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The United States knew it would take an epic comeback on Sunday if they were going to bring the Solheim Cup back across the pond.
Having never come back from bigger than a two-point deficit heading into singles play, the US would need the largest comeback in history if it was going to end Europe’s reign of two straight victories in the Solheim Cup as they trailed 10-6.
Rally is exactly what Team USA did by capturing nine of the 12 matches and earning a half in the opening match to win the 8 ½ points needed to regain The Solheim Cup, the women’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup.
The last time the US claimed the trophy was in 2009 at the Rich Harvest Farms in Chicago, Illinois. Entering the final day, as defending champions, Europe only needed four points to retain the cup.
These were the closest matches seen in the contest’s history coming down to the final match of the day – Paula Creamer and Sandra Gal. Creamer won the match 4&3 to earn the US the final point needed to win the cup.
“You know what, I was on them all week,” said US Captain, Julie Inkster. “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.”
That ‘fire in the belly’ was provided by one of the most controversial incidents in golf history, and involved a player well known to Bahrain, Suzann Pettersen.
The extra motivation for the Americans in their comeback came early on Sunday morning at the conclusion of the Saturday afternoon four-ball matches after the matches at St Leon-Rot in Germany had again been suspended due to bad weather meaning that three games had to finish on Sunday.
The Americans won one of the first two and appeared to have a chance to gain at least another half point in the final four-ball match between Brittany Lincicome and Alison Lee and Pettersen and Charley Hull.
But with the match all square on the 17th, Lee missed a birdie putt that would have won the hole and when she picked up the ball, 18 inches from the cup, (a distance that would commonly be conceded) that remained for par, the Europeans stated that they had not. The Europeans, as a result, were then granted the hole and went 1 up into the 18th and went on to win the critical point.
Whether Pettersen did concede the putt or not, only she will know, although from a purely sporting perspective she had an opportunity to allow the American pair the half, although she flatly refused.
The decision was endorsed by Europe captain, Carin Koch, although the situation left several players in tears, including Europe’s star, 19-year old Hull, although no blame was attached to her over the incident.
The Americans’ stunning victory from the singles, cheered by many neutrals, proved that a sense of injustice can be a powerful motivator.
After the furore, the singles matches started off slowly for the Americans as there was a lot of blue on the scoreboard in the early holes, but the tide turned red in the middle of the day thanks to some hot play from Team USA.
Sitting 3-down to Hull on the fourth hole, Christie Kerr made nine birdies in her next 11 holes en route to a 3&2 victory.
It was only fitting that the Solheim Cup largely came down to the match with the most vitriol involved – the dramatic Pettersen vs Angela Stanford match on the heels of the biggest dispute in Solheim Cup history.
Stanford’s 2&1 victory kept the Americans’ hopes of the biggest come-from-behind victory alive and served as redemption for the Texan who had not earned a single point in her last nine Solheim Cup matches.
Ironically, Pettersen conceded Stanford’s par putt on the 17th that gave Stanford the 2&1 victory and pulled the Americans even at 13.5-13.5 overall.
It seemed only fitting that Creamer, the player who endured more scrutiny than any other coming in as a controversial captain’s pick by Inkster, got both the first and last point of the 2015 Solheim Cup.
Playing in the last match of the day, Creamer easily beat Gal, who entered singles with a 2-0-1 record for the week. They were all square through five holes, but Creamer poured in three consecutive birdies from the sixth through the eighth to take a 3-up lead. She poured on two more birdies on the back nine to put away Gal 4&3 and gave the Americans their clinching point for the 14.5-13.5 victory providing validation for her selection.
Inkster will be recorded in the history books as one of America’s greatest captains, providing a comeback victory that elicits the memories and emotions from the Ryder Cup victory at Brookline in 1999 that also saw the Stars & Stripes facing a four-point deficit on the final day – although this was achieved on German soil.
The victorious captain attributed the team’s success to the desire shown on the final day and a ‘pod’ system of ‘pooling’ players with colleagues that had similar personalities, encouraging them to stick together on-and-off the course.
Sunday also served as a reminder of just how good Michelle Wie can be when fully healthy. The 2014 US Women’s Open winner was on fire early in her match with Caroline Hedwall, pouring in birdies on five of the first six holes and eight in fourteen to storm out to an early lead. Wie was simply dominant throughout her match finishing 6&4 to give the Americans a much-needed point late in the day as the second to last group off, finding redemption for what had been a disappointing week to that point with Wie going winless in two team matches heading into Sunday’s singles.
The final result was perhaps most harsh on Europe’s Hull who, prior to getting caught up in the controversy on Sunday morning, had achieved a perfect record despite playing in every match through several weather delays.
The 15th edition of the Solheim Cup will return to the US and will be hosted at Des Moines in Iowa with the hosts hoping to add to their 9-5 lead.
