In an epic final day at Gleneagles for the 16th edition of the Solheim Cup, Europe beat the USA by the slender margin of 14½-13½.
In an epic final day at Gleneagles for the 16th edition of the Solheim Cup, Europe beat the USA by the slender margin of 14½-13½.
The 12 singles matches provided a thrilling climax on the third day of this match play event and it could not have been closer, with the anticipated result swinging from one side to the other throughout the afternoon.
As the day began 8-8, Carlota Ciganda put the first point on the board for Europe. All square after the 12th, the Spaniard birdied three of the last 5 holes, including the par-5 18th to win 1up against Danielle Kang.
Europe’s Caroline Hedwall, started strongly against the in-form Nelly Korda and was 3up at the turn, but four birdies on the back nine against Hedwall’s one birdie and two bogeys, secured a 2up with for the American and brought the match back to all-square once more.
It was touch and go for World No 3 Lexi Thompson as to whether she would be able to complete her round against former British Open champion Georgia Hall as she experienced back spasms upon reaching the third hole. Whilst Thompson did not appear to be swinging as freely as she would normally, she made the turn 1up, before a consistent stream of blue numbers dominated the leaderboard in Hall’s favour on the back 9 for the Englishwoman to win 2up.
Celine Boutier demonstrated resilience in her match against Annie Park to come behind and win 2up to seal another point for Europe and complete an impressive Solheim Cup debut.
But then the colour red dominated the leaderboard once again as Angel Yin beat Azahara Munoz 2&1, Lizete Salas pipped Anne van Dam 1up, and Jessica Korda beat Caroline Masson 3&2.
Europe’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff was no match for Britany Altomare and the American won 5&4, whilst in the same fashion, Anna Nordquist, beat Morgan Pressel 4&3.
Charley Hull appeared to be in control, 1up playing 18, but she missed the green with her 3rd shot and then sent the 4th over the other side of the green to allow Megan Khang to win the hole and share the spoils.
With two matches left out on the course, the score was 13½-12½ in favour of team USA, but then European rookie Bronte Law, who levelled her match against Ally McDonald with a birdie on the par-4 14th went on to birdie the par-5 16th and a par was enough on the par-3 17th for the feisty Englishwoman to win 2up and level the match score 13½-13½.
As the final match featuring Suzann Pettersen and Marina Alex reached the par-5 18th, the pair were all-square. As Alex’s birdie putt slipped away, Solheim Cup stalwart and captain’s pick Pettersen stepped up and holed a eight-foot putt for birdie and the all-important point to claim the trophy for Europe for the first time since 2013.
For Scot Catriona Matthew, to captain Europe on home soil in front of a record crowd of 90,000 spectators over the three days, the result was a dream come true.
"A fantastic moment. Twelve of these players, they played their hearts out. We knew it was going to be close today, but to come down to that last putt for Suzann to hole it - an amazing team performance," she said.
Image: Getty Images
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