On a Saturday evening at Medinah in 2012, Europe’s male golfers discovered their pulse. A seemingly unassailable 10-4 deficit became 10-6 by close of play. Everyone knows what happened next, as Europe turned the tables on an epic Sunday against the US.
For Sergio García, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy, read Carlota Ciganda, Emily Pedersen, Charley Hull and Georgia Hall. Victories for two European fourball pairings has provided faint hope of retaining the Solheim Cup in Virginia. The US need four and a half singles points for victory. The ghost of Medinah means Stacy Lewis and her home team will not be celebrating quite yet.
For so long, the 19th Solheim Cup has turned ugly. It was ugly for the European team. In one ludicrous Saturday afternoon episode, it was ugly for any television viewer.
Alison Lee had 86 yards left with her approach shot to the 2nd hole. Lee and Megan Khang were facing Europe’s Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom. Lee’s wedge shot spun into the hole for an eagle two, understandably triggering wild celebrations. The two American caddies, clearly of a mind to make this all about them, threw off their shirts and belly-bumped in the middle of the fairway. If looks could kill; Sagstrom, who was still to play, appeared understandably furious. The Solheim Cup has plenty going for it without such moments of attention-seeking vulgarity. What next? Bum cheek bearing on the 18th green?
The problem for Europe was that they had precious little playing response to US bravado until the late flurry of Hull and co. Their star of recent Solheim Cups, Leona Maguire, did not strike a ball in anger on Saturday. The Irish golfer will return for the singles with just one match under her belt, an extraordinary situation given previous showings in this event.
A 20ft Khang putt on the 11th looked certain to stay above ground until dropping into the hole after a wait of several seconds. This kind of break fell the way of the hosts umpteen times. An Andrea Lee bunker shot at the 13th was bound for North Carolina before hitting the flag-stick and bouncing into the cup. Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang defeated Linn Grant and Celine Boutier, 6&4. Alison Lee and Khang looked destined for victory from that chaotic moment at the 2nd.
“That was one of the coolest moments of my life,” said Lee. “We celebrated just the way we wanted to.” Dear Lord. Nordqvist and Sagstrom were never ahead in this match. Handshakes took place on the 15th green, the US now reaching the 10-point tally they were unable to add to. Pedersen’s glorious approach to the 17th clinched a 2&1 win for the Dane and Ciganda against Ally Ewing and Lexi Thompson. The last act of the day belonged to Hull and Hall, who withstood the stern challenge of Allisen Corpuz and Lilia Vu to claim a point on the 18th.
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A 2-2 tie in the morning foursomes represented progress for Europe after two 3-1 session defeats on Friday. Nelly Korda, whom Lewis had the luxury of resting for the fourballs, combined with Corpuz to defeat Pedersen and Ciganda 1 up. Europe responded through Esther Henseleit and Hull, who saw off Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho by the same score.
The bottom two matches were more comfortable for the winners. Thompson and Lauren Coughlin added another US point courtesy of a 4&3 victory over Maja Stark and Hall. Europe’s 4&3 success belonged to Nordqvist and Boutier, who defeated Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel. The US held an 8-4 lunchtime advantage, which rendered the 1st tee dancing of the European captain Suzann Pettersen as the teams returned to the course more than a little bizarre.
Day two opened with a mea culpa from Mollie Marcoux Samaan, the head of the LPGA Tour. Serious problems with shuttle buses led to thousands of fans missing the opening tee shots on Friday, with some forced to stand in queues for three hours before being transported to the Solheim venue.
“There were miscalculations and the planning was not sufficient for the day,” she said. “All you can do in life is make sure that you’re fixing it and getting better and making sure it never happens again.”
