Angela Stanford named U.S. captain for 2026 Solheim Cup as Americans aim for back-to-back wins

New York Times

20-03-2025

Angela Stanford had been thinking about it since she left the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club property in late September following the United States' win in the Solheim Cup, anxious for an answer — desperate to know if it was her time. So when she got a call in January from former captain Stacy Lewis and LPGA interim commissioner Liz Moore joined the line, all she could do was let it out.
Advertisement
The seven-time LPGA tour winner was asked to be the next U.S. Solheim Cup captain.
'I'm like uncontrollably crying, and Liz is like, 'I think that's a yes?'' Stanford said in a video call with The Athletic. 'It was just all the emotion.'
Stanford, 47, is a six-time Solheim Cup team member and two-time assistant captain. After a 15 1/2-12 1/2 victory over the Europeans in Virginia last year, the Americans will look to retain the cup when the biennial competition returns at Bernadus Golf in the Netherlands. In the Solheim Cup on European soil, the U.S. and Europe tied, which meant Europe retained the cup from its prior victory.
The Americans have only won three overseas Solheim Cups in nine attempts. Stanford played on two of those three victorious teams, sinking the winning putt in Germany in 2015.
'I've always said I wanted to be a captain overseas,' Stanford said. 'Growing up playing team sports, I loved playing in other people's gyms. I love going to other people's fields. It's this mentality of us versus everybody.'
The U.S. team room in 2024 felt especially unified from the beginning. Looking to defeat the Europeans for the first time since 2017, the Americans, with Lewis as captain, were committed to operating as a unit. And frankly, Stanford shared, they were tired of losing. Stanford hopes to build on that momentum, but she doesn't want the team to be comfortable where they are.
'They came together. No one had to force them to come together,' Stanford said of the 2024 team. 'We are going to take bits and pieces and move forward with that, but you also have to realize that every cup's different. I don't think it's genuine to say we're going to be exactly like we were in Virginia. Then you're not paying attention to the fact that it's a different challenge.'
Stanford's appointment comes in the wake of her retirement from competitive golf in November. Stanford had set out to join Jack Nicklaus as the only professional golfer to make more than 100 consecutive major starts (Nicklaus has 146). Her streak ended at the 2024 U.S. Women's Open, after 98 consecutive majors over 24 years.
Advertisement
Her Solheim Cup team won't be revealed until late summer in 2026, but it would come as no surprise to see world No. 1 Nelly Korda teeing it up for the Americans again, in addition to Megan Khang, Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin, who became the squad's standout rookie in 2024 at age 31.