The United States reclaimed the Solheim Cup for the first time in seven years with a 15 ½ – 12 ½ victory over the Europeans on Sunday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.
Lilia Vu, who was 2 down with two holes left to play, sealed the win for the Americans, hitting an incredible approach shot around a couple feet from the hole on the par-4 18th before sinking the birdie putt to secure the clinching half-point. Europe’s Albane Valenzuela had a chance to extend the match but missed her 30-foot birdie putt attempt to open the door to Vu’s heroics.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Vu said after the match. “I felt like I didn’t do my part this week and I wanted to get something done. I said to my caddie on 16, I felt like I haven’t done anything for this team, and then 16 comes, and I’m in the back bunker.
“I feel like, ‘oh, no, I have to make up-and-down,’ and she’s been making one-putts on almost every single green so I thought she was going to birdie that hole too. She didn’t, and the then I ended up making up-and-down from the bunker and somehow birdied 17 and got it done on 18 to get the half point.”
Team USA dominated throughout the weekend in its quest to win back the Solheim Cup at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.
Team USA last won the Solheim Cup in 2017 with Europe winning in 2019 and 2021 before retaining the trophy in 2023 when the teams drew 14-14.
The US took a huge 6-2 lead after the opening day of golf, a record-breaking advantage. World No. 1 Nelly Korda led the USA’s challenge, winning both her matches as the USA underlined its dominance.
While Europe looked to fight back on day two, Team USA constantly prevented the Europeans from clawing back the deficit and held on to lead 10-6 after the second day.
Europe went into day three needing to repeat the Miracle of Medinah from the 2012 Ryder Cup – the men’s equivalent of the Solheim Cup.
In that tournament, Europe also trailed by four points heading into day three but came back to secure a historic 14.5 to 13.5 win – winning eight and tying one of the twelve singles matches.
Although Britain’s Charley Hull produced a remarkable round of golf to defeat Korda in the first singles match and kickstart a European comeback, it was ultimately too little too late.
Team USA’s Megan Khang, Rose Zhang, and Allisen Corpuz all won their matches on Sunday, while Andrea Lee, Lauren Coughlin and Vu earned half-points to clinch the victory for the Americans.
CNN’s Homero De la Fuente contributed to this report
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