AIG Women's Open is the last major for players to try and qualify for Europe's next Solheim Cup team; Europe will be chasing a third consecutive victory against Team USA from September 22-24 in Spain; Watch the AIG Women's Open from August 10-13 live on Sky Sports Golf
Thursday 3 August 2023 13:19, UK
Former Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew has backed Team Europe to have their strongest side ever when they chase a historic threepeat this September in Spain.
Matthew guided Europe to back-to-back victories over Team USA for the first time in the history of the biennial contest, captaining them to a narrow 14.5-13.5 win at Gleneagles in 2019 before leading them to a 15-13 success in Ohio in 2021.
Suzann Pettersen - who scored the winning point during the 2019 contest - will captain Europe at Finca Cortesin from September 22-24, live on Sky Sports, where the hosts will be aiming to register a third consecutive victory for the first time in the tournament's history.
Europe will have many of their last two winning teams at their disposal again for this year's contest, with Matthew impressed with the strength of the options Pettersen has available to choose from.
Asked whether she believed this could be the strongest European side ever, Matthew said: "I really do. Obviously you've got the likes of Georgia [Hall], Charley [Hull], Carlota [Ciganda], Celine [Boutier] and Leona [Maguire] and all the experienced ones.
"Then there's the two young Swedish girls coming in, Maja Stark and Linn Grant, so I think it's going to be a good team.
"I think the American team will be very different this year, with some of their top players perhaps not playing as well. Lexi [Thompson] hasn't been playing well and Jessica (Korda) has been injured, so it's going to be interesting."
The AIG Women's Open is the penultimate event in the qualification campaign, with players only having this week's major and the ISPS Handa World Invitational the following week to try and force their way into consideration.
The top two players in the European Solheim Cup standings and the top six players eligible players in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings after those events will secure automatic spots, with Pettersen then having four captain's picks to complete her side.
Georgia Hall will make her fourth consecutive appearance for Team Europe, with the Englishman admitting that Pettersen is going to be left with a tough decision on who she selects as her captain's picks.
"I think we're going to have the best team on paper for the first time in a long time," Hall said. "I think we've got a very strong side and it's going to be hard for Suzann to pick the last two or three spots for sure.
"It will be interesting to see who they are. I think a lot of the team is probably set from what I see, but for the last two or three you could pick a rookie or go for someone who has been in it five or six times."
Watch the AIG Women's Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 11am on Sky Sports. Stream the AIG Women's Open, the Solheim Cup and more with NOW.
