BATON ROUGE – Two former LSU women’s golfers will be part of the European team when the Solheim Cup returns for a second straight year, bringing together the top women’s professional golfers from both the United States and the continent of Europe.
LSU All-American Madelene Sagstrom will be playing in her fourth Solheim Cup, while former Tiger Caroline Martens is serving as vice-captain for the European squad of Suzann Pettersen. Pettersen was the captain for the 2023 event.
The event will be played at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. The site, outside Washington, D.C., has hosted four previous President’s Cup events.
Europe retained the Cup last year in a 14-14 tie with the American team, having won the event in 2019 and 2021. The event is being held in back-to-back years to get on a schedule of playing in even number years to avoid a conflict with the men’s Ryder Cup.
First held in 1990, the Solheim Cup is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force behind its creation.
Sagstrom, who was SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-America in her senior season of 2015, qualified for the 2024 Team Europe via the Rolex Rankings and played in the event previously in 2017, 2021, 2023 and now 2024.
Sagstrom, was 1-1-1 in last year’s tie, and in her three previous years combined is 3-5-1 for the European squad.
Sagstrom just last weekend married in London her longtime friend and fiancé, Jack Clarke, who presently serves as caddie for professional golfer Anna Nordqvist.
Martens, from Norway, turned professional in 2010 after a stellar career at LSU and played primarily on the Ladies European Tour through 2018.
After opening ceremonies on Thursday, play begins on Friday with four foursome matches followed by four fourball matches. The same format will take place on Saturday before the final 12 singles on Sunday. Europe, like 2023, needs 14 points to retain the cup and 14.5 points is needed for the USA to win the Cup. The Americans have won the cup 10 of 18 matches.
The Golf Channel and NBC Sports will have complete coverage of the event with coverage on Golf Channel on Friday from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT. Saturday coverage begins on Golf Channel at 6 a.m. with coverage moving to NBC Sports/Peacock at 2 p.m. CT. Sunday, the singles matches will begin at 6:45 a.m. CT on Golf Channel with NBC Sports and Peacock taking the coverage from 11 a.m. CT to conclusion.