The teams have been selected and the stage is set – the Solheim Cup is nearly upon us.

The biennial team competition that pits the best from the United States against the best in Europe heads to Finca Cortesin in Spain for the 18th edition – with another edition to come in 2024 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia to help get the Solheim Cup’s cadence back to even-numbered years after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last time the European team defeated Team USA by a score of 15-13 at the Inverness Club in Ohio. That came a year after Europe won in dramatic fashion at Gleneagles in Scotland.

This year’s European captain, Suzanne Pettersen, was a key part of that all-time European victory in 2019, rolling in a seven-foot putt on the final hole to win the cup for Europe. She announced her retirement immediately afterwards.

Pettersen – who will also be captain in 2024 – will face off against former world No.1 Stacy Lewis as the leader of Team USA. Lewis, a two-time major winner, played on four Solheim Cup teams, including the 2015 and 2017-winning squads.

Lewis knows that with Europe coming into this year’s matches as the back-to-back title holders, and with the 2023 edition being played in Europe, they’ll likely be considered the favourite.

But she and the squad is up for the challenge.

“(Europe) has won the last two. They have got really great players playing well. We are going overseas. And that’s not to doubt my team. I just think Europe is really, really strong. They have got all the momentum in this event right now,” Lewis said when her team was officially announced. “That’s going to be our biggest thing is we are going overseas and we don’t have all the momentum on our side. And so, we are going to try to flip it.”

The teams in the 2023 Solheim Cup are as follows, with Solheim Cup records in parenthesis –

TEAM USA

• Lilia Vu (Rookie)
• Nelly Korda (5-2-1)
• Allisen Corpuz (Rookie)
• Megan Khang (1-3-2)
• Jennifer Kupcho (2-1-1)
• Danielle Kang (5-7-0)
• Andrea Lee (Rookie)
• Lexi Thompson (6-6-7)
• Rose Zhang (Rookie)
• Ally Ewing (2-5-1)^
• Cheyenne Knight (Rookie)^
• Angel Yin (3-2-1)^

TEAM EUROPE

• Celine Boutier (5-1-1)
• Maja Stark (Rookie)
• Linn Grant (Rookie)
• Charley Hull (11-5-3)
• Carlota Ciganda (7-8-4)
• Georgia Hall (7-5-1)
• Anna Nordqvist (14-10-3)*
• Leona Maguire (4-0-1)
• Caroline Hedwall (8-6-1)
• Madelene Sagstrom (2-4-0)^
• Gemma Dryburgh (Rookie)^
• Emily Pedersen (3-4-0)^

*Nordqvist is an assistant captain, but earned her way onto the team as well

^Captain’s pick

The American side may be bringing five rookies with it to Spain, but those first-time players boast some serious firepower, with Vu a two-time major winner this year (and ranked as world No.1 when the teams were confirmed), Corpuz another major winner this year, and Zhang bursting onto the scene winning her first pro event after a decorated collegiate career at Stanford.

Team Europe, meanwhile, will bring just three rookies to Spain and plenty of experience, including Spain’s own Ciganda, along with France’s Boutier (who won back-to-back events on the LPGA Tour this summer, including the Amundi Evian Championship) and Ireland’s Maguire, who was without a doubt the MVP of the European side in 2021 as she went undefeated as a rookie.

Joining Lewis as the leaders of the American side are her three assistant captains – Morgan Pressel, Natalie Gulbis, and Angela Stanford. Pettersen will have Nordqvist as a playing assistant captain along with Caroline Martens from Norway and Dame Laura Davies from England.

The Solheim Cup will take place Sept. 22-24 with three days of match-play competition. The first two days will feature team matches in alternate shot and better-ball competition while Sunday will feature 12 singles matches.

Fourteen points are required by Europe to retain the cup, while Team USA needs to earn at least 14.5 points to win the cup.