LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Valhalla Golf Club will host the Solheim Cup in 2028, bringing the women's team competition to a venue that has hosted the Ryder Cup and four PGA Championships, including earlier this year.
Tuesday's announcement by the LPGA Tour marks a reprieve for a course that appeared to have shaky prospects for staging future major events after top-ranked Scottie Scheffler was arrested outside the entrance before the second round of the PGA Championship in May.
Scheffler was charged with multiple offenses, including not following an officer's commands during a pedestrian fatality investigation, and detained in downtown Louisville before returning to Valhalla hours later. The Masters champion shot a 5-under 66 in the second round and finished the tournament in a tie for eighth, eight shots behind Xander Schauffele. Several weeks later, a Louisville prosecutor dropped all charges against Scheffler.
Junior Bridgeman, a Valhalla co-owner and former Louisville basketball and NBA star, said the ownership group had been in discussions with the LPGA Tour about hosting the Solheim Cup before the PGA, and that the Scheffler incident did not derail those talks.
“I think that most people realize that sometimes things happen out of your control and you just have to continue to do what you’re doing and try to do the best you can," Bridgeman added. "And everybody here did that.”
Designed by Jack Nicklaus, Valhalla opened in 1986 and hosted its first PGA Championship a decade later, won by Mark Brooks. Tiger Woods won the PGA in a memorable duel with Bob May in 2000, and Rory McIlroy won in 2014 for the last of his four majors.
The United States beat Europe in the Ryder Cup at Valhalla in 2008. Valhalla joins The Greenbrier, Muirfield Village and Gleneagles as the only venues to host a Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup.
LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan called Valhalla one of the nation's best venues. She said she was happy to bring the LPGA back to Louisville, which hosted the Bluegrass Invitational from 1965-74.
“I think this community will be truly awed by the talent they see of our athletes," Marcoux Samaan said. "So, we’re really excited to do this together.”
The Solheim Cup began in 1990, a biennial three-day match between women from the United States and Europe with a similar format to the Ryder Cup. Europe holds the Solheim Cup after retaining it last year in Spain. This year's competition will be played from Sept. 13-15 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. The matches are being held in back-to-back years to move away from the Ryder Cup.
The 2026 Solheim Cup will be played at Bernardus in the Netherlands.
The last of the tents and grandstands were just taken down after the PGA, which Schauffele won by one shot over Bryson DeChambeau in the latest thrilling finish at Valhalla. Co-owner Jimmy Kirchdorfer expects similar drama to unfold when Solheim Cup matches reach the final holes.
“From the rough height to the green speeds, I know our staff definitely learned a lot from the PGA," he said, "which will help us in creating a great fan experience as well as a fantastic player experience in 2028.”
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