Leona Maguire has been named as one of Catriona Matthew's six Solheim Cup wildcards, and the skipper reckons her never-say-die attitude will be a huge boost to Europe's chances of retaining the trophy at Inverness Club in Ohio in a fortnight.

The Slieve Russell star (26) becomes the first Irish woman to make the team, joining Finland's Matilda Castren, Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark and Sophia Popov as one of four rookies on the side for Europe's trophy defence in Toledo from September 4-6.

"I'm really excited; it is something that I have looked forward to," Maguire said. "I played the PING Junior Solheim Cup in 2009 and 2011; it was an incredible thing to be part of the Junior side, so to be on the 'big' team is something really special, and no Irish person has ever done it before.

"I think it's going to be great for Irish golf and to show the young girls coming up that it is possible to do things if you set your mind to it. Catriona is a legend in her own right -- a winning Solheim Cup captain and a Major winner. For her to think I'm good enough to be on her team is quite humbling and an honour."

The Ballyconnell native tried to focus on results rather than the Solheim Cup itself throughout the qualifying period, and her strategy paid off.

"I don't think I was on [Matthew's] Beanie's radar at the start of the season and thought I might need to win," added a delighted Maguire, who had nine top-15 finishes this year and closed with a 10-under 61 in the Evian Championship to match the lowest score ever shot in a Major.

Leona Maguire. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

"But the consistency of my results and the two second-places in Hawaii and the Meijer helped me a lot. Then the Majors as well, where I performed pretty well against the best fields in the world. The consistency definitely caught her attention, I would say. But she first texted me after my first top 10 in Florida in February and after every top 10 after that."

Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom, Maguire's former Duke teammate Celine Boutier of France, and England's Mel Reid were also handed captain's picks and join the six automatic qualifiers in Denmark's Emily Kristine Pedersen and England's Georgia Hall from the Solheim Cup points standings and newly-crowned AIG Women's Open winner Anna Nordqvist of Sweden, Germany's Sophia Popov, England's Charley Hull and Spain's Carlota Ciganda from the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings.

"To be the first Irish woman is another milestone, another glass ceiling shattered," Maguire said. "I am the first, and hopefully I'll not be the last, and this shows other young girls in Ireland it's possible to get on the Solheim Cup team. It will be on Sky Sports, there will be a lot of people watching, and hopefully, some young girls watching are inspired by it and work hard to be on the team themselves one day."

Maguire has spoken all season of the Solheim Cup taking care of itself if she continued to put results on the board, but she revealed last night she heard of her selection at the start of AIG Women's Open week at Carnoustie.

"I heard last Monday, actually," she said. "I played with Beanie (Matthew), and she told me then, so it was nice to have that squared away heading into the week and not to have to worry about it.

"All year I said it, and I wasn't telling a lie, but Solheim Cup wasn't something I was focussing on too much. I was focused on my golf and finishing as high up the leaderboard as I could every week, and I knew if I played the way I could, the Solheim Cup would take care of itself.

"Thankfully, that plan was executed nicely, and we are having this conversation now.”

She revealed the Solheim Cup call is the realisation of a lifelong dream.

"Myself and Lisa were lucky enough to play in two Junior Solheim Cups in 2009 and 2011 in Knightsbrook,” she said. "And I still remember going round following Suzann Pettersen in Killeen Castle in 2011, turning around a couple of matches and winning the Solheim Cup for Europe.

"I remember following every hole and walking around with her mum and dad, and ever since then, I have wanted to be a part of that team.

"I love team golf, and I love match play. Representing Ireland is one thing, but representing Europe is even bigger, so I am really looking forward to it."

Matthew had been sending Maguire messages of congratulations since she tied for sixth in the LGPA Drive on Championship in April and went on to finish second in the LOTTE Championship and the Meijer LPGA Classic before shooting a Major Championship record-equalling 61 in the final round of the Evian Championship.

"Leona has had a fantastic year this year," Matthew said of a player who has had nine top 15 finishes and sits eighth on the LPGA Tour's Race to CME Globe points list, making her the leading European.

"She's right up there in the race to the CME and probably one of our top two players before this week. Obviously, she was world No. 1 amateur for a couple of years, and it's maybe just taken her two or three years longer than perhaps others to get settled as a pro.

"I think she's got that real grittiness. I think she's a really good match player. Has a great record from the Curtis Cup and played well in the match play in Vegas. I think she'll be a solid, one of these never-give-up-type players."

Matthew believes Maguire's selection will be a big boost to women's golf in Ireland after years of stellar achievements by the men.

“Obviously the men have been doing well the last few years with Shane and Rory and Pádraig and obviously Darren," Matthew said. "It is nice to see Leona kind of coming to the forefront and climbing those World Rankings, and hopefully that encourages young Irish girls to come up when they have a good role model like Leona to see."

Europe won the 2019 Solheim Cup 14 1⁄2 to 13 1⁄2 at Gleneagles, but US skipper Pat Hurst is determined to win it back at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio from September 4-6.

"We are just looking forward to the week,” she said. "Inverness is going to be awesome. Toledo, everybody, it's just going to be amazing."

She will have a stellar team with world No 1 Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Ally Ewing, Austin Ernst, Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda and Megan Khang qualifying from the Solheim Cup race and Lizette Salas and Jennifer Kupcho from the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings.

Her three wildcards will be announced at 3pm Irish time today.

Team USA leads Team Europe, 10-6, all-time in Solheim Cup competition.