GAINESVILLE, Va. — After Carlota Ciganda earned the first point of the afternoon session for Team Europe with partner Emily Pedersen, she made a bold claim.
“I don’t know [what] the final score [is] going to be, but 12 points, we can win all of them,” she said. “The miracle [at] Medinah — it’s coming.”
Ciganda was, of course, alluding to the 2012 Ryder Cup. That year, the European team entered Sunday singles at Medinah Country Club trailing the Americans 10-6. They won 8.5 points on the final day, racing back to beat the Americans 14.5-13.5 in what has become one of the most famous Ryder Cups of all time.
The 2015 Solheim Cup is another example of a 10-6 comeback on the final day. During that event, Team USA found themselves in a 10-6 hole heading into singles only to storm back and win by a point.
At the 19th Solheim Cup, Team Europe enters the final day of competition facing the same 10-6 margin. And if they hope to keep the Cup for another two years, they will need to summon a similar sort of magic.
“We’re still in it,” said Team Europe captain Suzann Petersen. “We need a massive day tomorrow. We need to go another record singles series again. It’s been done before.”
If Europe hopes to pull off a miracle, it won’t be easy. Their American counterparts got off to a historic start this week as Team USA won six of the eight available points on Friday to amass the largest lead on Day 1 in the event’s history. They returned on Saturday and held serve, splitting both sessions with the Europeans to maintain their four-point lead.
“To come out of the day with the same lead that we started was really big for us,” said Team USA captain Stacy Lewis. “I thought in the morning that the European matchups were a little bit tougher, and then in four-ball you just never know who’s going to get hot.”
Just building a four-point cushion hasn’t been the most impressive part of the Americans’ performance thus far; it’s been the manner in which they’ve done it. Of the 10 points earned by Team USA through four sessions, nine have come in blowout fashion. Only one of the matches they’ve won has gone past 16 holes.
Nelly Korda, the top-ranked player in the world, has led the charge for Lewis’ squad, nabbing three points in the first three sessions, but she’s been far from the only American to bring her best stuff this week. Local favorite Lauren Coughlin is also 3-0, joined by Rose Zhang who is a perfect 2-0 in four-balls paired with Andrea Lee.
“They’ve taken care of business all week,” Lewis said. “I feel good with where we’re at, and I’m excited about tomorrow.”
Despite the dominance, there is reason for optimism for the Europeans. Despite their three highest-ranked players (Celine Boutier, Charley Hull and Linn Grant) combining for just three points, they remain within striking-distance of Team USA. Pettersen also noted that her team has had “no magic” on the greens all week, making it difficult to turn momentum. But even with all of that going against them, Team Europe still has the Americans in their sights.
“We’re still a long ways behind,” Petersen said. “But if there’s a hope, there’s always a chance.”
