Quick Answer: Cristie Kerr has the most fourball wins in Solheim Cup history with 11, going 11-5-1 across nine appearances from 2002 to 2017. Laura Davies and Suzann Pettersen share second place with 9 wins apiece. Kerr remains the only American in the format’s all-time top six.
Eleven. That’s the number Cristie Kerr put up in Solheim Cup fourball play, and nobody has come within four wins of it since she played her last match in 2017. I’ve paid attention to this event for a long time, and fourball is the session that decides more Solheim Cups than people give it credit for, the Saturday afternoon slate that either buries a team by Sunday morning or hands it a lifeline. Below is the complete ranked list, not just the six names you’ll find on the one other site that’s bothered to rank this stat, along with a win-percentage column nobody else runs and a look at what the September 2026 Solheim Cup could do to this record book.
The Full Ranked List of Fourball Wins
Fourball, also called better-ball, pits two-player teams against each other with each golfer playing their own ball. The lower score between the partners counts as the team’s score on that hole. A golfer can play a maximum of two fourball matches in any single Solheim Cup, so the ceiling for one year is 2-0.
Here’s every golfer who has reached at least five fourball wins across Solheim Cup history, including win percentage, which nobody else in this space bothers to calculate.
| Rank | Golfer | Team | Fourball Record (W-L-T) | Win % | Fourball Matches | Years Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristie Kerr | USA | 11-5-1 | 64.7% | 17 | 2002-2017 |
| T-2 | Laura Davies | Europe | 9-7-3 | 47.4% | 19 | 1990-2011 |
| T-2 | Suzann Pettersen | Europe | 9-3-1 | 69.2% | 13 | 2002-2019 |
| 4 | Annika Sorenstam | Europe | 7-5-2 | 50.0% | 14 | 1994-2007 |
| T-5 | Carlota Ciganda | Europe | 6-5-2 | 46.2% | 13 | 2013-2024 |
| T-5 | Anna Nordqvist | Europe | 6-4-0 | 60.0% | 10 | 2009-2024 |
| T-7 | Paula Creamer | USA | 5 wins | n/a | n/a | 2005-2017 |
| T-7 | Rosie Jones | USA | 5 wins | n/a | n/a | 1990-2000 |
| T-7 | Betsy King | USA | 5 wins | n/a | n/a | 1990-1998 |
| T-7 | Brittany Lincicome | USA | 5 wins | n/a | n/a | 2011-2019 |
| T-7 | Meg Mallon | USA | 5 wins | n/a | n/a | 1992-2005 |
Kerr also owns the record for most fourball points won by anyone in the event’s history (11.5), and her 21 total career points are still the American record across all three formats combined. Davies played in a record 12 Solheim Cups and logged more fourball matches (19) than anyone, man or woman, which is exactly why her win total stayed competitive even with a lower win percentage. The five Americans tied at five wins don’t have individually published win-loss-tie fourball splits in the official record set I could confirm, so I’m not going to invent decimal-precise records for them. Five real wins each is the number that’s verified, and that’s what’s printed here.
How Cristie Kerr Built an Untouchable Record
Kerr didn’t get to 11 by accident, and she didn’t get there in one big year either. She went a perfect 2-0 in fourball twice, in 2003 and again in 2005, which is the best any golfer can do in a single Cup. In 2015 she added a win and a tie with no losses, and in her final Solheim Cup appearance in 2017 she won the one fourball match she played.
Across her career she rotated through eight different fourball partners, Rosie Jones, Kelli Kuehne, Natalie Gulbis, Paula Creamer, Nicole Castrale, Morgan Pressel, Michelle Wie, and Lexi Thompson. That range tells you her fourball success wasn’t built on one magic pairing. It was built on nine Solheim Cups worth of reps and a golfer who showed up ready every single time.
Here’s my honest opinion on this one: Kerr’s record isn’t just the best fourball résumé in Solheim Cup history, it’s not particularly close. The next American on this list is stuck at five wins, less than half of Kerr’s total, and that gap has held for almost a decade now. If you want to argue about the greatest American in this event’s history, fourball play alone makes a strong case for Kerr over anyone the US has fielded since.
Fourball vs. Foursomes, So You’re Not Guessing
If you’re newer to team match play, fourball and foursomes get confused constantly, and neither of the sites currently ranking for this topic bothers explaining the difference. Foursomes is alternate shot: two partners share one ball and take turns hitting it, so a bad tee shot from your partner is now your problem to fix. Fourball is better-ball: both golfers play their own ball all the way to the hole, and only the lower of the two scores counts for the team on that hole. It’s a format that rewards aggression, since a blown hole by one partner usually gets erased by the other.
Across all 19 Solheim Cups played through 2024, 139 fourball matches have been contested. Europe has won 59 of them, the USA has won 56, and 24 have been halved. That’s a number I haven’t seen printed anywhere else covering this topic, and it matters, because it shows fourball has historically been Europe’s best format relative to the overall series, even in years when the USA won the Cup outright.
Why This List Skews European
Look at the ranked table again. Five of the top six fourball winners in Solheim Cup history play for Europe. Kerr is the lone American, and the next US name doesn’t show up until you’re down at five wins. That’s a genuinely odd split, because the United States has led the all-time Solheim Cup series 11-7-1 through the 2024 Cup.
A team can win more overall while producing fewer fourball standouts, and I think the honest explanation is continuity. Davies played 12 Cups, Pettersen played 9, and Sorenstam played 8, three careers built on staying in the player pool long enough to keep padding the total. Ciganda has logged 7 appearances and is still an active tour player who could add to her total. Nordqvist made 9 appearances but has now stepped off the course entirely, as you’ll see below.
The US side, by contrast, has cycled through more first-time and short-tenure Solheim Cuppers over the same stretch. That spreads the fourball wins across more names instead of stacking them on a handful of veterans the way Europe has.
I’ll admit the limitation here: reps aren’t the same as raw skill, and a win-percentage column exposes that. Pettersen’s 69.2% is the best rate on this list, better than Kerr’s, but she finishes tied for second in total wins because she simply played fewer matches. If you’re ranking by efficiency instead of volume, this list reorders itself. I built the table both ways for exactly that reason.
Who Could Move This Needle at the 2026 Solheim Cup
The 2026 Solheim Cup runs September 7-13 at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands, the 20th edition of this event and barely more than a week away as this goes up. Team USA arrives as the defending champion for the first time since 2017 after winning 15.5-12.5 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in 2024. That alone makes this a different Cup than the last three, where Europe controlled the format.
One name on this very list won’t be adding to her total this time around. Anna Nordqvist, tied for fifth with six fourball wins, is now Europe’s captain instead of a player, succeeding Suzann Pettersen, who captained in 2023 and 2024. Modern Solheim Cup captains don’t play, so Nordqvist’s fourball record is effectively frozen at 6-4-0 unless the format changes. Angela Stanford takes over as the USA’s captain for the first time as well.
Kerr’s record has now stood untouched through three full Solheim Cups since she last played a fourball match. Whether it survives a fourth depends entirely on whether Europe’s remaining active names, or a new face nobody’s tracking yet, can find the kind of longevity that built every entry above the six-win mark.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a fourball match in the Solheim Cup?
Fourball, also known as better-ball, is a two-on-two match play format where each golfer plays their own ball for all 18 holes. The lower score between the two partners on a side counts as that team’s score for the hole, and whichever side wins more holes wins the match. Each golfer can play a maximum of two fourball matches per Solheim Cup.
Who has the most points in Solheim Cup history?
Laura Davies leads all golfers with 25 total career points across her record 12 Solheim Cup appearances between 1990 and 2011. On the American side, Cristie Kerr tops the list with 21 career points, the same golfer who holds the all-time fourball wins record covered above.
What’s the difference between fourball and foursomes in the Solheim Cup?
Fourball is better-ball, each golfer plays their own ball and the lower score counts. Foursomes is alternate shot, two partners share a single ball and take turns hitting it. Both are two-on-two formats contested on the first two days of the Solheim Cup, followed by 12 singles matches on the final day.
Who has played in the most Solheim Cups?
Laura Davies holds the outright record with 12 Solheim Cup appearances between 1990 and 2011. On the American side, Cristie Kerr and Juli Inkster share the record with nine appearances apiece.
The Bottom Line
Cristie Kerr’s 11 fourball wins have sat unchallenged at the top of this list since 2017, and nothing about the current European or American rosters suggests that changes at Bernardus Golf this September. What’s more interesting to me is the shape of the list underneath her, five Europeans stacked on continuity and reps, and a US side that’s never developed a true fourball workhorse to replace her. Records like this move slowly by design, one Cup every one to two years, two matches per player at most. For a deeper look at how this event’s total points race compares to the fourball-specific numbers above, check out our full career points list.