Solheim Cup records, facts and figures for the United States and Europe

September 21, 2023

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CASARES, Spain — We’re just a day away from the upcoming matches and a bit of Solheim Cup history has already been made this year.

The Europeans are primed to win a third consecutive Solheim Cup as the 2023 matches head to Finca Cortesin Golf Club in Spain, but a stout American lineup stands in the way.

Leading the United States will be 38-year-old Stacy Lewis, who set the mark as the youngest U.S. captain. Patty Sheehan had the previous record of 45 years old in 2002. The youngest-ever captain? That’d be Europe’s 2003 leader, Catrin Nilsmark, at 36 years, 13 days.

Dating back to the inaugural event in 1990, the Solheim Cup has been contested 17 times around the world. From Colorado to Germany, Florida to Scotland, a total of 444 matches have been played, and the U.S. holds a slight advantage. The Americans have won 196 matches to Europe’s 181 wins, with 67 matches tied. That means the two sides are separated by just 15 points all-time: U.S.: 229½ points; Europe: 214½.

Team	Overall	Singles	Foursomes	Fourballs
U.S. wins	196	97	49	50
Europe wins	181	71	59	51
Ties	67	28	17	22
Total	444	196	125	123

The U.S. has dominated singles (97-71-28), but has a losing record in both foursomes (49-59-27) and fourball (50-51-22).

If you’re a fan of fun facts and figures, take a deeper look at the history of the Solheim Cup.

1994: Laura Davies holds the Solheim Cup trophy. (Photo: Steve Munday/ALLSPORT)

You can’t tell the history of golf without highlighting the career of Dame Laura Davies. A Solheim Cup legend, Davies made 12 appearances for Team Europe from the inaugural event in 1990 to her final as a player in 2011. The Englishwoman earned a 22-18-6 record to hold the mark for 25 points won.

Davies made her debut as a non-playing assistant captain at the age of 55 in 2019 on Catriona Matthew’s staff and returned in the same position in 2021.

Juli Inkster of the USA jumps for joy after sinking a birdie putt during the afternoon’s fourball in the 1998 Solheim Cup between Europe v USA played at Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio, USA. (Photo: Craig Jones/Allsport)

Singles points won: 7

Juli Inkster has been an important figure for the U.S. side over the years and boasts an impressive 6-1-2 record in singles play. Her lone loss came to Helen Alfredsson, 2 and 1, in the 1998 matches won by the U.S., 16-12.

Foursomes points won: 11½

Annika Sorenstam racked up 11½ of her 24 points in foursomes matches over her eight appearances for the Europeans. Her only losing record (11-3-1 total in foursomes) with a partner came with Catriona Matthew.

Catriona Matthew: 2-3-0
Suzann Pettersen: 2-0-0
Carin Koch: 3-0-0
Janice Moodie: 2-0-0
Catrin Nilsmark: 2-0-1

Fourball points won: 11½

Cristie Kerr earned 21 points of her own for the Americans over nine appearances, and features a losing record in fourball (11-5-1 overall) with just one partner:

Morgan Pressel: 1-2-0
Lexi Thompson: 2-0-1
Paula Creamer: 2-0-0
Kelli Kuehne: 2-0-0
Natalie Gulbis: 1-0-0
Rosie Jones: 1-1-0
Nicole Castrale: 1-1-0
Michelle Wie West: 1-1-0

Player	Team	Record	Point percentage
Janice Moodie	Europe	7–2–2	72.73
Carin Koch	Europe	10-3-3	71.88
Dottie Pepper	USA	13-5-2	70
Christina Kim	USA	6-2-2	70

*Minimum three Solheim Cup matches

Caroline Hedwall of team Europe is interviewed after earning the fourteenth match point during the final round of the 2013 Solheim Cup at the Colorado Golf Club. (Photo: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

Just one player has gone a perfect 5-0-0 at the Solheim Cup.

Caroline Hedwall had a weekend to remember in 2013 at Colorado Golf Club as she led the Europeans to an 18-10 victory with an unblemished five-point performance. Before defeating Michelle Wie West 1 up on Sunday, Hedwall went 2-0-0 with Anna Nordqvist in foursomes and 2-0-0 with Caroline Masson in fourball.

Oldest players

USA: Juli Inkster, 51 years, 91 days (2011)

Europe: Catriona Matthew, 47 years, 358 days (2017)

Youngest players

Europe: Charley Hull, 17 years, 149 days (2013)

USA: Lexi Thompson, 18 years, 187 days (2013)

Just one hole-in-one has been made in the event’s 33-year history. Anna Nordqvist aced the par-3 17th at Colorado Golf Club in a 2013 foursomes match alongside Caroline Hedwall. The Europeans beat Morgan Pressel and Jessica Korda, 2 and 1.

United States

Margin	Winner(s)	Loser(s)	Type	Year
8 and 7	Pat Bradley	Trish Johnson	Singles	1990
7 and 6	Beth Daniel	Liselotte Neumann	Singles	1990
7 and 6	Deb Richard	Kitrina Douglas	Singles	1992
7 and 5	Pat Hurst and Rosie Jones	Lisa Hackney and Sophie Gustafson	Fourball	1998
7 and 5	Paula Creamer	Laura Davies	Singles	2005
7 and 5	Ally McDonald and Angel Yin	Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall	Fourball	2019

Nine U.S. matches have ended with a 6-and-5 victory, three in Sunday Singles: Dottie Pepper (1994), Laura Diaz (2005) and Brittany Lang (2011).

Europe

Margin	Winner(s)	Loser(s)	Match	Year
6 and 5	Laura Davies and Trish Johnson	Kelly Robbins and Pat Bradley	Fourball	1996
6 and 5	Laura Davies and Lisa Hackney	Beth Daniel and Val Skinner	Fourball	1996
6 and 5	Lisa Hackney	Betsy King	Singles	1998
6 and 5	Caroline Hedwall and Sophie Gustafson	Angela Stanford and Stacy Lewis	Foursomes	2011
6 and 5	Catriona Matthew	Paula Creamer	Singles	2011