Suzann Pettersen named captain for 2024 European Solheim Cup Team

15/08/2023. Ladies European Tour 2022. The Solheim Cup Vice Captains announcement, FInca Cortesin. Spain. August 15 2022. 2023 Solheim Cup Captain Suzann Pettersen with the trophy. Credit: Tristan Jones/LET

Suzann Pettersen has been named captain of the 2024 European Solheim Cup Team at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. 

The two-time Major winner, who is already preparing to lead the top 12 European female golfers at the 2023 Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesín in Spain (Sept. 22-24), will continue in the role for a second term.

“I love the Solheim Cup and it’s such a unique honour to be asked to captain Team Europe again in 2024,” said Pettersen. “Being offered the role for a second time before the 2023 matches have even been played is a little different to usual, as we usually play the competition every two years and announce the next captain after the competition, but because of the changes to the schedule and having back-to-back Solheim Cups in consecutive years, it makes perfect sense.

“So far, my 2023 captaincy has been a pure joy so to be able to lead the team in Europe this year and then again next year in the U.S., near the nation’s capital, will be a great honour.

“This will allow us to build a strategy and a philosophy for the team that we can keep which will offer more consistency for the players and enable them to focus on their performance. My focus is on getting the team around the players and the atmosphere right and then taking that up to the next level.”

LET CEO Alexandra Armas commented: “Suzann was a natural choice to lead the 2024 European Solheim Cup Team. She is doing a superb job in her preparations for the 2023 Solheim Cup in Spain and her experience, passion and pride will make her a great leader in 2024. The players know and respect Suzann and this continuity in leadership will ensure that they have the best preparation as we drive towards another incredibly successful event in 2024.”

Pettersen is a 21-time tournament winner, earning Major titles at the 2007 McDonald’s LPGA Championship and the 2013 Evian Championship.

During her career she earned 23 top-10 finishes in Major championships and was ranked as high as No.2 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. In 2016, Pettersen represented Norway in the Olympic Games in Brazil, finishing 10th place.

Pettersen represented Europe on nine Solheim Cup teams, in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019, when she famously holed the winning putt at Gleneagles in Scotland. She made a dramatic comeback as a captain’s pick after her maternity leave and she then retired from competitive play immediately after the match.

As a player, she owns a 18-12-6 win-loss-tie record and has earned 21 points for the European team from 36 matches. In 2017, she served as an assistant captain to Annika Sorenstam after withdrawing from the competition due to injury and she also worked in that role under Catriona Matthew during Europe’s second away victory at Inverness Club, Ohio, in 2021.

Stacy Lewis, the 2023 U.S. Solheim Cup Team captain, will also continue in her role and serve as the U.S. Team captain in 2024, at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, located just outside Washington D.C.

The 2024 Solheim Cup host venue was founded and designed by famed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Sr., who considered the layout to be one of his finest designs.

The course and its designer have long worked to join the game of golf with the American presidential lineage, with Jones first installing a putting green at the White House in 1954 for President Dwight Eisenhower.

The club was the host venue for the PGA Tour’s 2015 Quicken Loans Nationa as well as the 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2005 Presidents Cups.