The captain’s selections are often debated by media and fans. They can make or ruin a team.
What do you choose? A player who has a good record in an event or the hot hand? How will the player fit into the team? What can they pair with? This is a fun way to add an exciting element to events that are already thrilling.
Each national team competition has a different history with captain’s selections. For example, the Solheim Cup began in 1990, but it was not until 1998 that both Americans and Europeans adopted a format consisting of automatic qualifiers as well as captain’s choices to determine their 12-player teams. The 13 matches that have followed have seen different styles, but one thing has remained constant: the Europeans always use more picks.
The Europeans have selected 56 captains since 1998, compared with the U.S.’s 27. From 1998 to 2021, the Americans only made two captain’s choices. They took three from that time. The U.S. will be using six captains’ picks for the first time in this year’s matches in Spain at Finca Cortesin, September 22-24. Their European counterparts started making six captains’ picks in 2020.
We wondered who were some of the best selections and what role they have played over the years.
