The victorious Team Europe. Photo: LET
Team Europe won the 20th Solheim Cup at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands after a decisive final-day singles session against the United States.
Although the players teed off in heavy rain, the sun shone as the drama unfolded in the final few matches. Lottie Woad ensured that Europe would win the Solheim Cup by beating Auston Kim, putting Europe on 14 points. Carlota Ciganda of Spain, who holed the putt to secure the Cup for Europe in the tie at Finca Cortesin three years ago, then earned the point to win it outright for Europe with a 4&2 victory over Jennifer Kupcho of the United States.
As Ciganda stood on the 16th green in front of the distinctive clubhouse, she faced an eagle putt from 40 feet, which ran past the hole. However, Kupcho then missed her birdie putt and conceded Ciganda’s three-footer for birdie, leaving the scoreline at 15-12 in Europe’s favour.
In the final match on the course, Rose Zhang made a birdie on 18 to defeat Céline Boutier and narrow the score to 15-13, but the Solheim Cup was already Europe’s.
It was the ninth time that Europe has either won or retained the trophy, and their win-loss-draw record is now 8-11-1.
Ciganda becomes only the second player to earn the decisive points twice, joining Catriona Matthew, who secured the European victory in both 2003 and 2013.
Standing in the sunshine on the 16th green, Ciganda said: “Very happy for Anna [Nordqvist].”
The first-time European Captain is known for her meticulous preparation, and Ciganda added: “The rookies, I think, have been one of the best teams we’ve had in the last few years. Everyone was a unit, a team. That’s what Europe is about. And we had a great time. I think there were some great matches, lots of birdies. Yeah, very happy to do it for Anna.”
This was the seventh time the Solheim Cup was tied entering the final singles session. In all seven instances, the home team either won or retained the Cup (6-0-1).
The Americans last won the singles battle in Germany in 2015. Since then, Europe has either tied or won the final session. A 7-5 singles win extends Europe’s unbeaten record in Sunday singles to six Solheim Cups.
It was Charley Hull who led from the front, securing a 3&2 win over Megan Khang in the top match.
“It’s good. It’s been a frustrating week,” said Hull, who played all four doubles matches with Lottie Woad, combining for half a point over the first two days. “Lottie and I played pretty well, but we just couldn’t hole a putt. We played against some tough opponents. It feels good to get on the board.”
Linn Grant then secured a 4&3 victory over Angel Yin to claim her first Solheim Cup singles point and take the scoreline to 10-8 in Europe’s favour.
Grant won all four of her matches and became the first player ever to earn at least four points in a single Solheim Cup, after earning zero points in her most recent previous appearance.
Grant said: “Very nice. I mean, obviously I wanted to play with Angel going into the week in the singles, and I got to do that. I think it’s hard to beat someone when you’re having a good time together out there. It’s our 13th player out there. I think it makes a huge difference when you play over in Europe or over in the U.S., for sure.”
Alison Lee trailed Europe’s Esther Henseleit 4-down through 10 holes but turned it around to win one up. World No.1 Nelly Korda then beat rookie Mimi Rhodes by 4&2.
Nanna Koerstz Madsen and rookies Nastasia Nadaud, Julia López Ramirez and Lottie Woad all won their matches.
Leona Maguire lost her unbeaten singles record after Lauren Coughlin won the ninth match and U.S. rookie Lindy Duncan defeated Maja Stark.
The winning captain said: “This feels so good. There’s just been so much hard work this week and in the last two years leading up to this from not only me, but all the background team. The helpers have been amazing this week, making it easy for the players just to play, and we just had a really good vibe all week. Everyone’s been really good teammates.
“Leaving the course yesterday, we were really excited about coming here today, and wow, I was impressed with every single player and caddie showing up at that first tee, ready to play.”
“The rain was obviously, I don’t know, good mojo for us early. It just seemed to be a lot of blue early on the board. We talked a lot about the fast starts this week with the way the golf course was and, yeah, I’m just really, really proud of the players for starting strong and even finishing strong.
“It was a no-brainer to put Charley first. We saw the stats yesterday, and Charley and Lottie were actually top for players who made the most birdies for the week. They hadn’t scored really many points, but they just played really tough matches. People don’t understand how good all these players are.”
United States captain Angela Stanford said: “You hear people say over and over and over how difficult it is, and it really is. I think that we did a lot of things right leading up to it. They fought hard, and we seemed to always be on the same page. The Europeans played great today, and that’s the way it goes. So their backs were against the wall, they had nothing to lose, and that’s exactly what they did, they came out and played well, so good for them.”
The next Solheim Cup will take place in 2028 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
