There were three ways by which players could secure a spot on the 2023 U.S Solheim Cup team, which will square off against their European counterparts at Finca Cortesín, in Andalucía, Spain, next month: (1) finishing in the top seven on the points list at the end of the qualifying period (which concluded Aug. 27); (2) landing one of Stacy Lewis’ three captain’s picks; or (3) being one of the highest-ranked players on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings who did not otherwise qualify by way of the points system.
This year, that third qualifying route delivered to the U.S. team two players on wildly different trajectories: Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson. In June, Zhang — a much-hyped LPGA rookie — became the first player to win her first-career LPGA start, at the Mizuho Americas Open, since Beverley Hanson in 1951. Since then, Zhang has three top-10s in six starts — all coming at majors — and ranks 12th in Strokes Gained on tour.
If Zhang, who has quickly climbed to 30th in the world, had not qualified by way of her world ranking, surely Lewis would have expended one of her captain’s picks on the ascendant 20-year-old.
Thompson year’s has been decidedly less rosy. In nine stroke-play starts in 2023, she has missed seven cuts and failed to notch a top-30 finish. She has broken 70 just twice and ranks 196th in Strokes Gained. Her SG: Tee to Green and SG: Around the Green ratings are even worse, at 202nd and 215th, respectively. She is 140th on the money list (with less than $56,000 in earnings) and 157th in the Race to the CME Globe, the LPGA’s season-long points competition, which means she is in jeopardy of losing her full playing privileges for 2024. Last week, at the CPKC Women’s Open, in Canada, Thompson shot 76-80 to miss the cut by eight.
If Thompson, who has slid to 26th in the world, had not qualified by way of her world ranking, Lewis would have had to think long and hard about whether the 28-year-old, who is 7-8-3 in five prior Solheim Cup appearances, would be worthy of a wildcard pick.
“There’s definitely some concerns about her game, 100 percent,” Lewis said on a conference call with reporters earlier this week after her team had been finalized. “Talking to her, though, she’s been handling all this remarkably well. I’ve said it before, but you see her off the golf course, and you would never know she’s struggling like she is right now.”
It’s been a remarkably swift descent. In 2022, Thompson missed only four cuts in 18 starts and had eight top-10 finishes. She didn’t win but frequently threatened to, four times finishing second.
“It’s been a good year,” Thompson said in her last start of the ’22 season where she played in the final pairing on Sunday with Nelly Korda. “I’ve just been trying to improve on my game on and off the golf course; the mental side as well. I feel like I’ve played consistent golf, and I’m slowly picking at it and improving on the things that I’ve needed to improve on, and slowly getting more and more consistent. So that’s really all I want. I know the wins will come.”
