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Angela Stanford thought she had made a good case to become the next U.S. captain for the Solheim Cup. Yet, she mapped out the timing of when she thought the next captain would be announced and grew worried. She was so concerned that she didn’t feel well for nearly a week.
By the time Stanford got the call from LPGA interim commissioner Liz Moore that she had been selected, she became emotional. On Thursday, Stanford, 47, was officially named to lead the American team against Europe and its captain, Anna Nordqvist, at the 2026 Solheim Cup in the Netherlands. The U.S. won back the Solheim Cup last year in Virginia and will be looking for its first win in Europe since 2015 in Germany, when Stanford beat Suzann Petterson in singles to clinch the winning point.
“When I finally got the call, I just started crying,” Stanford said in an interview with Golf Digest. “Just all kinds of emotion, and Liz Moore was like, ‘I think that’s a yes?’ And I said ‘once I can breathe again, I’ll say yes. Yes!’”
Her emotions were a direct reflection of what the event means to her. Stanford retired from professional golf last year and was a six-time Solheim Cup player (2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015). She was an assistant captain three times (2021, 2023, 2024), as well, helping captains Pat Hurst and Stacy Lewis.
“I’ve said it’s the pinnacle of my career, like this is it for me,” Stanford said. “I loved playing Solheim Cups. I grew up playing team sports. I love a team. I love playing for my country. I love the Solheim family and what they’ve meant to me. They’re just so many things about this. I just love it so much that I never, to be perfectly honest, as I was playing the six times, I never thought about being a captain. I didn’t know if I could ever do it or if I would ever be in the position to get that ask.”
Angela Stanford celebrates with the Solheim Cup after earning the winning point in the Americans’ 2015 victory over Europe in Germany. Image by David Cannon
The shining moment in Stanford’s Solheim Cup is that 2-and-1 defeat of Pettersen, securing the first win for the U.S. after two straight losses.
“For all the positive that was in the match, I have to talk about the negative, too,” Stanford recalled. “I think if people look at my record leading up to that, I’m walking into that match, and I had a little doubt. I was struggling mentally and there was a moment the night before that Paula Creamer saw me in the hotel and she just kind of grabbed a hold of me and said, ‘Let’s go. It’s your time. It doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past.’ Paula has been one of my favorite teammates. … Leading up to that match, Paula was a huge reason why I went out there and had the mentality I did that Sunday. I walked out there and basically was, like, ‘Hey, it’s my turn today.’”
Stanford’s robust résumé of Solheim Cup experiences as player and assistant captain figure to be a strength for the team next year and undoubtedly played a role in her getting the coveted gig.
“Angela Stanford will certainly be a wonderful captain for the U.S. Team at the 2026 Solheim Cup,” Moore said in a news release. “Angela has always been a spark on and off the course, a true leader and a dedicated partner to her teammates. It’s now her time to take the helm of the U.S. Team, and I have no doubt that she will lead her squad to a successful week in the Netherlands.”
Stanford’s first call after becoming captain was to her father, Steve. But she couldn’t talk to her late mom, Nan, who died in 2022 after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. Mom would have been her first call because she knew how thrilled she would be.
“My mom had a way of making people want to do things, so I’m sure she would’ve lobbied for me very well,” Stanford said. “She loved Solheim Cup. I actually have a box of stuff that was hers that she would wear to Solheim Cups. She would buy them. Every accessory known to man she has in red, white and blue. I saved that box. In Spain (2023), I took some of it with me; in Virginia (2024), I took some of it with me. There will be a piece of my mom there, for sure.”
Stanford was on three winning Solheim Cup teams as a player and her record in the competition is 4-13-3. She had seven LPGA Tour victories and won a major at age 40 in the 2018 Amundi Evian Championship—the victory coming in her 18th season on tour.
Asked what she wants to be like as a captain, Stanford said: “I have to be careful with this, but I want to be serious. I think when you go overseas you’ve got to be kind of serious about it. I talked about Betsy King, my captain in Sweden in 2007, and I remember how intense she was and how focused she was and how serious it was. We hadn’t won over there in a while (1996). It was like we’re going over there to win, but at the same time, I’ve got to figure out how to make sure that the ladies know that it’s still the most awesome experience we’re ever going to have. So we will have fun. There’s no way that we’re going over there and not having fun.”
Stanford will probably share a nice bottle of wine or champagne with friends to celebrate. And there will surely be a toast at Shady Oaks Country Club, her home course in Fort Worth.
Stanford had to keep the news to herself for a while, save for a few people, like her dad and friend Kim Kaufman.
Kaufman also belongs to Shady Oaks and is a professional golfer who has played on the LPGA and Epson Tours. Kaufman is on leave right now while she battles breast cancer and has her last chemotherapy treatment this week. Stanford has been there to help Kaufman, and when she went to Kaufman’s house recently for a birthday celebration, Kaufman could tell Stanford had news. She was one of very few people who knew.
“Angela is the perfect fit to be captain,” Kaufman wrote Golf Digest in a text. “There is nobody who loves golf and the tradition of the Solheim Cup more than she does, and she will dedicate her time and energy to this role. Her experience as a player and as a vice captain for so many Solheim Cups has ensured that she has all the experience and knowledge to lead this team. She is still incredibly competitive and will motivate this team to dig deep and bring the Cup back to America.”
Main image: Gregory Shamus
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