Just because there’s no “i” in team doesn’t mean you can’t rate the individuals on a roster. That in mind, here’s a report card for every player (plus the captains) on each squad in this week’s Solheim Cup, which Europe won 15-13 after winning six of the first eight singles matches on Sunday. No grade inflation here. This isn’t middle school!
TEAM USA‘S GRADES
Allisen Corpuz (1-3-0) — Alongside Nelly Korda in Friday foursomes, Corpuz took out Europe’s top team of Charley Hull and Lottie Woad. But in Sunday singles, placed in the critical meat of the lineup, she ran out of steam on the back nine against Nanna Koerstz Madsen. Grade: C
Lauren Coughlin (3-1-1) — Aside from the undefeated Alison Lee, no American earned more points than Coughlin, who appeared in all five matches and backed up her rock-solid play in fourball and foursomes by handing Leona Maguire a rare Solheim Cup loss. Grade: A
Lindy Duncan (2-1-0) — At 35, Duncan was the oldest player on U.S. side, and she showed veteran poise in her first Solheim Cup, knocking off Maja Stark on Sunday to hand the Swede her only loss of the week. Grade: A-
Megan Khang (1-2-0) — Despite recent struggles on the LPGA Tour, Khang was a slam-dunk captain’s pick, given her sterling Solheim Cup record and her contributions to team chemistry. In partner play, Khang was her usual plucky self. But her eight-match win streak was snapped on Saturday, and she fell to Charley Hull in Sunday’s tone-setting opening match. Grade: C
Auston Kim (1-3-0) — Give Kim credit for her fire on Sunday, when she fought back from 4 down to put a scare in Europe’s top-ranked player. But Lottie Woad still won the vital point. A grade of C means average, and that’s what the week was for Kim. Grade: C
Nelly Korda (2-1-1) — Korda lost one match — in partner play against the Swedish buzzsaw of Linn Grant and Maja Stark — and sat out Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, the World No. 1 did most everything that was asked of her, bagging 2.5 points, including a Sunday singles win over Mimi Rhodes. Grade: B+
Jennifer Kupcho (1-3-0) — On the one hand, Kupcho supplied her team with the week’s most electric moment with a pair of closing birdies in Saturday fourballs. On the other, the player known to some as Clutch-cho came away with just one point for the week. Grade: B-
Alison Lee (4-0-0) — The top point-earner for team USA, Lee shined all week, at no point brighter than on Sunday, when she fought back from 4 down to win her singles match over Esther Henseleit. Grade: A
Andrea Lee C (1-3-0) — With her partner, Yealimi Noh, Lee got a big win on Saturday afternoon over Hull and Woad. But on Sunday she fell to Solheim Cup rookie Nastasia Nadaud to remain winless in three tries in Solheim singles. Grade: C
Yealimi Noh B (1-1-1) — Noh sparkled in partner play, but left alone in the spotlight on Sunday, she stumbled against Solheim Cup rookie Julia López Ramírez. Grade: B
Angel Yin (0-1-1) — Stricken with stomach issues for much of the summer, Yin was the biggest question mark for the Americans heading into the competition. But she was keen to play, and U.S. captain Angela Stanford went with her instead of potential alternate Lilia Vu. Trying to gut it out did not go well for Yin. After earning a half point on Friday, she sat out all day Saturday and was out of sorts in Sunday singles, falling 4 and 3 to Linn Grant. Grade: C- (but A for grit!)
Rose Zhang (2-2-0) — Entrusted with the anchor match on Sunday, Zhang earned a full point. It’s not her fault that it didn’t matter. She was more than steady enough throughout the competition to justify her place as a captain’s pick. Grade: B
Captain: Angela Stanford — For golf fans, second-guessing is second nature, but Stanford made it easier than usual by sticking with a recently ailing — and clearly out-of-form — Angela Yin, when she could have gone with alternate, Lilia Vu. Stanford then gave doubters even more ammunition by showing little faith in Yin, playing her just once in the first two days. Would Vu have made a difference? We’ll never know. But it’s fair to ask the question, anyway. Stanford also critiqued herself after the loss for not selling her team, who left many putts shorts, on the slowness of the greens. “I’m a little frustrated with myself that I didn’t drive that point home,” she said. Grade: C
TEAM EUROPE‘S GRADES
Céline Boutier (0-4-0) — It was a subpar showing for the Solheim Cup veteran but as they say in her home country, c’est la vie. Her lone win of the week came via the team’s, which is the one win that really counts. Grade: C-
Carlota Ciganda (1-1-1) — Ciganda wasn’t always on her A game, except when it really mattered. Unflinching in key moments, particularly with her putter, she beat Saturday’s hero, Jennifer Kupcho, handily in singles and proved herself once more to have the nerves and toughness of Seve. Grade: B+
Linn Grant — How Swede it was! After going undefeated in partner play alongside countrywoman Maja Stark, Grant — who went 0-4 two years ago — kept it up on her own, overwhelming Angel Yin in singles as part of an early blue European wave. Grade: A
Esther Henseleit (2-1-0) — After going 4 up in Sunday singles, Henseleit fell in stunning fashion to a hard-charging Alison Lee. But when she looks at her record and the team results, that ought to ease the sting. Grade: B
Charley Hull (1-3-1) — Match-play records can be deceptive, and Hull’s performance was a case in point. Winless in four tries with partner Lottie Woad, she blamed red-hot opponents and a cold putter for results that she felt did not reflect the quality of her play. Fair enough. But her week still would have counted as a disappointment if not for the crucial role she played on Sunday, overwhelming Megan Khang as she set the pace for Europe in the lead singles match. Grade: B
Nanna Koerstz Madsen (1-2-0) — Team Europe’s best putter lost her first two matches, but all is forgiven — and forgotten — with her clutch win in singles over Allisen Corpuz. Grade: B-
Leona Maguire (2-1-1) — Though she suffered a rare loss in Sunday singles, Maguire was mostly up to her usual mischief, claiming two other matches to become the fastest player to reach 10 career wins in the history of the Solheim Cup. Grade: B+
Nastasia Nadaud (3-1-0) — The youngest player in the competition, the 21-year-old captain’s pick announced herself quickly with strong play in foursomes. On Sunday, she proved that it was no fluke, toppling Andrea Lee 3 and 2. Grade: A-
Julia López Ramírez (1-0-1) — A Solheim Cup rookie and a captain’s pick, López Ramírez played just once over the first two days. But on Sunday she showed a steeliness in match play that seems to run in Spanish blood, beating Yealimi Noh 3 and 2. Grade: A-
Mimi Rhodes (2-1-0) — The Solheim Cup rookie drew a tough card on Sunday against World No. 1 Nelly Korda. But she was spotless in her other matches, in a showing that suggests she’ll be back in Cups to come. Grade: B+
Maja Stark (3-1-0) — As one half of a dynamic Swedish duo, Stark won three partner matches. Her lone loss came in singles again Lindy Duncan. By then, though, the Cup was already in the bag for Europe. Grade: A
Lottie Woad (1-3-1) — Like Charley Hull, her sidekick in partner play, Woad had an unimpressive week on paper, earning a scant half point in her first four matches. But also like Hull, she hit the ball better than her record shows, and she came up big on Sunday, outlasting a plucky Auston Kim 2&1. Grade: B-
Captain: Anna Nordqvist — Yes, the players have to hit the shots. But the captain sets the tone, and Nordqvist’s steady, upbeat presence was apparent all week. It sure stood out on Saturday, after Jennifer Kupcho had rocked the Europeans with a shocking comeback win. Unfazed, Nordqvist gathered her squad in a locked-arm circle, providing a pep talk that seemed to carry over to the decisive day. Throw in the fact that three of her four captain’s picks won their Sunday matches — the only loss came against World No. 1 Nelly Korda — and you could say that Nordqvist made the right moves in ways that mattered most. Grade: A
