Europe reclaims the Solheim Cup golf crown by winning 15-13 against the USA

Europe is once again the queen of the Solheim Cup in golf after defeating the United States this Sunday by 15-13, which marks their ninth title in the 20 editions held, following a final day in which the team led by the Swede Anna Nordqvist was superior in the singles matches. The victory of the English Lottie Woad and the Spanish Carlota Ciganda secured the title for Europe, which consolidates itself as the dominant force in the biennial competition by adding its fourth title in the last five editions after those of 2019, 2021, and 2023.

Read more At least 6 dead and 129 missing after an Indonesian passenger boat capsizes

After the unexpected 8-8 tie that ended Saturday’s second round of pairs at the Bernardus Golf course, in the town of Cromvoirt, in the south of the Netherlands, Nordqvist’s team recovered and made the most of their home advantage to reclaim the crown. The rain that greeted the day seemed to add more uncertainty to the outcome of a tournament marked by equality in the first two days, but the Europeans set the pace from the start and always had the scoreboard in their favor, even knowing that a tie would allow the Americans to retain the cup after their victory in Virginia two years ago.

The team led by Angela Stanford seemed to be weighed down by the statistics, since they had not won overall in the twelve singles matches played in match play format since 2015, where a hole is won by the player who completes it in the fewest strokes. After the first partial results, Europe was leading in seven of the first nine matches, which gave them a moral advantage they capitalized on.

Europe began to add points to the scoreboard with the wins of the English Charly Hull, who made up for a modest performance in the previous two days, and the Swede Linn Grant, the most solid European player with a perfect record in the tournament. Then came the unexpected defeat of the German Esther Henseleit, who was four up after the first nine holes. Alison Lee, the best American in the competition with four wins, completed a comeback not seen since 2013 to add some excitement.

Read more Man seriously injured after being gored in the last running of the bulls of the Navalcarnero festivities

World number one, Nelly Korda, leveled at 10-10, but from there, the successive joys brought by the French Nastasia Nadaud and two of the four debutants, the Danish Nanna Koerstz Madsen and the Spanish Julia López, put the tournament on track. Woad, world number seven and who had also not won in the previous two rounds, took the penultimate step and Ciganda, dominant from the start, put the finishing touch with the seventh victory. In the process, the veteran Spanish player, 36 years old, took revenge against Jennifer Kupcho after the epic comeback the American staged the day before in the last fourball. Ciganda, with five wins in eight Solheim appearances, became the third player with the most points in the intercontinental competition.

With the champagne uncorked, the tournament concluded with three useless points for the Americans, closing the definitive 15-13.

Read more Mas: “I have dreamed of and worked for this victory”