2024 Solheim Cup TV schedule, coverage: Teams, format, rules, scoring, captain's picks, where to watch

The United States will attempt to take the Solheim Cup back from Europe

By Kyle Porter

Sep 10, 2024 at 4:27 pm ET • 4 min read

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The 2024 Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia marks the second consecutive year the event has been played and the 19th edition of the international tournament overall. Normally held every other year, the Solheim Cup is being played consecutively because the organizers of the event wanted it to get on an even-numbered year schedule.

The Solheim Cup has always been played on odd-numbered years, but when the previously even-numbered Ryder Cup was knocked off schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of that event began to overshadow the Solheim Cup.

The 2023 edition was an absolute thriller. Played in Andalusia, Spain, the event ended in a 14-14 tie, which meant that Europe, which won in 2021 on American soil, retained the Solheim Cup. At one point, the Americans were ahead 13-11 before Europe roared back to take a 14-13 lead with Carlota Ciganda playing the role of the home hero retaining the Cup.

It was a stunning defeat that has the Americans hungry for payback on home soil, and to the United States' benefit, it does not need to wait two years in order to garner that revenge and attempt its first victory since 2017.

2024 Solheim Cup format, rules

The first two days of Solheim Cup action (Friday, Saturday) each include two sessions with different types of golf being played. The United States and Europe will compete in foursomes (alternate shot) early in the day and four-ball (best ball) later in the day. On Sunday, the golfers will complete in 12 one-on-one singles matches.

Below we break down each type of match you will see this week.

Four-ball: Two-player teams representing each country square off against one another. Each of the four golfers plays their own ball, and the lowest score between the two players for each team counts for the hole. The two scores not chosen get thrown out.

Foursomes: Two-player teams representing each country square off against one another. However, the golfers must alternate hitting the same ball until it is holed. For example: If Player A hits the tee shot on No. 1, that means she will hit all the tee shots on odd-numbered holes. Player B will tee off on all the even-numbered holes.

Singles: Only played in Sunday's final round. Singles consist of 12 one-on-one matches played over the course of the day.

2024 Solheim Cup scoring

Event: Each match is worth 1 point. Matches ending in a tie result in each side receiving 0.5 points. The first team to reach 14.5 points over the three days of play wins the Solheim Cup. If the 28 matches end in a 14-14 tie, the team that entered holding the Solheim Cup (in this case, Europe) will retain the trophy.

Matches: Each hole is scored independently with the lowest score winning. If both teams or players have the same score on a hole, the hole is considered halved with no advantage awarded.

As the teams or players advance through the round, points can be accrued or subtracted from the match total. For example: If Team/Player A wins the first two holes, they would hold a 2 UP lead. If Team/Player B then wins the third hole, Team/Player A's lead reduces to 1 UP.

Matches can end early if the winning team or player has a larger lead than there are holes left to play. For example: If Team A is 4 UP with three holes remaining, it wins the match 4&3.

Concessions: Unlike stroke-play golf, teams or players do not need to complete each hole. Strokes (usually putts) may be conceded through sportsmanship if they are deemed highly makable or if attempting the stroke will not result in winning or halving the hole.

2024 Solheim Cup teams

Automatic qualifiers

United States	Europe
Nelly Korda	Charley Hull
Lilia Vu	Esther Henseleit
Lauren Coughlin	Celine Boutier
Ally Ewing	Maja Stark
Allisen Corpuz	Linn Grant
Megan Khang	Leona Maguire
Andrea Lee	Carlota Ciganda
Rose Zhang	Madelene Sagstrom
Alison Lee	Georgia Hall

Captain's picks

United States	Europe
Jennifer Kupcho	Anna Nordqvist
Sarah Schmelzel	Emily Pedersen
Lexi Thompson	Albane Valenzuela

This will be Lexi Thompson's seventh and ostensibly final Solheim Cup as she will retire at the end of the year. That storyline will be among the most notable discussed through the week as the United States tries to wrest the Cup back from Eyrioe. Interestingly, the only team with a 2024 major winner is the U.S. Nelly Korda won the Chevron Championship, the first women's major of the year; the other four majors were won by women from countries outside of the United States and Europe.