U.S. captures first Solheim Cup since 2017 in dramatic final session

 GAINESVILLE, Va. — U.S. captain Stacy Lewis made “unfinished business” her rallying cry after a 2023 Solheim Cup draw left the trophy in Europe’s hands and a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth.

It took a singles Sunday that started strong then twisted and turned with the Lake Manassas wind. But consider Lewis’ work now complete.

“I’m just so proud of them. I’m proud that they get this moment,” she said.

The United States captured its first Solheim Cup since 2017, winning 15 1/2 to 12 1/2 after taking 5 1/2 points in 12 head-to-head matches Sunday at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

“From the moment this team was together, they were together. There was no we needed a couple days or anything like that,” Lewis said. “The vibe in the team room was amazing, the way they got along, the way they support each other. Our group of caddies were off-the-charts keeping the team room loose, making sure everybody had fun, and it showed. It showed in the golf that was played.”

Lewis, who captained the 14-14 draw that allowed Europe to retain the trophy last year in Spain, celebrated with her team and wrapped up her daughter, Chesnee in a warm embrace on the 18th green flanked by the celebrating Americans.

“I can’t say enough about them, all 12 of them,” Lewis said. “They played so hard, and it got hard at times. We knew it would. We knew it would get tough.”

The first five singles matches were all completed before the 16th hole for the first time in Solheim Cup history. Such decisiveness couldn’t foreshadow the marginal half-points the U.S. needed over the succeeding nail-biting 90 minutes to grind out the win and break Europe’s three-straight title streak.

“It’s just crazy how this thing — it doesn’t matter what your lead is coming into Sunday,” Lewis said. “It’s half points matter, half points here and there.”

Leading 13-8, American Andrea Lee mounted a comeback from 2-down after 13 against Olympic silver medalist Esther Henseleit, with birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 to halve the match.

Right behind her, Lexi Thompson had a 3-up lead with seven to go, but made pars the rest of the way while France’s Celine Boutier made four birdies in the same stretch, including on the par-4 18th after Thompson’s tee shot found the right rough, to take a full point.

Virginia native Lauren Coughlin, who was 3-down at one point and never led in her match with Maja Stark, immediately followed with a birdie opportunity of her own on 18 to win the final full point needed for the cup, but left her putt short and took away only a half. In her first Solheim, she finished 3-0-1, tying the American rookie record.

“I knew she could handle the moment just from the way her attitude has been all week,” Lewis said. “Even when she was down today, the attitude was amazing. I had a lot of belief that she was going to keep that match going.”

Finally, it was world No. 2 Lilia Vu, who trailed for the final five holes leading up to No. 18, to be the American difference.

“I felt like in the middle of the match, the wheels were kind of falling off,” Vu said. “Sixteen I hit it through the green and into the bunker, and I knew I had to make up-and-down. And then somehow birdied 17.”

With Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela 1-up, Vu, playing second with her second shot, delivered a low, soft lob from the middle of the fairway with a wedge to with 2 feet of the cup.

“It was 103 yards, helping wind. That’s actually my least favorite number to hit,” Vu said. “But I just had to step up to it. I knew I had to hit it close.”

Albane missed her long birdie try, and Vu calmly rolled hers in for the victory half-point to send her teammates gathered in the fairway into a raucous scene.

“I looked at the leaderboard, saw we had 14 points, and like Stacy said at the beginning of the week, half points matter,” Vu said. “I only had one goal, was to get it close and get that birdie.”

The data-driven Lewis was proven right by her analytical pairing and singles line-ups, but experience and grit also carried the Americans to victory.

“I honestly think it’s the experience of last year and knowing what half a point means. They were on the wrong side of things last year and knew what that felt like. I think if last year doesn’t happen, maybe today ends a little differently. I think they all learned a lot last year, and I think it showed up today.”

Europe would capture full points in two of the final three matches to win the day 6 1/2 to 5 1/2. Charley Hull scored the first point in the opening match and did so in impressive fashion, 6-and-4 over U.S. leader Nelly Korda, in the best European round of the tournament.

“Starting the day, we knew we had to get off to a good start. Charley crushing Nelly with some really, really fantastic golf was kind of fun to watch,” Pettersen said.

Korda, who played first in all five sessions this weekend, a Solheim first, didn’t play poorly. Rather, it was Hull who exerted precision and dominance from Sunday’s forward tee setups, with better approaches than the world No. 1. The Brit was more often closer on greens, and even when she wasn’t, made her longer putts when Korda had opportunities to score.

“Then from then on, the momentum kind of — I actually enjoyed the quietness out there for quite a while,” Pettersen said. “I thought the crowds were kind of silenced by maybe questioning if they were going to kind of be challenged.”

The European momentum didn’t last long after they wrapped up on No. 14. A hole behind them, Megan Khang exerted her own dominance in a 6-and-5 win over Emily Pedersen, finishing 3-0-0 for the weekend after an undefeated 3-0-1 last year.

“I just think we gave them a good run for their money today,” Pettersen said. “At 2:25, we were still out there having a chance at this remarkable comeback that it would have been, and I don’t think the Americans anticipated such a fight from us.”

Allison Corpuz and Rose Zhang won the other two early U.S. points, 4-and-3 and 6-and-4, respectively, while Jennifer Kupcho provided the final margin with a full point over Madeline Sagstrom, 2-and-1, in the last match of the day.

Lewis had promised an exuberant celebration if the Americans won. After laboring towards the goal of this championship for the better part of three years, it’s time for her to relax.

“The shoulders are already down, so we’re going to enjoy the moment. We’re going to celebrate,” Lewis said. “This has been seven years in the making for a lot of the women on this stage.”