Lexi Thompson tops trio of captain's picks for Solheim Cup

U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis made the final three selections for next month’s competition against Europe, announcing on Tuesday morning she chose Jennifer Kupcho, Sarah Schmelzel and Lexi Thompson with her captain's picks to complete the 12-player roster.

The Americans are in a crucial position in trying to end their longest-ever victory drought, having not won the cross-Atlantic matchup with Europe in three consecutive matches. Europe held onto the Cup last year in Spain when the teams tied. This year's American roster is more experienced, with only two players, Lauren Coughlin and Schmelzel, making their Solheim debuts at Robert Trent Jones Jr. Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., on Sept. 13-15, compared to five American rookies last time.

"My feeling is we left [Spain] with some unfinished business and pretty cool opportunity that Suzann [Pettersen, Europe’s capain] and I have. I feel like we're going to kind of settle the score here," Lewis said. "And she probably feels differently than that, but I think for our players, it's been great that they're so close together just to keep it fresh in their minds. I don't think any of them have forgot what happened in Spain."

The Solheim Cup is being played for a second straight year because the competition is making the move to be played in even-numbered years.

Lewis pointed out that Kupcho's stock rose in her best result of the season in the two-person team Dow Championship, where, along with fellow American Ally Ewing, they finished runner-up in a potential pairings preview. Despite the duo being on the last two Solheim rosters, they have yet to play together in a team session. Lewis intimated that might change this time. Kupcho, a three-time LPGA winner at the age of 27, could be a key cog for the Americans winning, as she was tied for the team's top point scorer in 2021 at Inverness, going 2-1-1 the last time the Solheim Cup was played in the States.

Schmelzel earned the nod with a steady season, with Lewis calling her one of the most consistent players on tour. She has six top-10s, tied for the third most on the roster alongside Ewing and only trailing the eight by the uber-dominant Nelly Korda and Lauren Coughlin's seven. The stat-oriented Lewis pointed out Schmelzel as being in the top 10 on the LPGA in bogey avoidance as to why the 30-year-old earned her spot on the team.

"Experience" was Lewis' first word in describing why she selected Thompson. The six-time Solheim veteran received her first captain's pick to make a Cup. The 29-year-old soon-to-be semi-retiree, as Thompson announced she'd step away from full-time play at the end of 2024, rebounded from a challenging 2023 season in which she earned no Solheim points to a campaign more in line with expectations for the 11-time winner. Thompson lost in a playoff for a chance for her first victory in six years in the Meijer LPGA Classic in June and has four top-10s this year.

This will be back-to-back Cups in which the U.S. has only two players who have won a Solheim, with Alison Lee triumphing in her only past appearance in 2015 and Thompson winning in 2015 and 2017.

Angel Yin was arguably the first woman left off the roster, with the two-time veteran making an August push with a second-place effort in the Portland Classic and a T-10 in the AIG Women's Open. Her early-season ankle injury kept her sidelined until April and she missed five out of eight cuts until August. Danielle Kang and Cheyenne Knight also did not return from the 2023 roster.

American Roster

Nelly Korda

Lilia Vu

Lauren Coughlin

Ally Ewing

Allisen Corpuz

Megan Khang

Andrea Lee

Rose Zhang

Alison Lee

Jennifer Kupcho

Sarah Schmelzel

Lexi Thompson