Experience, exciting young talent and four Solheim Cup rookies make up Anna Nordqvist’s European team for Bernardus. We take a closer look at the 12 players charged with winning back the trophy.
When Team Europe walks onto the first tee at Bernardus on Friday morning, it will be a very different side from the one that lost the Solheim Cup in Virginia two years ago.
There are familiar faces, of course. Charley Hull and Carlota Ciganda will each make an eighth appearance, while Céline Boutier and Leona Maguire bring considerable match-play experience.
But alongside them is a new generation.
Lottie Woad, Julia López Ramírez, Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes will all experience the Solheim Cup for the first time, giving captain Anna Nordqvist the intriguing task of blending four rookies with some of Europe’s most established performers.
Hull and Esther Henseleit claimed the two places available through the LET Solheim Cup Points List, with Woad, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, Boutier, Ciganda and Nanna Koerstz Madsen qualifying through the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
Nordqvist then selected Maguire, López Ramírez, Nadaud and Rhodes as her four captain’s picks.
So who are the 12 women hoping to bring the Solheim Cup back to Europe?
Charley Hull – England
Solheim Cup appearances: 7 | 2026: 8th appearance
Hull is now one of the senior figures in European Solheim Cup golf, which seems remarkable given that she is still only 30.
She made her debut as a 17-year-old in 2013 and has since accumulated 16½ points from 27 matches, with 15 wins, three halves and nine defeats.
Hull also arrives at Bernardus after an excellent qualifying campaign. She topped the LET Solheim Cup Points List following two victories, including the PIF Saudi Ladies International, and added five further top-10 finishes. Her major form included a runner-up finish at the US Women’s Open and tied sixth at the AIG Women’s Open.
And there is unfinished business. Hull supplied one of Europe’s great moments on the final day in Virginia when she defeated Nelly Korda 6&4 in the singles.
What she brings: Experience, aggression and an ability to thrive on the emotion of match play. Hull is one of the players Nordqvist can build her team around.
Esther Henseleit – Germany
Solheim Cup appearances: 1 | 2026: 2nd appearance
Few players secured their place at Bernardus more dramatically.
Henseleit produced an outstanding finish to the qualifying period, taking fourth at the Women’s Scottish Open before finishing runner-up at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
A birdie at the 72nd hole forced a play-off and ultimately moved her into the second LET Solheim Cup Points position by just 0.9 points.
She made her Solheim Cup debut in Virginia in 2024 and now gets her first experience of playing in front of a European crowd.
What she brings: Recent form and growing big-event experience. With Germany relatively close to the Netherlands, Henseleit could also attract plenty of support at Bernardus.
Maja Stark – Sweden
Solheim Cup appearances: 2 | 2026: 3rd appearance
Stark is already becoming part of the established core of this European team.
She made her debut at Finca Cortesin in 2023 and returned in Virginia the following year, meaning she has experienced both the extraordinary atmosphere of a European home Solheim Cup and the very different challenge of playing away.
A powerful ball-striker with an attacking style, the Swede qualified through the world rankings.
At Bernardus she moves into an interesting middle ground: no longer a rookie, but still part of the younger generation around which future European teams could be built.
What she brings: Power, experience and versatility – valuable commodities when Nordqvist starts constructing her foursomes and fourball combinations.
Céline Boutier – France
Solheim Cup appearances: 4 | 2026: 5th appearance
Boutier has become one of the constants of recent European Solheim Cup teams.
She made her debut at Gleneagles in 2019 and has appeared in every contest since, experiencing European victories, the dramatic 2023 tie in Spain and defeat in Virginia.
The Frenchwoman qualified automatically through the world rankings and gives Nordqvist another player accustomed to golf’s biggest occasions.
At her best, Boutier’s controlled game and putting make her particularly well suited to the pressure of match play.
What she brings: Calmness, experience and a proven ability to perform under pressure.
Carlota Ciganda – Spain
Solheim Cup appearances: 7 | 2026: 8th appearance
Few players embody the modern European Solheim Cup quite like Ciganda.
She has played in every contest since making her debut in 2013 and will join Hull in making an eighth appearance at Bernardus.
Her most memorable moment came on home soil in Spain in 2023, when she secured the point that guaranteed Europe would retain the Cup.
Ciganda qualified through the world rankings this time and once again gives Europe a player who appears to relish the unique demands of this competition.
What she brings: Passion and vast Solheim Cup experience. If the contest becomes tight and emotional, Ciganda is exactly the sort of player Europe will want on the course.
Linn Grant – Sweden
Solheim Cup appearances: 2 | 2026: 3rd appearance
Grant made her debut alongside fellow Swede Stark at Finca Cortesin in 2023 and returned for the 2024 contest in Virginia.
Now she arrives at Bernardus as an automatic qualifier through the world rankings and another important member of Europe’s increasingly strong Swedish contingent.
Grant’s combination of length and ball-striking provides Nordqvist with plenty of options when considering partnerships.
What she brings: Power and familiarity with team golf, while still being young enough to form part of Europe’s next Solheim generation.
Nanna Koerstz Madsen – Denmark
Solheim Cup appearances: 1 | 2026: 2nd appearance
Koerstz Madsen returns to the European team five years after making her Solheim Cup debut in the victorious 2021 contest at Inverness Club.
She claimed the final automatic position available through the world rankings after Henseleit’s dramatic move into the LET points qualification places.
That means Bernardus will provide the Dane with something she didn’t experience on debut: a Solheim Cup on European soil.
What she brings: A powerful game and previous experience of being part of a winning European team.
Leona Maguire – Ireland
Solheim Cup appearances: 3 | 2026: 4th appearance
If ever there was a player whose Solheim Cup record made a compelling argument for a captain’s pick, it is Maguire.
The Irishwoman has accumulated 8½ points from her 12 Solheim Cup matches and has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to find another level in the team environment.
She was therefore the experienced choice among Nordqvist’s four selections.
Maguire has spoken openly about how much the competition means to her, and after the disappointment of Virginia she returns to a European home crowd for her fourth consecutive appearance.
What she brings: Proven match-play pedigree. Her record gives Nordqvist an experienced player who can potentially be paired with one of Europe’s rookies.
Lottie Woad – England
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie
Woad’s rise through the professional game has been extraordinary.
Still only 22, she turned professional little more than a year ago and has already won on both the LET and LPGA Tour.
Her performances were strong enough to make her the leading European qualifier through the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, and she finished tied sixth at the AIG Women’s Open as the qualifying period came to an end.
Now comes a completely different test.
This will be Woad’s first senior Solheim Cup, but she has already experienced team match play through amateur golf and arrives as one of Europe’s most exciting young players.
What she brings: Fearlessness and considerable current ability. The intriguing question is how Nordqvist chooses to use one of the brightest talents in European golf.
Photo Credit Mark Runnacles/LET
Julia López Ramírez – Spain
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie
López Ramírez’s ascent has been rapid.
The 23-year-old is in her rookie season on the LET and her second season on the LPGA Tour, yet has already done enough to convince Nordqvist that she belongs in the European team.
The Spaniard was one of three rookies selected as captain’s picks.
Nordqvist has highlighted her ball-striking, personality and energy – attributes which could make her an intriguing match-play player.
What she brings: Energy, quality ball-striking and another glimpse of Europe’s future.
Nastasia Nadaud – France
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie
Nadaud may be unfamiliar to some casual golf followers, but her trajectory explains why Nordqvist selected her.
The Frenchwoman won her maiden LET title at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España at the end of 2025, earned her LPGA Tour card and has continued progressing during her rookie season in the United States.
Perhaps most impressively, she has made the cut in every Major championship she has played in during 2026.
Now she faces another new experience entirely.
What she brings: Momentum and resilience. Nadaud’s ability to adapt quickly to increasingly demanding stages is becoming a feature of her young career.
Mimi Rhodes – England
Solheim Cup appearances: Rookie
Rhodes completes Europe’s quartet of debutants.
Her breakthrough came in spectacular fashion in 2025 when she won three times on the LET and secured Rookie of the Year honours.
But team golf isn’t completely unfamiliar territory. Rhodes represented Europe in the 2019 PING Junior Solheim Cup, an experience that gave her an early taste of what representing Europe means.
Nordqvist has described the Englishwoman as an experienced match-play player and fierce competitor.
Six years after that junior appearance, she now gets the opportunity to do it on the biggest stage.
What she brings: Winning instinct and match-play experience that belies her status as a senior Solheim Cup rookie.
Experience meets a new European generation
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Nordqvist’s team isn’t any individual player. It’s the balance.
At one end are Hull and Ciganda, making their eighth appearances, alongside proven Solheim performers such as Boutier and Maguire.
At the other are Woad, López Ramírez, Nadaud and Rhodes – four players who have never hit a shot in a senior Solheim Cup.
Nordqvist’s challenge is to make those two groups work together.
Does she pair rookies with experienced campaigners? Could some of the younger players thrive alongside one another? And which established partnerships will she want to revisit?
Those questions won’t be answered until Bernardus.
But Europe certainly won’t lack options.
Team Europe: Charley Hull, Esther Henseleit, Lottie Woad, Maja Stark, Céline Boutier, Carlota Ciganda, Linn Grant, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Leona Maguire, Julia López Ramírez, Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes.
The trophy belongs to the USA.
These are the 12 women trying to bring it back.
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