09/13/26 10:31:00
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09/13 10:29 CDT Vamos! Team Europe regains Solheim Cup from the United States
as Ciganda seals victory
Vamos! Team Europe regains Solheim Cup from the United States as Ciganda seals
victory
By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer
DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) --- Lottie Woad assured it. Carlota Ciganda sealed
it.
Vamos! The Solheim Cup is back in the hands of Team Europe.
The blue wave came early in the Sunday singles at Bernardus Golf and never
really went away, with Woad holing a putt from 2 feet on No. 17 to win her
match and guarantee the Europeans would be reaching the 14 1/2 points needed to
reclaim the crystal trophy from the United States.
Woad punched the air and jumped into the arms of her teammates who flooded onto
the green in celebration.
Victory was official about 10 minutes later when Ciganda, who had the decisive
point when Europe retained the Solheim Cup in 2023, got the team past the
winning target three years later. She completed a 4-and-2 victory over Jennifer
Kupcho, the feisty American who had roared "Vamos!" ("Let's go!") when holing
an outrageous 93-foot putt on the way to beating Ciganda in the four-balls on
Saturday.
"Today I was really motivated to beat her," Ciganda said, "because I knew it
was going to be important."
The Europeans have now won three of the last five editions, the only loss in
that stretch coming in Virginia two years ago. The U.S. team didn't have
possession of the crystal trophy for long and is still without a win on the
road since 2015.
The teams were tied at 8-8 after two days and set out Sunday in heavy rain for
the singles, with Europe going out fast, putting blue all over the scoreboard
and ultimately winning six of the first eight matches.
Early wins for Charley Hull and Linn Grant laid the platform for victory, the
only wobble for Europe coming when U.S. player Alison Lee came from 4 down
after 11 holes to beat Esther Henseleit, 1 up, for the greatest comeback in
Solheim Cup history.
Rookies contributed massively for Europe all week and especially Sunday, with
Woad, Nastasia Nadaud and Julia Lopez Ramirez all winning matches in the
singles.
"I think it's been one of the best teams that we've had in the last few years,"
Ciganda said. "Everyone just a unit, a team. That's what Europe is about."
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