You would be forgiven if you forgot about Caroline Hedwall was playing for Europe at the Solheim Cup. Suzann Pettersen did not dust off her captain’s pick until Saturday afternoon four-balls. But instead of being an afterthought, the 34-year-old Swede delivered one of the best stretches of golf on Sunday in Solheim Cup history, going from 3 down on the 13th tee and birdieing five of the last six holes to flip her match to a 2-up win over Ally Ewing that prevented the Americans from walking off with the overall victory.
“Now I realize how important that point was and I’m just really proud that I could turn my match around,” Hedwall said afterward, noting that without her point, Europe loses 15-13.
Questioned for using a captain’s pick on the 121st-ranked player in the world, Pettersen’s decision became even more cloudy when she left Hedwall on the bench for the first three sessions. A five-time Solheim Cup veteran, Hedwall was the only player on either side who did not play in a session on Friday, as Pettersen felt pressure to play her best players after the Americans swept the opening foursomes session.
“We have to put our ‘A team’ out, and she’s [Hedwall] completely in with that,” Pettersen explained.
Hedwall does not profile as an A-team member. She was the second lowest ranked player on the European squad and made her last Cup appearance was in 2019, where she played two sessions and went 0-2. Her best Solheim Cup moment was a decade ago, when in 2013 she went 5-0-0.
Hedwall’s play Saturday afternoon didn’t exactly foretell her becoming a Sunday hero. She lost in four-ball alongside Anna Nordqvist, 2 and 1, the only European loss of the final team session.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
