The United States won the Solheim Cup for the first time in seven years after a closely fought final day singles contest at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.
The matches remained on a knife edge until Lilia Vu made a brilliant birdie on the 18th to earn the half point needed to reach 14 ½ points and win the Solheim Cup for the United States.
The final score was 15 ½ – 12 ½ in America’s favour as they clinched the cup for the first time since 2017.
At the start of the day, the home side had a four-point lead with 10-6 advantage over Europe, but it was the holders who won the singles session.
Europe won 6 ½ points on the final day, even though the U.S. Team only won 5 ½ points from their 12 singles matches it was enough to secure them the victory.
The last four Solheim Cups have been decided by scores of 14.5 to 13.5 (for Europe in 2019), 15-13 (for Europe in 2021), 14-14 in 2023 and 15.5 to 12.5 for the U.S. Team this year. That means that the last four Solheim Cups have been decided by a total of 6 points.
Winning captain Stacy Lewis said: “I mean, this is so cool. So stressful to watch. It’s awful watching. But just so proud of the players. It’s amazing how these things come down to half a point here and there. Fortunately, this time we were on the right side of it.
“It really could have gone either way. It’s crazy there at the end kind of how it all unfolded. I was just hoping and praying it went our way.
“Just proud of the team, and Lilia’s finish there was unbelievable. That’s what you expect from one of the best players in the world.”
European captain Suzann Pettersen commented: “I mean, we gave them a run for their money. I don’t think anyone expected us to be here at 2:30 and to still have a chance. It’s kind of hard to believe that we actually had a chance with kind of that poor of a start, giving them such a head start. But I had fun today. It’s always exciting on a Sunday.
“There were possibilities out there, and several times we thought we could get it done. It came down to a couple of matches. Happy for Stacy, obviously, on home turf, but we’ll come back very hungry.
“I’ve had so much fun with these girls. I’ve truly enjoyed it. Win or lose — yeah, it’s fun to win, a little bit more painful to lose, but at the end of the day we’ve had a lot of small victories within our team this week. We’ve had a lot of fun, a lot of good laughs, moments that I will cherish forever. It’s been a great ride, and Solheims, they’re the best.”
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