US teams get first Solheim Cup win in 7 years

Lilia Vu has not had the season she wanted. He was injured, unable to defend his first of two major titles from the previous year.

But the World No. 2 came back and won, almost like what he did on Sunday in the Solheim Cup.

Facing a 2-down deficit with two holes to play, Vu birdied the 17th, then birdied his approach on the 18th to just a few feet, winning the last two holes to tie his match and it couldn’t have been more important.

That ended up being the point lead for America’s first Solheim Cup win since 2017 with 14.5 points for the week. Coming into the day leading by four points, the Americans ended up winning by a closer than expected score of 15.5 to 12.5.

The US victory perhaps came a little later than expected after Charley Hull produced the surprise performance of the event. In Sunday’s first singles match, Hull defeated World No. 1 Nelly Korda, never trailing in the 6 and 4 tournament for the English woman.

When Hull did his job, there was a small red wave that followed.

In the second match, Megan Khang completed her second Solheim Cup in a row with her victory over Emily Pedersen, who, like Hull, tied for the best record of the European Group this week, going 2-2-0. Khang made four birdies and an eagle in just 12 holes en route to a hard-fought 6-5 victory.

When Georgia Hall took care of Alison lee 4 and 3 in the third game, things started to quickly set up the American victory.

First, Rose Zhang, who was already 5-over in her game, hit her second shot on the par-5 14th in the middle of the green with a 5-wood and watched as her ball swung down the slope and rolled near the hole, with me standing just a few feet below. of it. His opponent, Carlota Ciganda, the hero who saved last year’s World Cup for European players in his country, also hit the best twice but conceded the game, 6 and 4, when his eagle never threatened the hole.

Moments later, Allisen Corpuz, who also made a long birdie putt on 14 to get a half point, closed out Anna Nordqvist on the next hole 4 and 3 to make the US reach 13 points. Sadly close to victory

But that’s where the red’s run stops for a while. In the remaining seven games, Lexi Thompson was the only American leader and the rest were tied with even less European leads. At one point, five of those last seven games were tied as things came down to the wire.

The next score was not on the board for more than an hour, when Andrea Lee birdied the 16th to tie her match with Esther Henseleit and drop a point with a four-foot par at the end.

But on the next par at 18, Thompson, who lost his lead when Celine Boutier bogeyed the 15th hole, lost a full point to Boutier when the Frenchwoman hit her way to the bottom five feet and made the putt give away. Europeans are hopeful.

That still leaves the US with 14 points, just half a point from victory, meaning the stage is set for Lauren Coughlin, after the best season of her professional career, to win the title on home soil.

He left himself with a birdie putt on 18, but after his opponent, Maja Stark, passed his birdie 10 feet, Coughlin missed the putt, which would have won the Solheim Cup, on the hole. Stark then buried the returner to preserve any chance of winning again.

At the same time, Leona Maguire shut out Ally Ewing 4 and 3, but that meant the Europeans needed to sweep all the remaining games to retain the Cup and come second in the series.

But the next game to reach the 18th place was Vu and Valenzuela where Vu finally blocked the return of Europe.

The last two matches on the course ended shortly after with USA’s Jennifer Kupcho defeating Europe’s Linn Grant 2 and 1 and Grant’s fellow Swede Madelene Sagstrom defeating America’s Sarah Schmelzel 1 Up.

Singles Sunday has become something of a mystery compared to other sports. After just four games reached the 18th hole on Friday and Saturday – none ending in a tie – five of the 12 games reached the final hole on Sunday, resulting in a three-way tie.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A native of Pennsylvania, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was the captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as the head coach. Jack is also *still* trying to stay competitive with the local novices. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a reporter/multimedia reporter, but also producing, anchoring and presenting even the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.