The 2026 Solheim Cup team is going to be tough to crack for some deserving rookies. The team goes deep, as evidenced by its win in 2024. Many of the players likely will be returning, but there are also a couple spots that seem guaranteed to open up. If a rookie is to make the team, these are the most likely to do so.
While there are some fun names to speculate about turning professional and making this team, like Asterisk Talley and Megha Ganne, that won’t be featured here. This will be strictly limited to current professional players who have never played on a United States Solheim Cup team.
- Auston Kim – Kim is finally starting to get results that match her immense talent, and that is a scary proposition for the rest of the LPGA Tour. The 24-year-old in her second season on Tour has played great golf since April, including a runner-up finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Kim hits the ball a mile, she is third in driving distance on Tour, and is starting to convert that long hitting into more greens in regulation. Her one weakness is putting, but the rest of her game is so strong.
- Lucy Li – Li is another youth play for the Americans. Despite being a known player for 10 years, she is still just 22-years-old. Li has found a lot more consistency in 2025, and that should only continue to improve moving forward as she isn’t splitting time between golf and her studies. Li also had two top-five finishes in 2024 that show she has the ability to get into contention.
- Lindy Duncan – Duncan, the 34-year-old veteran who first earned her LPGA Tour card in 2014, has shown a bit of Sarah Schmelzel, Lauren Coughlin upside in 2025. From 2019 – 2024, Duncan had three total top-10 finishes. In 2025 she has already matched that, including at the Chevron Championship, where she was a part of a five-way playoff. Duncan also has an 11th place finish and a 12th place finish this year. It wouldn’t necessarily be a move for the future, but it would be an interesting veteran to crash the squad.
- Jenny Bae – Jenny Bae, perhaps most well-known for her duel with Rose Zhang at the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, has shown some nice flashes in her rookie season on Tour. She has made 7/11 cuts, had a nice finish at the JM Eagle LA Championship and was a distant runner-up to Chisato Iwai in Mexico. She’s only missed one cut since the beginning of May and is starting to really trend up.
- Elizabeth Szokol -Szokol, despite having a solid 2023 season, never seemed to be in any conversations to make that Solheim Cup team. After a rough 2024, she is back to playing rock solid golf. She plays well as a pair, having finished top 10 twice in the Dow Championship with one win alongside Cheyenne Knight. She’s made eight cuts in 10 starts in 2025 and has four top-25 finishes.
