12 Highest Ranked Players Missing The Solheim Cup This Week

The Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin will feature many of the world’s best players, with Team Europe boasting the likes of Amundi Evian Championship winner Celine Boutier, three-time Major winner Anna Nordqvist and one of the game’s brightest prospects, Linn Grant.

Stacy Lewis’s Team USA is not short of top-quality players either, with the likes of Lilia Vu, who won two Majors in 2023, recent World No.1 Nelly Korda and US Women’s Open Champion Allisen Corpuz three of the standout names who will be in Spain hoping to reclaim the trophy.

However, plenty of big names have missed out on this year’s match. Here are the 12 highest-ranked players who won’t be involved.

Jodi Ewart Shadoff - World No.52

The 35-year-old has plenty of Solheim Cup experience, having competed for Europe in 2013, 2017 and 2019, with an overall record of 3-6-1.

However, she has the unenviable record of being the highest-ranked eligible player to miss out this year. The World No.52 has shown glimpses of her ability in 2023, including a T15 in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol, but it wasn’t enough to make Suzann Pettersen’s team.

With the next Solheim Cup only a year away, she’ll be hopeful that, despite missing out for the second successive time, it won’t be too long until she represents Team Europe for the fourth time.

Alison Lee - World No.60

American Lee has made one Solheim Cup appearance, in 2015, when she achieved a 1-3-0 record as the US beat the Europeans in Germany, but there's no place for the World No.60 in 2023. 

That's despite a promising 2023 that at one point featured a run of three top 10 finishes in four starts. Lee also finished T11 at the AIG Women's Open, but it hasn't quite been enough for her second appearance in the match. 

Jessica Korda - World No.68

While sister Nelly comfortably qualified for the 2023 match, it was a different story for Jessica. The three-time Solheim Cup player has suffered a frustrating year with only six starts thanks to a back injury that has kept her out since May.

Not surprisingly, that has played havoc with her world ranking, too, and she now stands in 68th, 50 places lower than her ranking at the turn of the year.

Her involvement in the 2024 match could be in doubt too, albeit for a far happier reason. In August she announced she is expecting her first child, which is due next February.

Albane Valenzuela - World No.74

Swiss player Valenzuela has yet to make a Solheim Cup appearance, and she will be waiting at least another year after failing to make Pettersen’s 12-player team for Finca Cortesin.

That’s despite several high points over 2023 so far including her best finish in a Major to date, a T4 in the Chevron Championship. 

Valenzuela has also achieved top-10 finishes in four other tournaments this year, suggesting that, still aged just 25, her maiden Solheim Cup appearance may not be too far away.

Nanna Koerstz Madsen - World No.75

The Dane was part of the winning European team in 2021, and contributed with a 1-1-1 record, but there’s no place for her two years later.

The 28-year-old has endured some inconsistent form this year, which has included six missed cuts and a high point of the T4 at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. As a result, her world ranking has also suffered, and she is now 22 places lower than she was at the turn of the year at World No.75.

Perrine Delacour - World No.77

Two places beneath Madsen in the world rankings stands Delacour. However, despite climbing over 100 places since the start of the year, her form hasn’t been enough to secure a place on the team, meaning Celine Boutier will be the only player from France for this year’s match.

A T11 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was Delacour’s best finish in a Major and one of her standout performances of 2023. She’ll hope to continue her upward trajectory with one eye on the 2024 match in the US.

Ryann O’Toole - World No.83

American O’Toole has just one Solheim Cup appearance to her name, which came way back in 2011 in the US’s 15-13 defeat to Team Europe.

She will now miss her sixth successive match as the chance to build on her 2-0-2 overall record continues to elude her.

Highlights have been few and far between for the 36-year-old this year, with fourth in the ISPS Handa World Invitational the standout performance among some inconsistent results, including five missed cuts.

Will 2024 be the year that O’Toole finally makes a second appearance at the match?

Lizette Salas - World No.84

Salas’s run of five consecutive Solheim Cup appearances will come to an end in 2023. The American, who has an overall record of 8-7-3 in the match, misses out despite some high spots over the qualifying period.

That included three top-10 finishes in four appearances towards the end of 2022. However, this year has been far less rewarding with a T13 at the DIO Implant Open her best finish as she has slipped to 84th in the world rankings.

Marina Alex - World No.88

American Alex had been in a good position to qualify for this year's match at the turn of the year with a world ranking of 39th. However, an alarming loss of form including missed cuts in her last six starts meant the dream of appearing in her first Solheim Cup since 2019 proved beyond her.

Back then, she finished with a 1-1-2 record as Team USA slipped to defeat by 14.5 points to 13.5 points. She’ll be hoping for a big turnaround in fortunes if she is to drag herself into contention for the 2024 match.

Olivia Cowan - World No.90

The German has had a promising year so far, including a T9 at the AIG Women’s Open, to suggest she could have a Solheim Cup career to look forward to. It won’t start in 2023, though, as, despite rising 82 places to 90th in the world since the turn of the year, it hasn’t been enough to make the team.

Cowan’s first LET win came less than a year ago, and her continued progress this year means she could well be in contention by this time next year.

Mina Harigae - World No.93

American Harigae made the 2021 Solheim Cup team and finished with a 1-2-0 record, but there’s no place for her two years on.

She must have fancied her chances after finishing runner-up in the 2022 US Women’s Open, but she has largely failed to build on that performance, and has fallen short of another top-10 finish in her 33 starts since.

She now stands at 93rd in the world having been 38th a year ago, and that left her well short of automatic qualification and overlooked by Lewis as a wildcard this time round.

Stephanie Meadow - World No.99

Meadow's wait for a maiden Solheim Cup appearance continues after she failed to qualify automatically for the 2023 match, or persuade Pettersen she was worthy of a wildcard for the European team. 

The 31-year-old certainly appeared to have given herself a chance after a T13 a the Meijer LPGA Classic was followed by her best finish in a Major to date, a T3 at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. 

Some underwhelming performances followed that, though, and she will now hope she can find her best form again to give herself a chance of making the 2024 team.