Europe gave it everything on Sunday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, but they came up just short in their attempt at history but that didn’t stop captain Suzann Pettersen being proud of her team.
After winning the trophy in 2019 and 2021 and retaining in 2023, the European Solheim Cup Team were hoping to produce a miraculous comeback to complete the four-peat.
Sunday saw Europe put in a great performance with the fans in Gainesville holding their breaths as more blue appeared on the leaderboard.
In the end, the United States held on, they won the 2024 Solheim Cup with a score of 15 ½ to 12 ½ points, but Pettersen was proud of the performance Europe put in.
“I just think we gave them a good run for their money today,” said Pettersen at the press conference. “At 2.25 pm, we were still out there having a chance at this remarkable comeback that it would have been, and I don’t think the Americans anticipated such a fight from us.
“We won the singles today, so we won the session. I think we did a great job. I’m very proud of the girls. They showed character when they go out there, it’s not the easiest of situations to face going into the singles, but we were led off by Charley [Hull] and she set the standard and made us all believe that it would be possible. We fell short, but we gave it a good go.”
English duo Charley Hull and Georgia Hall led from the front on Sunday winning their matches 6 and 4, and 4 and 3, respectively.
As the afternoon went on, momentum changed with the leaderboard swinging between red and blue.
After three victories in the first five matches, the United States only needed 1 ½ points to win the Solheim Cup outright, but Europe made them work hard for the victory.
In a great spectacle of golf, the U.S. Team were able to celebrate on home soil with Lilia Vu clinching the half point needed.
However, Pettersen knows that when the next Solheim Cup happens at Bernardus in the Netherlands in 2026, the Europeans will be hungry for victory once again.
She continued: “I mean, starting the day, we knew we had to get off to a good start. Charley crushing Nelly with some really, really fantastic golf was kind of fun to watch.
“I actually enjoyed the quietness out there for quite a while. I thought the crowds were kind of silenced by maybe questioning if they were going to kind of be challenged. I think for the most part of the day, we had a shot at it.
“You look at the final scores, it doesn’t really relate to kind of how close it was. At one point, I thought this was all going to be lined up for Lexi [Thompson]. The storytelling that it’s been over the last two Solheim Cups, but when that didn’t happen, I’m thinking, we might have a slight hope again.
“It was just a great finish. Great golf was played. We made a run for it. That’s all we could ask for the players. As hungry as the Americans were leaving Spain last year, we’re going to be equally as hungry going in two years.”
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