The 2024 Solheim Cup kicks off on Friday at Robert Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. Ahead of the tournament, many veteran Team USA women's players spoke about the honor of representing the red, white and blue.
Team USA features many veteran players who will be competing in at least their fourth Solheim Cup appearance.
Nelly Korda, Megan Kang and Allie Ewing were named to the fourth team, while Lexi Thompson was named captain and named to the seventh team.
Even after so many appearances with this team, the importance of participating in the Solheim Cup remains the same.
“Getting the opportunity to represent your country in the red, white and blue is a huge honor for anybody and it's not something you take lightly,” Kang said. “When you have that responsibility on your shoulders – yourself, your teammates, your captain, your assistant captains, the fans and playing for your country – it just means a little bit more to us and makes us fight a little harder than usual.”
Korda echoed the sentiment about the differences between the individual tournaments they play in.
“It means something different every time I put on the red, white, blue and stars and stripes,” Korda said. “I'm not just playing for myself, I'm playing for my captain, my teammates and my country. There's nothing better than that.”
Thompson is the most veteran player, a standout performer at last year's Solheim Cup and a leader in the locker room. Her first Cup appearance was at the Golf Club of Colorado in 2013. She played alongside U.S. team captain Stacey Lewis and assistant captain Paula Creamer.
“I've heard other players talk about it, but it was nerve-wracking in that moment, but it was an exciting kind of nervousness,” Thompson said of the tournament in Colorado in 2013. “I'd been practicing and training to be on the first tee representing my country. The Colorado Golf Club bleachers were right above me and it just felt like the ground was shaking.”
“It was a big adrenaline rush, but that's why we play – to represent our country. It was my first time playing on American soil so it was a special moment.”
The U.S. team hasn't won the Solheim Cup since 2017, when it won 16.5-11.5 at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa.
For the last three years in a row, a European team has won the tournament.
Both teams finished with 15 points last year, but the European team won in 2021 to retain their title.
Either way, there's a lot of emotion involved in winning on home soil, and the U.S. will have a good chance to end its winless streak in Virginia.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Her Instagram account is @golf_girl_sl.
