[Photo: Naomi Baker]
The US entered the Sunday singles at the Solheim Cup with momentum on its side. Jennifer Kupcho had just made a 91-foot birdie putt on the 17th, followed by a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th to win her Saturday fourball match with Lindy Duncan against Celine Boutier and Carlota Ciganda. The red-hot putter had tied the score at 8-all at the end of the day. Cases of beer were brought onto the American’s bus as they travelled back to their hotel.
But the electric charge lost its force overnight.
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The US lost the first singles match, when Charley Hull defeated Megan Khang 3&2. It was the first full point Hull had scored after losing three and halving one of her matches. It looked like another point was going to Europe in the second match, as Esther Henseleit had Alison Lee 4 down through 11 holes. Miraculously, Lee won the match, 1 up, setting a record for overcoming the greatest deficit in Solheim Cup history. But the US needed more moments like that to win the trophy. The board was predominantly blue and stayed that way on Sunday. Momentum never changed.
World No.1 Nelly Korda won her match, but then the next four all went to Europe. There were no screaming hot putters on the US team. Two of those four matches ended 2&1. Matches that were close, but the US hadn’t been able to flip either.
“I try not to have regrets. I believed in all 12, so, you know, I probably need to think about that some more,” US captain Angela Stanford said. She was trying to lead the US to its first overseas win since 2015 in Germany.
It felt like Europe dominated the singles matches – winning that block of four matches in a row can have that effect. But when all the matches ended, Europe had only won the day 7-5. A win, but not domination. The final score was 15-13 with Europe taking the Cup back after losing in 2024 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.
Speaking after the matches, it was clear the US felt how close the day had actually been. And with that knowledge they’re able to leave the Netherlands with heads held high.
“I’m so proud of this team. I think we fought our battle over here,” Kupcho said. “I think we stood our ground over here on foreign soil and I’m really proud of us. We all came together and we really gave it our all.”
