The United States, inspired by controversy, pulled off the greatest comeback in Solheim Cup history, winning eight of the 12 singles matches and halving another to beat Europe, 14 1/2-13 1/2 at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot in St. Leon-Rot, Germany.
The Americans came from four points down, with Gerina Piller giving them a chance to win by getting up-and-down for a clutch par on the final hole to beat Caroline Masson of Germany, 1 up, before Angela Stanford finished off the rally with birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to down Suzann Pettersen of Norway, 2 and 1.
“You know what, I was on them all week,” said Captain Juli Inkster of Los Altos Hills and San Jose State. “You’ve got to play with heart. You’ve got to play with fire in your
belly. Never give up.
“I saw my team out there today, it didn’t look good early, they hung in there, a lot of 2-downs came to evens, and then plus-1.”
The Americans took a 9-5 lead in the Solheim Cup after losing in 2011 and 2013.
Paula Creamer of Pleasanton defeated Sandra Gal of Germany, 4 and 3; Michelle Wie of Stanford routed Caroline Hedwall of Sweden, 6 and 4; Cristie Kerr downed Charley Hull of England, 3 and 2; Lizette Salas of Azusa and USC turned back Azahara Munoz of Spain, 3 and 1; rookie Alison Lee of Valencia and UCLA took down Gwladys Nocera of France, 3 and 1, and Morgan Pressel got past Catriona Matthew of Scotland, 2 up.
Lexi Thompson halved the first match of the day with Carlota Ciganda of Spain, while the only Euro victories came when Karine Icher of France defeated Brittany Lincicome, 3 and 2; Melissa Reid of England defeated Brittany Lang, 2 and 1, and Anna Nordqvist of Sweden downed Stacy Lewis, also by 2 and 1.
Lee got redemption for a controversial situation on the 17th hole in the final fourball match, which was halted by darkness on Saturday and concluded earlier on Saturday. After Lee missed a birdie putt to win the hole, Hull walked toward the 18th tee and the American picked up up her ball, which was about 18 inches from the hole, figuring the par putt had been conceded.
However, Hull’s partner Pettersen insisted the putt had not been conceded and Europe was awarded the hole and a 1-up lead, which turned out to be the final score, putting the Americans in a 10-6 holed heading to the singles matches.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Inkster said. “I saw Suzann walk away. You don’t do that to your peers. I expected Carin (Koch, Europe captain) to do something afterward, but she didn’t.
“There’s no way they could ever justify that. I don’t care what you say. … I don’t know if my team needed to be fired up anymore, but they were real fired up.”
Said Lee: “I thought I heard it was good. Charley was walking off the green and Suzann was already off the green, so there was no doubt in my mind that that putt was good. I didn’t even think twice about it. So I just picked it up.”
Laura Davies, the British Hall of Famer who was not on the European team, told Sky Sports: “I am disgusted. Suzann has let herself and her team down.”
Lee and Hull left the 17th green in tears, but the American got her revenge later.
