points list in 36th. Pedersen was No. 114 in the world when selected last year and is up to 97th now thanks in part to two top 10s this season. The long-hitting Dane impressed in Los Angeles with a T-6 in the JM Eagle LA Championship.

Vying for a sleeper pick: Caroline Hedwall, Gemma Dryburgh, Linnea Strom, Alexandra Fosterling, Bronte Law

Pettersen needs only look at herself getting picked in the 2019 Solheim Cup as the World No. 644, then make the winning putt to justify a reach selection for her final captain's pick. There is a wide net of options for who could fit that profile should Pettersen go that route

Hedwall, the Sunday savior in last year's Solheim Cup, needs help to make a current case, as the 35-year-old has fallen to No. 185 in the world after being 120th in the rankings when selected for her third Solheim Cup last year. She just missed out on playing her way into the Old Course, as she is the first reserve for the Women's British after missing on a 12-for-three playoff during qualifying Monday. Everyone else in the sleeper group vying for a pick is in the field this week.

Dryburgh was a Solheim rookie who won in Japan in 2022 but has missed five of her last eight cuts. Strom is the only European to win on the LPGA this year with her closing 60 in the Shoprite LPGA Classic, but the historic final round appears to be an out-of-body performance for the Swede, as she has missed the weekend in nine of her last 13 events. Fosterling hasn't shined in her rookie LPGA campaign but has four LET victories over the past two seasons, including a pair in 2024. Law, who was part of the late Sunday 2019 Solheim Cup comeback, is at the top of the LET order of merit list, winning the European circuit's Lalla Meryem Cup in February to start a run of four straight top sixes.

European summary

Qualified from the LET points list: Hull, Henseleit

Locks from the world rankings: Boutier, Stark, Grant

Currently qualified, definitely in: Maguire, Ciganda, Sagstrom

Virtual locks: Hall, Nordqvist

Inside the bubble for captain's picks: Valenzuela, Pedersen

Vying for a sleeper pick: Hedwall, Dryburgh, Strom, Fosterling, Law