USA wins Solheim Cup for first time in 7 years after battling Europe in singles

Lilia Vu did not have the season she wanted. Battling a back injury, she was unable to defend the first of her two major titles from the year before, the Chevron Championship.

But the World No. 2 came back and won, claiming an LPGA title in June.

At the Solheim Cup on Sunday, Vu showed more determination.

Facing a 2-under deficit with two holes to play against Albane Valenzuela, Vu birdied the 17th, then dropped her approach from 18 to just a few feet, winning the final two holes to tie her match – winning a half that could not have been more decisive.

That ended up being a point and a half for him The Americans’ first win in the Solheim Cup since 2017. The day will come with a four point leadThe USA finished with a closer than expected 15.5 to 12.5 victory.

The US victory came a little later than expected as England’s Charley Hull delivered the most unexpected loss of the event. In Sunday’s first singles match, Hull dominated world No. 1 Nelly Korda, never trailing in a 6-and-4 game.

As Hull did her job, there was a small red wave that followed.

In the second match, Megan Khang closed out her second straight Solheim Cup unbeaten run with an unbeaten win over Emily Pedersen, who like Hull, tied for the best record for Team Europe this week, going 2 -2-0. Khang made four birdies and an eagle in just 12 holes on her way to a 6-5 victory.

As Georgia Hall took care of Alison Lee 4 and 3 in the third game, things quickly began to settle for an American victory.

First, Rose Zhang, now 5 under in her match, hit her second shot on the par-5 14th to the middle of the green with a 5-wood and then watched as her ball rolled around a fairway and rolled out of the hole . stopping just a few feet below her. Her opponent, Carlota Ciganda, last year’s Cup-winning hero for the Europeans in her home country of Spain, also two-putted but conceded the match, 6 and 4, when her eagle putt never scared the hole.

Moments later, Allisen Corpuz, who herself made a long birdie putt on 14 to secure half a point, birdied Anna Nordqvist on the next hole 4 and 3 to take the USA to 13 points – surprisingly close to victory .

But here the run of the reds stopped for a moment. Of the remaining seven games, Lexi Thompson was the only American on top and the rest were either tied or with narrow European leads. At one point, five of those last seven games were tied.

The next points wouldn’t get on the board for over an hour when Andrea Lee reached the 16th to level her match with Esther Henseleit and eventually took half a point with a four-footer for first.

But in the next tied game to reach 18, Thompson, who lost her lead when Celine Boutier bogeyed the 15th hole, lost the full point to Boutier when the Frenchman dropped her approach to just five feet and made easy throw to give. Europeans hope.

She still left the U.S. with 14 points, just half a point from victory, meaning the stage was set for Lauren Coughlin — who has enjoyed the best season of her professional career — to claim the top spot at state. her.

Coughlin had a birdie putt on 18, but after her opponent, Maja Stark, ran her tee shot 10 feet, Coughlin missed the putt on the hole. Stark then buried the comeback to once again preserve any European chance of victory.

At the same time, Leona Maguire closed out Ally Ewing 4 and 3, but this again meant that the Europeans had to sweep all their remaining games to retain the Cup and come away with their second straight tie.

However, the next match that came out on the 18th hole was Vu and Valenzuela, in which Vu finally snuffed out the European comeback attempt.

The last two matches on the course ended soon after with American Jennifer Kupcho beating Linn Grant 2 and 1, and Grant’s fellow Swede Madelene Sagstrom beating American Sarah Schmelzel 1 up.

Sunday’s singles session proved an anomaly compared to the rest of the matches. After only four matches reached the 18th hole on Friday and Saturday – none ended in a tie – five of the 12 matches reached the final hole on Sunday, resulting in three ties.

Jack Hirsch

Editor of Golf.com

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 captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also *tries* to remain competitive in the local amateurs. Prior to joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a television station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a multimedia journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.