It's her time: Angela Stanford named U.S. Solheim Cup captain for 2026

NBC Sports

20-03-2025

Three years after being passed over to lead the U.S. Solheim Cup team, Angela Stanford was announced Thursday as the 2026 captain. She'll helm the Americans in their bid to retain the cup when they face Europe in the Netherlands.
'There have been a lot of things that have happened in my life,' said Stanford, having retired from a 24-year LPGA playing career in November. 'I'm in a spot where I can totally focus on the Solheim Cup, and I can give it everything I have.'
Stanford, 47, believes the timing wasn't right for her to captain the U.S. team in 2023 and '24, when Stacy Lewis was tapped for the back-to-back cups. When that decision was being made in 2022, Stanford's mother, Nan, was battling breast cancer. She died in March of that year.
Stanford wasn't mentally or emotionally in a place to take on such a demanding role, and she assumed the selection committee that chose not to give her the job, knew that to be true.
'I think, internally, people knew that my mom was the most important person in my life,' Stanford said. 'And now, looking back, it was a blessing that Stacy was there. Timing is everything. And I think Stacy was perfect for that time.'
Recently retired and three years removed from her mother's passing, Stanford is ready to seize on this time – her time – to lead the Americans, in what could be a career-defining Solheim Cup captaincy.
The appointment comes after Stanford, a six-time playing member, spent three stints as an assistant captain, first to Pat Hurst at Inverness Club in 2021, when Stanford was made custodian of the team's 'Black Book,' which held the statistical data about each member of the American squad. She reprised her role in 2023 and '24 alongside Lewis, who was famous for relying on data to drive her decision making – not just when it came to making her captain's picks, but to also determine and enlighten her pairings throughout the matches.
'We've had the benefit of watching these players and who they've paired with, and I've kept all that,' Stanford said of the information she's acquired. 'That's going to be a huge advantage.'
That's not to say she'll solely rely on statistics.
'I have some old-school mentality. I believe in analytics, but at the same time, I grew up in an era that stats weren't really looked at that much,' Stanford said. 'There's a lot more gut feeling and instincts.'
In fact, Stanford doesn't plan to emulate either captain under which she's served. Instead, she intends to model her leadership style after Betsy King, who captained Stanford and the U.S. team to victory in Sweden in 2007. The move makes sense, considering the U.S. has only three wins on foreign soil.
'Betsy was very serious about it,' Stanford said about adopting King's strategy. 'It was hard to find Betsy smiling that week until we were done.'
Stanford says King balanced the vibe in the team room by having assistants like Beth Daniel to help lighten the mood. Stanford plans to take a similar approach to her captaincy, and while she intends to bring the same intensity she had as a player to her role as a team leader, she also likes having fun. Self-described as cheesy and clumsy, Stanford says she's not just willing to laugh at herself, but to be laughed at, too.
'She's fun in the team room and very relatable, but don't let that fool you. If she's speaking or on the course, she means business,' said Lizette Salas, a two-time teammate of Stanford's in the Solheim Cup.
'She will be more drill-sergeant-like than others in the past,' said Brittany Lincicome, who played on five Solheim Cup teams with Stanford. 'She wants to win so badly and will leave it all on the field in the Netherlands.'
The opportunity for Stanford is a byproduct of a career in which she fought being overlooked and often felt like she had something to prove. The Texan didn't win her lone major title until age 40, but as a result of that determination, she managed to add her name to the record books with the most consecutive major starts in LPGA history (98).
'For my entire playing career, it felt like me against the world,' said Stanford. 'I wasn't highly recruited. I wasn't a generational talent. I didn't do anything special. It always felt like it was kind of me against everybody else.'
While Stanford has a 4-13-2 record in her six Solheim Cup appearances, her no-quit attitude helped her deliver for her team when they needed her most.
In Stanford's final Solheim Cup match, in Germany in 2015, she defeated Suzann Pettersen in Sunday singles to clinch the winning point for the U.S., capping the largest come-from-behind victory in team history. That was the last time the Americans won in Europe.
'I love going to other people's fields and competing,' Stanford said about her competitive attitude. 'I don't know if it's just the way I'm wired, but I know when you get into one of those environments you better dig in.'
Stanford has shown she is someone the U.S. can rely on in the tough moments, and it doesn't get tougher than trying to win a cup on foreign soil. The task will be made that much harder with a similarly gritty veteran in Anna Nordqvist at the helm for the Europeans.
'We're going to be in a very hostile environment. There are so many things that are going to challenge us,' Stanford said. 'It's very hard to win over there.'
Stanford's captaincy will be a balancing act as she seeks to straddle the line between work and play, instincts and data, and her 'me against the world' mentality with the ability to unite a team of 12 individuals.
The opportunity to serve as U.S. Solheim Cup captain also represents one more chance for Stanford to prove that which she has time and again throughout her career – that she shouldn't be underestimated.