DEN BOSCH, Netherlands — 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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