It didn’t have quite the same degree of chest thumping, but there were shades of Ian Poulter in 2012 as Europe scraped two points to halve the session late on Saturday evening and it’s given them a chance going into Solheim Cup Sunday singles.
A chance, but an extremely slim one. There’s a reason that Europe overturning a 10-6 deficit in the 2012 Ryder Cup has been dubbed the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ – it was near miraculous and feats worthy of ‘miracle’ status are extremely rare.
But the US managed it in Germany in 2015, and their male golfers did the same at Brookline in 2021, so though Carlota Ciganda’s steadfast refusal to throw in the towel may be more reminiscent of Lloyd Christmas’ “so you’re telling me there’s a chance” in Dumb and Dumber, there is a chance nonetheless.
But there was almost none. A clutch victory on the 18th for Esther Henseleit and Charley Hull in the morning session saved European blushes and prevented them from losing all three sessions, and when Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom – two of the bright sparks in what’s been an otherwise dismal European performance thus far – were soundly beaten by Alison Lee and Megan Khang in the opening match of Saturday’s Fourballs, the fat lady began clearing her throat.
Not even the sight of Lee and Khang’s caddies ripping off bibs and shirts to celebrate Lee’s hole-out eagle on the second could spur Nordqvist and Sagstrom to go all Michael Jordan and ‘take it personally’.
Nor could Linn Grant and Celine Boutier who rolled over and went down 6&4 to Rose Zhang and Andrea Lee in match number two.
These eight had long since cleared the stage by the time the remaining two matches had reached the crucial final stages, and with the score now 10-4 in favour of the US, nothing short of two points would do for Europe.
Ciganda and Emily Pedersen had lost the first two holes to Ally Ewing and Lexi Thompson, but they’d battled back and took a 2UP lead of their own to the 16th tee, but a birdie from the Americans halved the deficit and the dim European flame was in danger of being snuffed out completely. But Pedersen stiffed her approach shot on 17 and when neither of the Americans could make birdie, her putt was conceded and the first blue point was secured.
It was a similar story in the final match, though Charley Hull and Georgia Hall versus Allisen Corpuz and Lilia Vu would go all the way to the 18th. The English pair had been 2UP with two to play but lost 17 to birdie and a nerve jangling finish was in store, but they held on to split the session 2-2.
So the equation is simple, Europe need 8.5 points from the 12 singles matches to win, 8 to tie and retain, while anything less than that will see the U.S.A. get the trophy back.
“I think we have a chance, for sure. You have 12 points [in singles]” Ciganda said late Saturday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. “That’s what we’re going try to do; everyone focus on their match, and why not? Medinah, the Miracle at Medinah, it’s coming.”
European captain Suzann Pettersen wasn’t quite as bullish, though she too knows that there is precedent in the Solheim Cup for having a four-point reversal having been on the other side of it in 2015.
“It’s definitely on my mind. I was on the opposite side in Germany, and I know what it feels like. I know what it feels like going into Sunday,” she said.
“Everyone remembers Medinah. I mean, it’s a tough task. It’s a lot to ask. But the situation is 10-6. All you can do is just literally go out hard, play your heart out, and hopefully we get enough points that we can kind of keep this exciting and fun for the bottom half to show up and get their points, as well.
“It’s just literally — it is what it is at this point.”
One of the more controversial decisions had been to leave Leona Maguire on the bench once again in the afternoon session, meaning she’ll feature in just two of the five possible matches having been ever present in each of her two previous Solheim Cup outings, but Pettersen defended the decision and suggested that a lack of form as opposed to any possible injury was the primary reason.
“Yeah, nobody can take away Leona’s record, the value that she carries into the European team, playing or not playing. Just her presence on our team is very valuable,” she explained.
“When it ended up being where we kind of stood after yesterday, we kind of had to go by form. Unfortunately up until now, Leona hasn’t kind of been, I don’t know, the rock that I kind of was hoping for.
“That being said, that doesn’t mean she’s not fired up about going out there tomorrow and playing her absolute best. She’s fine with it. She’s a team player. She cares about the team. For her to kind of go support all the teammates on the course, not having played today, that’s a tough task, as well. But she takes it as a champ, and I’m really proud of her for that.
“But it surely doesn’t take away anything, and like I told her, she doesn’t have to prove anything to any of us. She’s kind of won us the Solheim the last two times. She has all the reasons to kind of be disappointed, but she also has the character and the guts to say, you know what, fair play, I’m not playing my best, and go play someone else who kind of has a better chance of getting points on the board.
“We’re playing the best players in the world. We have to try and gear up and kind of put our full force out.”
Sunday’s Singles draw is as follows.
13:50 – Charley Hull (EUR) vs. Nelly Korda (USA)
14:00 – Emily Pedersen (EUR) vs. Megan Khang (USA)
14:10 – Georgia Hall (EUR) vs. Alison Lee (USA)
14:20 – Anna Nordqvist (EUR) vs. Allisen Corpuz (USA)
14:30 – Carlota Ciganda (EUR) vs. Rose Zhang (USA)
14:40 – Esther Henseleit (EUR) vs. Andrea Lee (USA)
14:50 – Celine Boutier (EUR) vs. Lexi Thompson (USA)
15:00 – Maja Stark (EUR) vs. Lauren Coughlin (USA)
15:10 – Albane Valenzuela (EUR) vs. Lilia Vu (USA)
15:20 – Madelene Sagstrom (EUR) vs. Sarah Schmelzel (USA)
15:30 – Leona Maguire (EUR) vs. Ally Ewing (USA)
15:40 – Linn Grant (EUR) vs. Jennifer Kupcho (USA)
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