Major champions Allisen Corpuz, Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu have mathematically clinched their spots on the United States Solheim Cup team for the 2023 playing in Finca Cortesin. Currently ranked first and second in the points standings, Korda and Vu locked in their spots following their performances at the U.S. Women’s Open, with 422.50 and 416.50 points, respectively. Sitting at third in the rankings with 348.50 points, Corpuz secured her first Solheim Cup berth following her win at Pebble Beach Golf Links and her runner-up performance at the Dana Open.
Korda will be playing in her third consecutive Solheim Cup and boasts a career record of 5-2-1 in the last two editions of the event held at Gleneagles in Scotland in 2019 and the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, in 2021. The 24-year-old has amassed two victories and 14 additional top-10 finishes in the qualifying period, which began following the 2021 Solheim Cup. She won the 2021 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican and successfully defended her title at Pelican Golf Club last November.
Six of those 14 top 10s have come this season, and all were within her first seven starts of 2023. Four were top fives that saw Korda finish in a tie for fourth at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, runner-up at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, T5 at the DIO Implant LA Open and solo third at The Chevron Championship.
“I’m so grateful and excited to be a part of Team USA,” said Korda. “It’s a week where you don’t just play for yourself, but for your teammates and for your country. I can’t wait to play under a captain like Stacy (Lewis) that bleeds red, white and blue.”
U.S. Captain Stacy Lewis knows how valuable Korda will be to a young United States squad. Though she is only 24, the seven-year LPGA Tour veteran has accomplished a lot throughout her tenure in professional golf, giving her a perspective and poise that Lewis hopes will help calm and motivate her teammates as they work to bring the Cup back to home soil.
“Nelly brings so much experience to the team, not only from her two Solheim Cups but from major championships, her time at World No. 1 and her success at the Olympics,” said Lewis. “She’s incredibly talented and I see this as her time to really step up and be a leader on the team. Ball striking is the strength of her game, but honestly, there really isn’t much that isn’t a strength for her. She’s just such a well-rounded athlete.”
Vu will represent her country at Finca Cortesin for the second time in 2023 after teeing it up at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown earlier this season, where she played alongside Korda and helped the United States Team to a third-place finish. As an amateur, Vu represented the United States as a member of the 2018 Curtis Cup, Arnold Palmer Cup and Espirito Santo Trophy teams, but this will be her first time doing so on a stage as big as the Solheim Cup and the 25-year-old is looking forward to being a rookie in Spain in September.
“It’s such an honor to represent America at the Solheim Cup,” said Vu. “I have a huge amount of respect for Stacy Lewis so I’m looking forward to playing for her. I am super grateful and excited for it. I am also looking forward to playing alongside the best of my country. It’s been a dream to play in the Solheim Cup since I was a kid.”
After losing her LPGA Tour status following her rookie year in 2019, Vu regained Membership for the 2022 season via the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card in 2021, winning three times on the “Road to the LPGA” that year. Last season, the California native recorded eight top-10 results on the LPGA Tour, three of which saw her finish inside the top three at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play presented by MGM Rewards (3), the Portland Classic (T3) and the BMW Ladies Championship (T3).
This year, Vu became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February and captured her second LPGA Tour title just four starts later at The Chevron Championship, defeating fellow American and Solheim Cup hopeful Angel Yin in a playoff. She has three additional top-15 finishes on her 2023 resume, most notably a tie for seventh at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain.
Lewis sees a lot of promise in Vu’s game, particularly in her putting and ball striking. She thinks Vu is one of those “sneaky far” players whose distance could be a real asset in this team format, but her ability to get the ball in the hole is really what stands out to the captain. Vu is someone whose putter gets hot when the moment gets big and her ability to come up clutch with the flatstick under pressure is another valuable skill that she brings to this team, even as a Solheim Cup rookie. She’s also young and hungry to win, a fresh perspective that Lewis is looking forward to nurturing in Spain later this year.
“The call to tell Lilia she’s on the team was easily one of the coolest things I’ve done so far during my time as captain. Getting to tell a first-timer that she’s on the team was pretty awesome,” Lewis said. “But while she’s a first-timer, she’s definitely not a rookie. Lilia played team golf in her amateur days, so she’s got a lot of experience representing the U.S. Players like Lilia and some of the other first-timers in contention have me really excited about the future of the Solheim Cup.”
Corpuz was a 2022 LPGA Tour rookie and recorded three top-10 finishes in her first season, including a runner-up at the ISPS Handa World Invitational and a solo third at the ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. This season, the 25-year-old Hawaiian became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the U.S. Women’s Open, becoming the first American to win the championship since Brittany Lang in 2016. She has captured three additional top-five finishes this year, most notably a tie for fourth at The Chevron Championship in April.
Corpuz has represented the United States as an amateur, playing on the 2020 and 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup teams as well as the victorious 2021 Curtis Cup team, where she went undefeated with a 3-0-0 record. This will be the LPGA Tour sophomore’s first time doing so as a professional and she’s looking forward to once again competing for her country.
“Representing the United States is always an honor and I’m excited to go to Spain,” Corpuz said. “Playing in the Solheim Cup has been a huge goal of mine and it’s special to know that I’ve achieved that. Team golf is so different from our usual competitions so I’m looking forward to being part of a team and the match play. I’m thrilled to be a Solheim Cup rookie and can’t wait for a great week!”
Like Vu, Lewis is excited to have another Solheim Cup rookie in Corpuz join her squad for a myriad of reasons. Corpuz brings a veteran level of calm, cool and collectedness to the golf course that the captain thinks could be valuable when pairing her up for partner play. She also thinks that Corpuz’s ability to be “the same person Thursday through Sunday” is important in these types of emotionally charged competitions, especially with the match-play tension that runs high in the Solheim Cup.
“I absolutely love watching Allisen play golf,” Lewis said. “I watched her last few holes at Pebble Beach – her grip pressure, her face, her emotions, they never changed. She makes the game look so effortless. All of this is definitely going to work to her advantage at Finca Cortesin when she’s alongside a player partner and grinding through tough matches. Her consistency and her ball-striking are great assets for the team.”
The United States Solheim Cup team will be finalized on Aug. 28, 2023. Four additional players as determined by the points standings will be added to the team alongside Corpuz, Korda and Vu as well as the top two players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings who are not already qualified via the points standings. Three additional captain’s picks will round out the 12-person United States team.
Written By: Sarah Kellam, LPGA
