Caroline Hedwall hit a marvelous approach shot on the 18th hole within four feet of the hole and subsequently sank the birdie-putt to give Team Europe their 14th point and clinch retaining the Cup. The Europeans started the day with a commanding five-point lead, 10.5 to 5.5, and only needed 3.5 points to secure retaining the Cup and they did just that and more.
Hedwall played against Michelle Wie in what was probably one of the more closely fought matches all day. She went ahead in the match after she birdied the Par-4 third hole to go 1UP. Wie squared the match on the Par-4 eight after Hedwall bogey the hole and would take the lead immediately on the Par-4 ninth after Hedwall had her second consecutive bogey.
Hedwall would square the match with a birdie on the Par-4 13th, but would give the lead away when she found trouble off the tee on the Par-5 15th and Wie would take advantage a birdie the hole to go 1UP with three holes to go.
But Hedwall would get an up-and-down on the Par-5 16th to birdie the hole and square the match once again. They would par the Par-3 17th and head to the closing Par-4 18th hole where Wie would need to halve the hole to keep the American hopes alive.
Hedwall went up first and hit a tremendous tee shot to the middle of the fairway, only to be followed by a very confidently looking tee shot by Wie that went past Hedwall’s by about 15 yards.
Then came the definitive moment when Hedwall went flag hunting and the shot landed just four feet above the hole putting all the pressure on Wie’s approach shot. Wie would land her approach shot 20 feet past the hole and practically the air went out of the gallery and American fans.
Wie’s birdie-putt try was downhill and with left-to-right break, not an easy read for certain. But Wie gave it a nice run just to the left lip of the cup. That gave Hedwall her shot at the birdie which she made and the European celebration started.
It was the first time Europe retains the Cup and the first time they won it on American soil.
For Hedwall she was the definite MVP of the European team being the only player on the team to play all five matches and winning all of them. She is a long hitter but not accurate, but the big fairways on the stunningly beautiful Colorado Golf Clubin Parker, CO suit her perfectly.
She became the first player in Solheim Cup history to go 5-0-0 and now has a record of 7-1-1 on two appearances.
It’s a big disappointment for the Americans who were the big favorites on paper to win back the Solheim Cup. They played well tee-to-green, but definitely were outplayed on them as they weren’t making many putts on the fast greens.
The keys to Europe’s win today was the way that they kept the American’s best two players, Stacy Lewis and Paula Creamer, off the winning column.
The biggest surprise went with 17-year-old Charley Hull who totally dominated Creamer 5-and-4 to give Europe their first point of the day. Hull set the tone early with long birdie putts on the third and sixth holes, and superb approach shots that led to birdies on the seventh, ninth and 12th holes that led to birdies.
Creamer never got a chance, but it was all because of the play of Hull, the youngest ever player in Solheim Cup history. That was a recognition that belonged before this edition to Creamer who made her debut in 2005 at the age of 19.
Team USA Captain Meg Mallon sent Lewis out on the first match against Team Europe Captain’s choice to start, Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, and just didn’t had any luck with her putting. She had various good chances to birdie and win holes but the putts just lipped out and she missed out on giving the Americans a very much needed point at the moment.
Nordqvist led for most of the match until Lewis was able to take the lead with a birdie on the Par-4 14th. They reached the Par-3 17th where both tee shots were off the green, but Nordqvist was able to sensationally get up-and-down to square the match heading to the 18th hole.
On 18, Nordqvist was able to get her third shot in close for an easy par-putt, ensuring at least to halve the match. Lewis had all the pressure for her par-putt try from about seven feet, but she was clutch and ensure at least half-a-point for the Americans and kept her team alive.
The second youngest-ever in Solheim Cup history is American Lexi Thompson who gave the Americans the second point of the day when she easily took down Germany’s Caroline Masson 4-and-3. She won her match shortly before Hedwall secured the Cup for the Americans, nonetheless a good finish for Thompson who had lost her first two matches.
The rest of the European wins were: Spain’s Carlota Ciganda 4-and-2 over Morgan Pressel; England’s Jodi Ewart Hadoff 3-and-2 over Brittany Lincicome and Spain’s Beatriz Recari 2-and-1 over Angela Stanford
The only other American win came from Brittany Lang 2-and-1 over Spain’s Azahara Muñoz.
The other halved-matches were: Scotland’s Catriona Matthew and Gerina Piller; Norway’s Suzann Pettersen and Lizette Salas; Italy’s Giulia Sergas and Jessica Korda and France’s Karine Icher and Cristie Kerr.
Ciganda was the other player on the European team to go undefeated, 3-0-0. She was one of three Spaniard players along with Muñoz and Recari. It’s only fitting that three Spaniards are on the European team when they win the Cup for the first time on American soil.
The first time Europe won the Ryder Cup on American soil was in 1987 on the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH, where Seve Ballesteros, José María Olazábal and José Rivero were part of Europes 15-13 win to retain the Cup.
For the Americans their best players were Brittany Lang (3-1-0) and Michelle Wie (2-2-0) who certainly silenced the critics that went against her being a Captain’s pick.
The 18-10, eight-point win by Team Europe is the largest margin ever by any team, beating out the seven-point wins in 2003 by Europe and in 1990 by the Americans. The Americans still lead the all-time matches 8-5.
The St. Leon-Rot golf course in Germany will host the Solheim Cup in 2015. The club has previously hosted the European Tour's Deutsche Bank - SAP Open TPC of Europe.