Europe wins 2019 Solheim Cup

On Sunday, the Solheim Cup came down to a 7-foot putt on the 18th hole from the player who has been the heart and soul of the European team for more than a decade.

 

And was there any doubt? After the USA’s Marina Alex missed a 10-foot putt that would have retained the Cup for the Americans, Pettersen, with her baby boy Herman waiting in the crowd, drained her birdie putt and brought the Solheim Cup back to Europe for the first time since 2013. She later confirmed her plans to retire from competition following the 2019 Solheim Cup.

 

The 14.5-13.5 victory is tied for the smallest winning margin in Solheim Cup history. In 2015, Team USA won by the same margin in Germany. Pettersen now has 21 points in Solheim Cup competition, fourth all-time for Team Europe. Celine Boutier and Georgia Hall both went 4-0-0 for the Europeans.

 

With the loss, Juli Inkster’s career as USA captain ends at two wins and one loss. Jessica Korda and Nelly Korda led the American scoring contingent, each player going 3-0-1.

 

Held every two years, the Solheim Cup has grown into the most prestigious international women’s professional golf team event. The 2021 Solheim Cup will be held at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, on Sept. 4-6. Team USA heads to Ohio leading Europe 10-6 all-time in Solheim Cup competition.

 

SUNDAY SINGLES RESULTS – EUROPE 6.5, USA 5.5

Carlota Ciganda (EUR) def. Danielle Kang (USA), 1 up

Nelly Korda (USA) def. Caroline Hedwall (EUR), 2 up

Georgia Hall (EUR) def. Lexi Thompson (USA), 2 and 1

Celine Boutier (EUR) def. Annie Park (USA), 2 and 1

Angel Yin (USA) def. Azahara Munoz (EUR), 2 and 1

Charley Hull (EUR) halved with Megan Khang (USA)

Lizette Salas (USA) def. Anne van Dam (EUR), 1 up

Jessica Korda (USA) def. Caroline Masson (EUR), 3 and 2

Brittany Altomare (USA) def. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (EUR), 5 and 4

Suzann Pettersen (EUR) def. Marina Alex (USA), 1 up

Bronte Law (EUR) def. Ally McDonald (USA), 2 and 1

Anna Nordqvist (EUR) def. Morgan Pressel (USA), 4 and 3

 

SATURDAY FOUR-BALL RESULTS – EUROPE 1.5, USA 2.5

Brittany Altomare/Annie Park (USA) def. Suzann Pettersen/Anne van Dam (EUR), 1 up

Jodi Ewart Shadoff/Caroline Masson (EUR) halved with Lexi Thompson/Marina Alex (USA)

Georgia Hall/Celine Boutier (EUR) def. Ally McDonald/Angel Yin (USA), 2 up

Lizette Salas/Danielle Kang (USA) def. Carlota Ciganda/Azahara Munoz (EUR), 2 and 1

 

SATURDAY FOURSOMES RESULTS – EUROPE 2, USA 2

Morgan Pressel/Marina Alex (USA) def. Anna Nordqvist/Anne van Dam (EUR), 2 and 1

Georgia Hall/Celine Boutier (EUR) def. Lizette Salas/Ally McDonald (USA), 3 and 2

Charley Hull/Azahara Munoz (EUR) def. Danielle Kang/Megan Khang (USA), 4 and 3

Jessica Korda/Nelly Korda (USA) def. Carlota Ciganda/Bronte Law (EUR), 6 and 5

 

FRIDAY FOUR-BALL RESULTS – EUROPE 2, USA 2

Suzann Pettersen/Anne van Dam (EUR) def. Danielle Kang/Lizette Salas (USA), 4 and 2

Ally McDonald/Angel Yin (USA) def. Anna Nordqvist/Caroline Hedwall (EUR), 7 and 5

Charley Hull/Azahara Munoz (EUR) halved with Nelly Korda/Brittany Altomare (USA)

Carlota Ciganda/Bronte Law (EUR) halved with Jessica Korda/Lexi Thompson (USA)

 

FRIDAY FOURSOMES RESULTS – EUROPE 2.5, USA 1.5

Carlota Ciganda/Bronte Law (EUR) halved with Morgan Pressel/Marina Alex (USA)

Georgia Hall/Celine Boutier (EUR) def. Lexi Thompson/Brittany Altomare (USA), 2 and 1

Jessica Korda/Nelly Korda (USA) def. Caroline Masson/Jodi Ewart Shadoff (EUR), 6 and 4

Charley Hull/Azahara Munoz (EUR) def. Megan Khang/Annie Park (USA), 2 and 1

 

SUNDAY SINGLES RECAPS

Carlota Ciganda (EUR) def. Danielle Kang (USA), 1 up

The opening match of the Sunday Singles session went down the wire. After the USA’s Danielle Kang found two greenside bunkers at No. 18, her long par putt blew past the hole, giving a hard-fought 1-up win to the Spaniard Carlota Ciganda. Both players held 1-up leads throughout the match, with neither competitor letting the other out of her sight. With the win, Ciganda is now 3-0-1 all-time in singles competition.

 

Nelly Korda (USA) def. Caroline Hedwall (EUR), 2 up

Nelly Korda put the first point on the board for Team USA in Sunday’s singles matches and it was the result of a great comeback by the rookie. Trailing by three holes at the turn to Europe’s Caroline Hedwall, Korda won five of the next six holes to take a 2-up lead with three remaining. Hedwall birdied the 16th and exchanged pars with Korda on the 17th to send the match to 18, but Korda closed it out with a birdie for a 2-up victory. Korda finished the week with a 3-0-1 record.

 

Georgia Hall (EUR) def. Lexi Thompson (USA), 2 and 1

Georgia Hall battled back from an early two-hole deficit and captured a 2-and-1 win over Team USA’s Lexi Thompson. Thompson held a 2-up lead going to the ninth, but Hall reeled off three consecutive wins to take a 1-up lead at No. 11. She extended the advantage to 2 up when Thompson bogeyed No. 15 and took the win from there. Thompson struggled the entire match with back spasms, unable to bend over and having her caddie Benji Thompson (no relation) tee up the ball for her.

 

Celine Boutier (EUR) def. Annie Park (USA), 2 and 1

Celine Boutier completed her strong rookie appearance for Team Europe on Sunday bringing her overall record for the week to 4-0-0 with a 2-and-1 victory over American rookie Annie Park. Boutier quickly found herself 2 down after two holes and did not take a lead in the match until the 13th hole. A birdie by Boutier on No. 16 gave her a 2-up lead with two holes to play and she closed it out by exchanging pars with Park on the 17th.

 

Angel Yin (USA) def. Azahara Munoz (EUR), 2 and 1

A 4-up lead after nine holes didn’t mean an easy victory for Angel Yin and Team USA as Spain’s Azahara Munoz opened the back nine with three straight birdies to cut Yin’s lead to 1 up through 12. The match got tight as the two exchanged holes until a birdie by Yin on 16 secured at least a half point for the U.S. With her lead 2 up with two holes to play, Yin managed to par the 17th to hold on to win, 2 and 1.

 

Charley Hull (EUR) halved with Megan Khang (USA)

Megan Khang held the lead for the first 12 holes before Charley Hull squared the match at No. 13 with a par. The Englishwoman grabbed her first lead with a birdie at the 16th. But Hull failed to get up and down for par at 18, sending her shot from the greenside bunker back off the front of the green. Khang’s conceded birdie gave the Americans a half point.

 

Lizette Salas (USA) def. Anne van Dam (EUR), 1 up

The Lizette Salas/Anne van Dam match featured nine birdies between the duo. Van Dam birdied holes 1 and 5 to quickly grab a 2-up lead over Salas. After Salas squared the match with a birdie at No. 10, she took her first lead with another birdie at No. 13. Yet another van Dam birdie squared the match at No. 16, but Salas regained the lead when van Dam made bogey at 17. It all came down to 18 and when van Dam’s birdie attempt rolled just right of the hole, the point went to Team USA.

 

Jessica Korda (USA) def. Caroline Masson (EUR), 3 and 2

Jessica Korda made it two victories for the Korda sisters in Sunday Singles with her 3-and-2 victory over Europe’s Caroline Masson. This was another comeback victory as Masson led 2 up through six holes before Korda won the final three holes on the front nine to take her first lead of the match. Masson battled back to make the match all-square before back-to-back birdies by Korda on 12 and 13 gave her a lead she wouldn’t relinquish. Korda’s singles victory meant the sisters combined to tally a total of five points for Team USA.

 

Brittany Altomare (USA) def. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (EUR), 5 and 4

Brittany Altomare bogeyed the first hole to immediately give Jodi Ewart Shadoff a 1-up lead. The American rookie then quickly turned the match around, squaring the match with a birdie at No. 2 and cruising in for a runaway 5-and-4 victory. Altomare carded five birdies on the day, including three straight at 8, 9 and 10. Europe’s Ewart Shadoff carded 12 pars and one bogey, not enough to keep up with Altomare’s hot putter.

 

Suzann Pettersen (EUR) def. Marina Alex (USA), 1 up

Just moments after American Marina Alex missed a 10-foot birdie putt to guarantee the half-point needed to retain the Cup, European stalwart Suzann Pettersen drained hers dead center to give Europe the point it needed to win the Solheim Cup back, 14 ½ to 13 ½. Alex never led in the match but pulled it all square with a birdie on the 14th. The match would remain that way until the 18th when Pettersen sank the birdie putt with all teams looking on and secured herself a place in Solheim Cup history.

 

Bronte Law (EUR) def. Ally McDonald (USA), 2 and 1

With a fire reminiscent of Suzann Pettersen, Bronte Law roared down the stretch to a 2-up lead over Ally McDonald. McDonald, named to Team USA on Tuesday as a replacement for an injured Stacy Lewis, held a 1-up lead through 13 holes. But McDonald bogeyed No. 14 to square the match, Law walked in a long birdie putt at No. 16 to reclaim a 1-up lead. After finding the greenside bunker at No. 17, McDonald’s 6-footer to extend the match went just right, giving the point to Law.

 

Anna Nordqvist (EUR) def. Morgan Pressel (USA), 4 and 3

Team Europe sent out veteran Anna Nordqvist in the anchor match against Team USA’s Morgan Pressel. Nordqvist and Pressel were facing each other for the third time in singles play but while Pressel had defeated Nordqvist the two previous meetings, Sunday’s match was Nordqvist’s from the beginning. The Swede took a 1-up lead with a birdie on the second and never looked back, cruising to a 4-and-3 victory to give the Europeans a crucial full point.