Colorado native Jennifer Kupcho lands spot on U.S. Solheim Cup team for third time as she’s made a captain’s pick for the September matches against Europe
By Gary Baines – 8/27/2024
Jennifer Kupcho made the team a different way this year, but the Colorado native has landed a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup squad for the third time in her three times being eligible.
Kupcho, winner of three LPGA Tour titles including a major, was named a captain’s pick on Tuesday by Stacy Lewis after earning automatic berths in 2021 and ’23.
Kupcho, the lone Coloradan to compete in the Solheim Cup matches against Europe, will tee it up this time Sept. 13-15 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va. It’ll be her second time playing in the matches in the U.S. as she went 2-1-1 in Toledo, Ohio in 2021.
Overall, the 27-year-old owns a 2-3-2 record in Solheim Cup matches after going 0-2-1 in Spain last year. Europe won the Solheim Cup in 2021 and retained it with a tie last year.
“It is an incredible honor and the experience itself is just so exciting every time,” Kupcho said in a text to Colorado Golf Journal. “Making this team is a testament not only to my own hard work, but also to the belief that our captains have in me, which means a lot and is very motivating for me. Representing my country and competing alongside such a talented group of players is an absolute dream and I’m proud to have the chance to contribute to something larger than myself being a member of this team.”
Kupcho was joined as a U.S. captain’s pick by Lexi Thompson, who said 2024 will be her last season competing full time on the LPGA circuit, and Solheim Cup rookie Sarah Schmelzel.
“I think Jennifer probably more so than anyone is a great fit for this golf course,” Lewis said. “I love how high and how straight she hits a golf ball. You can see it in how many strokes she gains off the tee and her ball-striking is always what carries her.”
The Solheim Cup will once again be a family affair for Kupcho as her husband, Jay Monahan, caddies for U.S. automatic qualifier Allisen Corpuz. Others on the American squad will be Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, former Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open champion Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Megan Khang, Andrea Lee, Rose Zhang and Alison Lee.
Kupcho (right) in 2023 with U.S. teammate Allisen Corpuz (center) and Jay Monahan, who is Kupcho’s husband and Corpuz’s caddie.
The U.S. hasn’t won a Solheim Cup competition since 2017, with Europe prevailing twice and tying once over that period. All of those three Solheim Cups have been decided by two points or less.
“My greatest takeaways from my previous Solheim Cup experiences are really in the importance of team dynamics and also mental toughness,” Kupcho said via text. “This is such a unique event — getting to be a part of a team — and I’m excited about this team in particular as we all already get along really well, so it will be about leaning on each other’s strength and weaknesses to operate effectively as a unit.
“The atmosphere at the Solheim Cup is really unlike anything else we experience and combined with how intense some of the matches can become, it’s crucial to find the right balance between feeding off of the crowd’s energy and maintaining composed focus. The pressure can be a lot, but hopefully the American fans will be out in full force to help us keep the Cup on home soil this year!”
Kupcho, who will be inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame on Dec. 1, attended the 2013 Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club as a fan when she was 16 years old, whetting her appetite to compete in the event.
The Jefferson Academy graduate, winner of the 2020 Colorado Women’s Open, recorded all three of her LPGA Tour wins in 2022. This year, though she missed the cut in last week’s AIG Women’s Open, she has recorded three top-5 finishes on Tour since mid-May, including being runner-up at the Dow Championship team event with Ewing.
Kupcho stands 24th on the 2024 LPGA money list and sits No. 53 in the Rolex women’s world golf rankings.
Kupcho is certainly no stranger to playing for the U.S. in international competitions. Besides her previous Solheim Cup experience, as an amateur in 2018, the 2018 NCAA individual champ and 2019 Augusta National Women’s Amateur winner helped American teams win the Curtis Cup, the Arnold Palmer Cup and the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com