The contest had been delicately poised heading into a rainy sit singles session at Bernardus Golf, with the momentum seemingly with the Americans after late drama in the Saturday fourballs saw them pull the match back into an 8-8 tie. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Jennifer Kupcho had holed over 110 feet of putts over her final two holes to snatch victory with Lindy Duncan over Carlota Ciganda and Celine Boutier, a result Team USA captain Angela Stanford said had "turned the tide" in their favour. A video of the American team drinking beers on their bus that evening ended up being a premature celebration and an easy motivator for Team Europe, who won six of the top eight singles matches to regain control of the contest.
Lottie Woad's point-winning moment will be remembered as the one that clinched the Solheim Cup, taking Europe to 14 points with Carlota Ciganda already guaranteed at least a half-point, but it was the Spaniard who closed out her win and made it official. Boisterous scenes around the course and in the trophy presentation continued off it, with a viral social media clip of Dame Laura Davies handing out beers to the European team on the bus and their celebrations running long into the night. A final score of 15-13 didn't really reflect the final-day dominance of Nordqvist's side, with Team USA's largely flat top order - Nelly Korda and Alison Lee aside - unable to follow up their jubilance of the previous night and put pressure on Europe.
Few embrace the Solheim Cup more than Ciganda, who went from Europe's first-tee supporter in the opening session to producing multiple clutch moments as the week progressed. The veteran was Europe's hero on Friday, where a dramatic final-hole par gave her and Julia Lopez Ramirez a half-point that avoided Team USA leading after day one, then was on the receiving end of Kupcho's birdie-birdie finish the following day. Ciganda gained revenged over Kupcho in the singles and closed out her eighth appearance in style, becoming just the second player in history to earn the clinching point in two different Solheim Cups.
"I was really happy to see that I was playing against Kupcho," Ciganda admitted. "She's a fighter, I'm a fighter. I knew she had no chance.
I was like, 'I want to kill you', so I had it very clear in my mind." Charley Hull and Woad became the first pairing ever to tandem in all four sessions and broke several unwanted records during a disappointing first two days, despite playing better than their scores suggested. They were both inside the top four for European birdies made over those sessions but returned just 0.5 points, with a record-equalling 6&5 loss in the Saturday morning foursomes among the three defeats. Nordqvist was questioned for not splitting the pair on day two and came under further scrutiny for sending out Hull in the singles, a decision she described as a "no-brainer" before watching the 30-year-old earn Europe's first point of the day.
Hull said it was a "frustrating" week that saw her and Woad struggle to hole putts, with both - until their singles victories - in danger of becoming the first to participate in five sessions and not have any wins. "Being the leader of this team, we knew she [Hull] was going to deliver," Nordqvist said. "It was blue on the board early.
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