European captain Suzann Pettersen has named her four wildcard picks, completing the lineup for Europe’s defence of the Solheim Cup at Spain’s Finca Cortesin Golf Club in a four week’s time.
Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh will make her Solheim Cup debut, while Swedish duo Caroline Hedwall and Madelene Sagstrom and Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen have also been given the nod.
They join the eight automatic qualifiers who were confirmed after the ISPS Handa World Invitational, with Celine Boutier and Maja Stark earning spots from the LET Solheim Cup points list to join Carlota Ciganda, Linn Grant, Georgia Hall, Charley Hull, Leona Maguire and Anna Nordqvist who each qualified via their world ranking.
Dryburgh joins Linn Grant and Maja Stark as the team’s debutants, with Pettersen opting for experience with her other selections. Sagstrom and Pedersen will each make their third appearance, while Hedwall, who missed out at Inverness in 2021, makes her fifth appearance having been ever present from 2011 through 2019, including a memorable performance in 2013 where she won all five of her matches as Europe secured a record setting victory on US soil.
“I’m over the moon to be picked for my first Solheim Cup,” said Dryburgh who joined the LPGA Tour winners’ circle last November. “It has been a dream of mine to play on the European team since I can remember and for it to become a reality is an amazing feeling. It really makes all of the hard work over the years worthwhile and now I just can’t wait to tee it up with the rest of my team-mates.”
Hedwall, who won the Ladies European Tour’s season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de Espana last November, will be one of five Swedes in the side, and she is relishing the opportunity to take on the United States once again after missing out last time.
“I’m just really excited to play another Solheim Cup,” Hedwall said. “It’s my absolute favourite event to play, so I can’t wait for the week to start! Having great memories from the end of last year in Andalucía, I hadn’t thought much about Solheim until I won and after that, it was a goal for the season. I’m just really happy it became a reality!”
Having secured the winning point in Ohio last time round, Pedersen also expressed her delight at being selected and, despite this being her third appearance, is particularly looking forward to making her Solheim debut on European soil.
“I’m super proud to get picked,” said the 2020 Race to Costa del Sol champion. “I’m stoked because Suzann is someone that I’ve always looked up to. I haven’t yet played a Solheim Cup in Europe and I really wanted to play this. Spain has a really special place in my heart, I love Spain and I’m super happy to be able to represent Europe once again.”
Captain Pettersen is confident that she’s made the right choices and that the strongest possible European side will await the Americans when the event gets underway on September 22-24.
“I’m very pleased with my team!” Pettersen said. “Madelene [Sagstrom] was an obvious choice. She was right there in the pack with the rest of the eight qualifiers, has experience and is a great team player. It’s been great following Gemma [Dryburgh] and her performances over the past year, she has a very consistent game, is a great putter and has a great personality.”
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