Europe too calm for U.S. to catch
EUROPE 15, UNITED STATES 13
TOLEDO, Ohio — Matilda Castren glanced at the rapidly expanding sea of red on the video board next to the 18th green, took a deep breath and tried to block everything out.
Her long road to the Solheim Cup. Europe’s rapidly dwindling lead over the host Americans. A record crowd filled with unfamiliar faces after covid-19 travel restrictions basically forced the visitors to go it alone at breezy, sun-splashed Inverness.
The 26-year-old knew the 10-footer for par would move right to left. She just needed to get the speed right. When it poured into the heart to give her a 1 up win over Lizette Salas and assure Europe of a second consecutive Solheim Cup victory, there was just a fist pump as celebration.
“It’s just crazy, crazy,” said Castren, who needed to win a tournament in her native Finland in July to become eligible to make the 12-woman team. “I can’t believe I made that putt.”
Over the course of three days, the Europeans seemed to make everything that mattered in a 15-13 victory, giving credence to the notion that home-course advantage in the biennial event between the longtime rivals no longer exists.
Perhaps Europe’s perception as the perennial underdog, too. Europe never trailed at any point in northwest Ohio while beating the Americans for the fourth time in their last six meetings.
“Hands down, I think this is the best team Europe has ever had,” seven-time Solheim Cup veteran Anna Nordqvist said.
The Europeans were guided by the leadership of twotime captain Catriona Matthews and the brilliance of rookie Leona Maguire.
The 26-year-old former Duke standout, the first Irish woman to make a Solheim team, went unbeaten (4-0-1) while being the only player on either side to participate in all five sessions.
Going out third in singles, Maguire using an eagle and three birdies on the front nine on her way to dispatching Jennifer Kupcho 5-and-4 to give Europe the first of five points needed to hold onto the Cup.
“Hopefully the whole world now sees how good she is,” said Mel Reid, who paired with Maguire three times over the weekend to help Europe take a 9-7 lead into the singles matches.
U.S. captain Pat Hurst stuck with the “pod” system that had worked so well for former captain Juli Inkster, but Europe jumped to a 31/2-halfpoint advantage after the opening alternate-shot session on Saturday morning and held firm the rest of the way.
“I had a plan and I stuck to it,” Hurst said. “I’m pretty consistent. Everyone knew what we were going to do, and I wasn’t going to go away from that, and I didn’t.”
There were bright spots for the U.S. on Monday, namely from world No. 1 Nelly Korda and older sister Jessica. The two struggled over the weekend, but Nelly Korda rallied for a 1-up win over Georgia Hall while Jessica surged past Charley Hull 3-and-1.
It wasn’t enough on an afternoon when most of the roars from the crowd were for lengthy par putts that halved holes for the Americans instead of winning them.
Europe earned three of the first four points available in singles to push the U.S. to the brink. The Americans rallied briefly and for a moment appeared to have an outside chance at squeezing out the 71/2 points required to finish off a comeback.
They couldn’t quite get there, symbolic of an extraordinarily tight event where 16 of 28 matches reached the 18th green.
Austin Ernst saw her downhill 8-foot birdie putt on 18 that would have won her match against Nanna Koerstz Madsen slide left, letting Europe escape with a half-point to bring its team total to 13. Salas had a chance to even her match with Castren on the 17th, only to shove her 6-foot birdie putt past the hole.
When Salas couldn’t convert a 20-foot uphill birdie putt on the 18th and Castren recovered from a plugged approach shot in the bunker to salvage par with a putt that will live on in Solheim Cup lore, Europe had found a way to turn the U.S. away once again.
Reid pointed to the play of Cup rookies Castren and Maguire, both LPGA members, as proof of how far Europe has come since the Cup’s inception in 1990.
“They weren’t scared,” Reid said of Castren and Maguire, who went a combined 7-1-1. “They’re completely fearless.”