Team USA is 10-6 heading into Sunday’s Solheim Cup — but don’t count out the Europeans just yet.
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GAINESVILLE, Va. – After Carlota Ciganda scored the first point of the afternoon session of the European Team with her partner Emily Pedersen, she made a bold claim.
“I don’t know [what] final score [is] we will be there, but 12 points, we can win them all,” he said. “It’s a miracle [at] Medinah – it’s coming.”
Ciganda, of course, was referring to the 2012 Ryder Cup. That year, the European team entered the Sunday singles at Medinah Country Club trailing the Americans 10-6. They won by 8.5 points on the final day, racing back to beat the Americans 14.5-13.5 in what has become one of the most famous Ryder Cups of all time.
The 2015 Solheim Cup is another example of a 10-6 comeback on the final day. In that event, Team USA found itself in a 10-6 singles hole only to storm back and win by a point.
In the 19th edition of the Solheim Cup, Team Europe enters the final day of the tournament with the same score of 10-6. And if they hope to retain the trophy for another two years, they will need to summon the same kind of magic.
“We’re still in it,” said Team Europe captain Suzann Petersen. “We need a big day tomorrow. We need to go again with another series of singles. It has happened before.”
If Europe hopes to pull off a miracle, it won’t be easy. Their American counterparts made history this week as Team USA won six of the eight points available on Friday to accumulate the most Day 1 points in the event’s history. They returned on Saturday and took part, splitting both sessions with the Europeans to maintain their four-point lead.
“Coming out of the day with the same lead we started with was huge for us,” said Team USA captain Stacy Lewis. “I thought in the morning that the European games were a bit difficult, and in four balls you don’t know who will be hot.”
Just building a four-point cushion hasn’t been the most impressive part of the Americans’ performance so far; it was the way he did it. Of the 10 points scored by Team USA in four periods, nine came in spectacular fashion. They only won one match that went past 16 holes.
Nelly Korda, the world’s top-ranked player, led Lewis’ team, scoring three points in the first three sessions, but she was far from the only American to do well this week. Local favorite Lauren Coughlin is also 3-0, joined by Rose Zhang who is 2-0 in four balls paired with Andrea Lee.
“They took care of business all week,” said Lewis. “I feel good where we are, and I’m excited about the future.”
Despite the dominance, there is reason for hope in Europe. Despite their top three players (Celine Boutier, Charley Hull and Linn Grant) combining for just three points, they are still within striking distance of Team USA. Pettersen also noted that his team had “no magic” in the lineup all week, making it difficult to change momentum. But even with all that against them, Team Europe still has the Americans in their sights.
“We are very far behind,” said Petersen. “But if there is hope, there is always an opportunity.”
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