The Women’s PGA Cup 2026 gives the United States something the tournament has never asked of its most successful team before: defend the trophy away from home.

Three editions have produced three American victories. From 3-5 September at Carden Park in Chester, that spotless record finally acquires a passport.

Ashley Grier leads a five-player USA side into the fourth staging of the biennial competition, where Australia, Canada, Great Britain & Ireland, South Africa and Sweden will attempt to interrupt an American sequence that has so far survived every challenge placed in front of it.

This one, at least, comes with unfamiliar scenery.

USA Take Their Winning Record Across the Atlantic

The previous three Women’s PGA Cups were all staged in the United States.

The inaugural event at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin in 2019 ended with a four-stroke American victory over Canada. USA won again by two at Twin Warriors Golf Club in New Mexico in 2022, then rather removed the suspense at Sunriver Resort in Oregon two years later, beating Canada by 12.

Now comes Carden Park and the Cheshire course.

It is not quite unknown territory — the players receive two practice rounds — but neither can the Americans rely on the accumulated familiarity of competing at home.

Grier sees those preparation days as a collective exercise rather than five individual reconnaissance missions.

“We get two practice rounds so we will have plenty of time to assess and get a feel for the golf course,” said Grier. “Playing the practice rounds together as a team really helps as you can discuss with each other the best strategy for each hole.

Sometimes you get a better perspective on the smartest way to play a hole when you can talk it out with the other players.”

In an individual sport, apparently, asking for directions is occasionally permitted.

Ashley Grier Leads an Experienced USA Team

Few players require an introduction to this particular contest.

Grier, from Port St. Lucie, Florida, has represented the United States in every Women’s PGA Cup and serves as playing captain in 2026. Stephanie Connelly Eiswerth makes her third consecutive appearance, while Sandra Changkija and Allie Knight return after making their debuts in 2024.

That leaves Kim Paez as the only first-timer.

The experience matters because the format leaves little room for a collective bad afternoon. Each nation fields five players across 54 holes of stroke play, with the lowest three scores counting towards the team total in each round.

One discarded score offers some protection. Two do not.

Kim Paez Arrives After Doing the Maths

Paez, the PGA Player Development Manager for PING Golf and a Northern Texas PGA Member, was hardly a casual observer during qualification.

She tracked the standings closely and, in her own words, was “calculating all the points” as she pursued a place.

“I mapped it out to make sure that I made it on the team this time around,” said Paez. “I’ve never actually participated in an event where I can represent our country. That’s something I take a lot of pride in. Golf is an individual sport, but to be back in a team setting I think that is so fun.

I really enjoyed my college years, representing our school and the whole camaraderie that comes along with it. To have that chance of being a part of a team, and especially with these girls that I’ve grown to know and develop friendships with, it’s going to be a fun time and a new experience for all of us.”

Qualification was hardly a matter of filling in a form and waiting by the telephone. The two-year points system drew on results from Women’s Stroke Play Championships, LPGA Professionals Championships, PGA Tournament Series money lists, selected major championships, PGA Professional Championships and weighted PGA Section points.

Paez earned her way in. The calculator can now be put away.

Stephanie Connelly Eiswerth Returns After 2024 Masterclass

There is another useful piece of recent history in the American side.

Connelly Eiswerth produced the outstanding individual performance at Sunriver in 2024, shooting six-under 207 to claim Brittany Kelly Medalist honours.

Her return gives USA a player who has already demonstrated an ability to produce her best golf within this unusual mixture of individual stroke play and team consequence.

Carden Park will nevertheless ask a different question.

“It’s truly the best week,” said Connelly Eiswerth. “It does not get old being able to have the opportunity to be out there and play and to make the Cup. It’s a big-time change. It’s different conditions. But it’s also really exciting because we get to go somewhere new.

Everybody’s games are a little bit different, so we’ll let everybody do their preparation, enjoy our time together and push each other a little bit to be ready to go and cheer each other on, as well.”

Women’s PGA Cup 2026 Schedule at Carden Park

Competition begins on Thursday, 3 September, with first-round tee times from 8 am to 10 am BST from the first tee of the Cheshire course.

The second round follows at the same times on Friday, 4 September, before the final round on Saturday, 5 September, again beginning at 8am BST.

There is plenty riding on those three mornings.

USA arrive with the pedigree, the defending champions’ confidence and four players who already know how the week feels once the scorecards begin to matter. Their opponents, meanwhile, have something the Americans have not previously had to confront in this competition: home advantage belonging to somebody else.

Three Women’s PGA Cups have ended with the same flag above the rest.

At Carden Park, the intriguing part is no longer whether the Americans know how to win. It is how well that habit travels.