Angela Stanford was introduced Thursday as the next U.S. captain of the Solheim Cup, leading a young core of Americans who are coming off a victory and will try to win the cup overseas for the first time in more than a decade.
Stanford was on the last American team that won away from home, in 2015 in Germany when Juli Inkster was at the helm. She was an assistant on the last three teams, including what she calls a "massive" victory in Virginia last September.
The U.S. team was so young that 10 of the 12 players had never experienced what it was like to win the Solheim Cup.
“They needed that feeling,” Stanford said. “Virginia was big for a lot of these players, and I hope getting a taste of that win and getting a taste of what it meant ... you can't feel something you've never felt before. That was kind of cool. Hopefully, they'll want to accept the next challenge, which is winning one overseas.”
The 2026 matches will be held at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands. Anna Nordqvist of Sweden had been selected captain for Europe.
Stanford, 47, has seven LPGA Tour victories, including her lone major in the 2018 Evian Championship when she was 40. She also played in 98 consecutive majors, the longest streak in LPGA history.
She played six times in the Solheim Cup, with three wins and three losses, and was at the last three as an assistant to Pat Hurst (2021 ) and Stacy Lewis (2023 and 2024).
Lewis was captain for consecutive years because the Ryder Cup went back to odd-numbered years after the COVID-19 pandemic and the Solheim Cup went back to even-numbered years. Lewis effectively signed up for two years, and delivered a big win in Virginia.
It was Stanford's second stint as an assistant — the tie in Spain, with Europe retaining the cup as defending champion — that she first thought how much she would like to be captain.
“I've always wanted to be a captain overseas,” Stanford said. “I won my Curtis Cup overseas. I got to play on two of the teams that have won the Solheim Cup overseas. Growing up, I played a lot of different team sports and I loved going to other people's gyms, going to their fields.
“It doesn't bother me to go into a hostile environment and try to play and try to perform.”
The core of the American team is Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu, with multiple major championships between them. Nine of the U.S. players were in their 20s at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, which held off a late European charge.
Stanford expects there to be some turnover, as there was even a year apart between the 2023 and 2024 matches. But she likes the core of the U.S. team, especially a team she watched celebrate into the night after winning the last time.
“I think I'm pretty fortunate and pretty blessed to be in this line of a solid core,” Stanford said. “They're still young. They're all going to be playing really well.”
Among the two players who had previously won a Solheim Cup is Lexi Thompson, who said 2024 would be her final year of a full schedule. Thompson still plans to play occasionally, and Stanford would not rule out Thompson being on the 2026 team if her play warranted it.
“She's earned that right to do what she wants to do," Stanford said. "I will be watching, for sure. Lexi is just one of those names you always pay attention to, and there's always an open door. There's certain players that have earned that right.”
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(This version corrects the photo links to replace one that misidentified Stanford)
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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