The 2024 Solheim Cup tees off on Friday, with US golf stars looking to topple three-time defending champs Europe in the team tournament's 19th iteration.
Alternating between European and US host courses each edition, teams compete in three days of match play, collecting one point for every win and a half-point for every tie. The US needs a total of 14.5 points to take this year's Cup outright, while Europe needs just 14 to retain it.
Team USA spans 12 of the sport's top-ranked and most decorated athletes, including Nelly Korda, Allisen Corpuz, Lauren Coughlin, Megan Khang, Ally Ewing, Lilia Vu, Rose Zhang, and the soon-to-retire Lexi Thompson.
US golfers on a mission to reclaim Solheim Cup dominance
Team Europe has held the Cup since 2019, but the margins have been razor thin. The 2023 event actually ended in a 14-14 tie, but as reigning champions, Europe retained the title in what the team considers their eighth victory over the US.
While the US holds the advantage over Europe in overall Solheim Cup wins, they haven't raised the trophy in seven years. And unlike other competitions with continuously swelling prize purses, only international bragging rights are on the line here.
Neither team has ever won four consecutive titles, and the US will aim to keep Europe from claiming that historic victory on home soil in Gainesville, Virginia, this weekend.
Star US golfer Nelly Korda sees Solheim Cup as "unfinished business"
All eyes are now on Team USA's Korda, who's coming off a banner 2024 after winning six different LPGA Tour events, including her second major.
"Whenever you get to wear the red, white, and blue and stars and stripes, there's a different meaning to it," the world No. 1 golfer told the BBC earlier this week. "You're playing not just for yourself, but for your captains, for your teammates, and your country, and there's just nothing like it. We have got some unfinished business."
How to watch the 2024 Solheim Cup women's golf tournament
The Solheim Cup starts Friday, September 13th, at 7:05 AM, with live coverage across NBC, the Golf Channel, and Peacock.
Amy Yang won her first LPGA tour event on Sunday, taking home the title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
At 34 years old, Yang is the oldest major winner in the LPGA since 2018 when Angela Stanford won the Evian Championship at age 40.
"At one point I thought, 'Will I ever win a major championship before I retire?'" Yang said after securing the victory. "And I finally did it and it's just amazing. Golf is really just like a fight against myself. I think I proved myself that I can compete and I can do this."
The South Korea national ended the tournament with an even-par 72 to finish at seven-under 281. At one point, she was at 10 under and held a seven-shot lead that no challenger was able to overcome.
It was also Yang’s 75th major start, the most before a player’s first major win since Stanford won hers in her 76th major start.
"It's been incredible all this week — everyone was rooting for me," Yang said. "I want to go sign some autographs for them."
Lilia Vu won her fifth LPGA Tour event on Sunday, taking home the Meijer LPGA Classic title in her first tournament appearance since March.
The World No. 2 had been sidelined with a back injury, but returned with a vengeance last weekend. She began the final day eight shots back of leader Grace Kim, before surviving a three-hole playoff against Kim and former champion Lexi Thompson to take the title.
"I think this is the most meaningful win," Vu told reporters. "Because there was a time two months ago where I was just crying on the range not being sure if I would ever play a tournament again without pain."
This was Vu's first Meijer LPGA Classic win, and a birdie on the third playoff hole helped secure it. A two-time major champion, she's now two for three in LPGA Tour playoffs.
She said on Sunday that being unable to defend her title at the Chevron Championship was the "breaking point" in her season.
"Not being able to compete there really killed me," she said. "I feel like I thought I was taking the steps in the right direction, but I’m glad that I was able to take a couple months off and reevaluate my body, let it recover, do what I needed to do to get back out here again.
"And we did the right thing and took two months off. I think it hurt me not to play competitive golf because I literally live for competitive golf, but we did the right thing and that’s why I’m here today."
Vu walked away with $450,000 in prize money from the $3 million overall purse.
LPGA tour standouts Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson missed the cut at the US Women’s Open this past weekend as World No. 6 golfer Yuka Saso picked up her second title at the major.
After posting a first-round 80 — which included a 10 on a par-3 — Korda followed it up with a 70 on the second day. The back-to-back disappointments ended the chances for the World No. 1, who had been an overwhelming favorite going into the tournament.
"I knew it was going to be a tough day," Korda told reporters afterwards. "Try to give it my all, you know that’s what I try to do with every round. I had nothing to lose, and that was my mentality — just kind of go for it."
World No. 1 Nelly Korda missed the cut at the US Women’s Open Friday, on a day when Lexi Thompson made her final appearance in the competition after also failing to make it to the weekend.https://t.co/U2lCuas7Bk
— CNN Sports (@cnnsport) June 1, 2024
Joining Korda in missing the cut was longtime US front-runner Lexi Thompson. Thompson was competing in her 18th consecutive US Women’s Open, announcing beforehand that this would be her final season competing professionally.
"Minus the golf, it was amazing," Thompson said of her recent US Women's Open performance. "It wasn’t the golf that I wanted to play, obviously… to see all the fans out there, just to hear their chants, made me smile, every single shot even though I kept on bogeying."
"It’s meant the world to me," she added. "I’m so blessed and grateful for the family that I have… Going into the week I knew it was going to be a big week. To have my family and friends and the amount of fans that were out there this week, that’s what we want."
Fellow American Rose Zhang, ranked No. 6 in the world, was another big name on the cut list.
For Saso, however, the week was a banner one. At just 22 years old, the Philippine-born Japan national is a two-time major champion, winning both titles at the US Women’s Open. She’s the youngest two-time champion in the event's history.
"I definitely had a little doubt if I can win again," she told reporters following the victory. "It just makes it special because after a long wait — I wasn't expecting to win the US Women's Open. Every time, last time, too, I wasn't expecting it, and this time, too, I wasn't expecting it."
World No. 1 Nelly Korda got off to a career-worst start at the US Women’s Open on Thursday, shooting a 10-over 80.
A mere three holes into the tournament, the LPGA star carded a 10 on a par-3, watching as her ball rolled into the water three consecutive times.
"Making a 10 on a par-3 will definitely not do you any good at a US Open," Korda told reporters afterwards. "Just a bad day in the office."
With 15 holes to go, Korda said her hope was to keep her score below 80. Instead, she finished with three birdies and six bogeys on the remaining holes. The round marked her second-straight round of 80 in the US Women’s Open after she shot 80 in the final round at Pebble Beach last summer.
Korda finished the day 12 shots out of the lead, despite entering the tournament as a favorite. She’s won six of her last seven tournaments, including an LPGA record-tying five wins in a row.
"I just didn't really want to shoot 80," Korda said. "And I just kept making bogeys. My last two rounds in the US Women’s Open have not been good."
And the oft unbeatable Korda had no answers on Thursday. With a projected cut line of +4, she has a lot of ground to make up on Friday should she want to advance to the weekend.
"I’m human. I’m going to have bad days. I played some really solid golf up to this point," she added. "Today was just a bad day. That’s all I can say."
Pro golfer Lexi Thompson is retiring, she announced on Tuesday. This will be her final season on the LPGA Tour.
The 29-year-old has been playing professionally for the past 15 years. The two-time Olympian and six-time Solheim Cup competitor said that she’d been contemplating retirement for a few months, coming to the conclusion that it was time to step away.
"While it is never easy to say goodbye, it is indeed time," Thompson posted to Instagram. "At the end of 2024, I will be stepping away from a full professional golf schedule. I'm excited to enjoy the remainder of the year as there are still goals I want to accomplish.
"I'm looking forward to the next chapter of my life. Time with family, friends, and my trusted companion Leo. I will always look for ways to contribute to the sport and inspire the next generation of golfers. And of course, I look forward to a little time for myself."
Thompson is set to play at the US Women’s Open in Pennsylvania starting Thursday. Speaking from Lancaster Country Club, Thompson told reporters that she’s currently taking it "day by day."
"I'm not going to say yes or no on how many events I'll play or if I do," she said. "I'm just going to take it day by day and see how I feel, especially going into next year, but I'm very content with this being my last full-time schedule year."
Thompson also cited mental health as a factor in her decision to retire.
"I think we all have our struggles, especially out here," she said. "Unfortunately in golf you lose more than you win, so it's an ongoing battle to continue to put yourself out there in front of the cameras and continuing to work hard and maybe not seeing the results you want and getting criticized for it. So it's hard.
"I will say, yes, I've struggled with it — I don't think there's somebody out here that hasn't. It's just a matter of how well you hide it, which is very sad."
This will be Thompson’s 18th-straight year participating in US Women’s Open. At just 12 years old, she was the youngest golfer to qualify for the 2007 tournament, later making her first cut at the major in 2009 at 14.
Thompson turned pro in 2010 and went on to win 11 LPGA tournaments, capturing her first title in 2011 at the Navistar LPGA Classic.
The retirement came as a surprise to many, including decorated LPGA standout Nelly Korda.
"She's had such an amazing career," Korda said Tuesday. "I've gotten to be on the team with her a couple times representing our country. I think she does an amazing job for the Tour. She spends so much time going to each pro-am party. She really dedicated her time to growing the game.
"It's sad to see that she's obviously leaving and not going to be out here with us anymore, but she's had an amazing career, and I wish her the best in this new chapter of her life."
Nelly Korda continued her unprecedented LPGA run on Sunday, winning her sixth tournament in the last seven starts.
The 25-year-old Florida native took home the title at the Mizuho Americas Open, becoming the first LPGA player to record six wins in a single season since 2013 — and that’s with three majors and a little over half the season left to play.
"Oh, my gosh, six," Korda said after the win. "I can't even really gather myself right now with that, the head-to-head that Hannah and I had pretty much all day. Wasn't my best stuff out there today, but fought really hard on the back nine."
Korda is just the fourth player on tour to win six times before June 1st, joining LPGA Hall of Famers Babe Zaharias (1951), Louise Suggs (1953), and Lorena Ochoa (2008).
Should her victory run continue, Korda could break the current record for single-season wins, currently set at 13 by Mickey Wright in 1963.
Korda ended Sunday's tournament one shot ahead of Hannah Green, finishing the 18th with a par putt to win it all.
"I mean, to lose to Nelly kind of like is — it's sad, but then it's also Nelly Korda," Green said of her second-place finish. "You know, like she's obviously so dominant right now. To feel like second behind her is quite nice. Unfortunately the bogey on the last has a little bit of a sour taste."
Next up is the US Women’s Open, a tournament that Korda has yet to win in her career.
"Obviously it's on the top of my priority list," she said. "I just know there is never any good when you put more pressure on yourself. Just going to stay in my bubble that week and take it a shot at a time."
Earlier this year, Korda became the fastest player to collect $2 million in prize money over a single season. This latest win earned her an additional $450,000, bringing her season total up to $2,943,708.
25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.
Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.
The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.
It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.
Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.
The 2023 edition of the LPGA Tour Championship just teed off, but the season-ending tournament already is making waves into 2024.
Next year’s first-place winner will receive a record $4 million, up from $2 million. The total purse will increase from $11 million, up from $7 million and tied with the U.S. Open as the largest purses in tour history.
On Wednesday, CME Group announced a two-year extension of their partnership with the LPGA, which included the increased purse size. In addition to $4 million for the winner, $1 million will go to the runner-up.
CME Group has sponsored the final major of the season since 2011. And the extension of the partnership signifies the “growth and strength of the LPGA,” according to LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan.
“CME Group has been pushing the LPGA forward at every step of our evolution since 2011, and with this extension they are once again helping take the LPGA, women’s golf and women’s sports to unprecedented heights,” she said in a statement.
Those looking to follow this year’s tournament can watch it on Peacock from Thursday through Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. ET. NBC and Peacock will present the final round beginning at 1 p.m. ET Sunday.
Angel Reese has been named to Time Magazine’s 100 Next list for 2023.
A standout for LSU basketball, she helped lead the Tigers to their first national title earlier this year while setting a record for double-doubles in a single season. And her star has continued to rise as she elevates her game and her profile.
WNBA star Candace Parker, who wrote Reese’s blurb for Time Magazine, noted that Reese brings “work, effort and energy,” all of which are required to excel in their game.
“She’s ripping the sport open and tearing back the layers,” Parker writes. “Her tenacity and confidence on the court make her such an exciting player to watch—it’s incredible to see her stand in her power and make such a big impact on women’s basketball, especially this early in her career.”
There is only “one time” that Parker doesn’t root for Reese, and it’s when LSU plays her own alma mater, the University of Tennessee.
The 100 Next list, which recognizes up-and-comers in industries across the world, also features a pair of World Cup stars in Spain forward Salma Paralluelo and USWNT and Portland Thorns forward Sophia Smith. Stanford golf phenom-turned-LPGA pro Rose Zhang also made the list.
Smith touched on her missed penalty kick at the World Cup in her blurb. The shot helped seal the USWNT’s penalty shootout loss to Sweden in the Round of 16.
“You don’t let those moments completely define who you are,” she said. “When something doesn’t go your way, you can let it take you down, or you learn and grow from that moment and be better from it. I’m choosing that route.”