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LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) — Europe captain Anna Nordqvist finalized her Solheim Cup team Monday by adding veteran Leona Maguire and three rookies as her picks for the Sept. 11-13 matches in The Netherlands.
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Charley Hull of England easily earned one of the two automatic spots from the Ladies European Tour points list. The other went to Esther Henseleit of Germany, who surged to No. 2 in the final two events.
Henseleit finished fourth in the Women’s Scottish Open and then lost in a playoff at the Women’s British Open (points are double in a major) to narrowly beat Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland for the second spot.
Henseleit’s 40-foot birdie putt to force a playoff with AIG Women’s Open winner Shiho Kuwaki wound up costing Tamburlini a spot. Even without making it on points, Henseleit would have made her second straight team as one of the leading six players in the world ranking.
Those six spots instead fell to Solheim rookie Lottie Woad of England, Maja Stark and Linn Grant of Sweden, Carlota Ciganda of Spain, Celine Boutier of France and Nanna Koertz Madsen of Denmark.
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Nordqvist added Maguire and rookies Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain, Nastasia Nadaud of France and Mimi Rhodes of England. Rhodes is No. 91 in the world ranking. Tamburlini is at No. 109.
Missing from Team Europe is Dewi Weber of The Netherlands, who is ranked ahead of three of the captain’s picks. She was ineligible, however, because the Dutch player did not realize she had to be an LET member. Weber finished third at the KPMG Women’s PGA.
The 31-year-old Maguire’s record is 8-3-1 in her three Solheim Cup appearances but she missed the cut in four of the five majors this year and has not won in two years.
Europe will try to win back the Solheim Cup after a three-point loss in Virginia two years ago. Team USA, which has yet to fill out its team, hasn’t won on European soil since 2015.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf