Europe retains Solheim Cup

Europe retained the Solheim Cup on Sept. 6, clinching just its second victory on U.S. soil when Matilda Castren closed out Lizette Salas 1 up to give the visitors the decisive point in a 1513 victory.

Castren calmly curled in a 10-foot par putt on the 18th to edge Salas and give Europe backto-back Cup victories for just the second time in the 31-year history of the biennial showdown between the two rivals.

“It’s just crazy, crazy,” said the 26-year-old who became eligible to make the team only after winning an event in her native Finland in July. “I can’t believe I made that putt. I knew it was important. I knew it was going to break a little bit left. Me and (my caddie) read the putt perfectly and it went in. It’s just such an amazing feeling, and so proud to be part of this team.”

Two years after needing a dramatic 7-foot putt by Suzann Pettersen to slip by the Americans at Gleneagles, the final putt this time around was more of an exclamation point on three days of steady and occasionally spectacular play by the visitors.

When Emily Pedersen rolled in a birdie putt on the 18th to close out Danielle Kang, the Europeans poured onto the green in celebration, hoisting captain Catriona Matthew on their shoulders.

College football

GOPHERS’ IBRAHIM OUT FOR SEASON >> Minnesota’s Mo Ibrahim will miss the rest of the season because of a lower left leg injury, coach P.J. Fleck announced Monday. The fifth-year player from Baltimore will have surgery Sept. 7 and need four to six months to recover. He was a second-team preseason Associated Press All-America selection.

UCONN COACH OUT NOW

UConn football coach Randy Edsall has left the program a day after announcing he would retire at the end of the season. Edsall, whose teams have gone just 6-32 since he returned to the Huskies for a second stint as coach in 2017, will be replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Lou Spanos, the school announced.

NFL

SAINTS RETURN TBA >>The Saints expect the Dallas area and TCU practice facilities to serve as their home base into at least Week 2 of the NFL season, coach Sean Payton said Sept. 6. Displaced from the New Orleans area by Hurricane Ida, the Saints had a closed practice indoors at TCU on Sept. 6 and will be there at the very least until they fly to Jacksonville to play Green Bay in a regular-season opener that had been originally scheduled for the Superdome.

When the team boards the plane out of Jacksonville following that game, “my anticipation is after this game we’ll be coming back that night to this location,” Payton said, referring to the Dallas area.

49ERS QB MAKING PROGRESS

49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance showed signs of progress in returning from a finger injury but there are still questions about whether he will be able to play in the season opener. Lance no longer needed a splint on the index finger on his throwing hand after suffering a small chip fracture in the exhibition finale on Aug. 29.

TITANS COVID UPDATE

The Titans’ COVID-19 outbreak is nearing an end even with two starting offensive linemen still on the reserve list. Not everyone around the NFL may be as healthy to kick off this season with COVID-19 proving to be an issue hovering over another season. “Everybody, whether it’s the league, whether it’s your family, my family, we all have to just understand that we’re going to deal with some things,” Coach Mike Vrabel said.