The United States began the day with a 10-to-6 advantage over the Europeans, a deficit that has been a bad omen for teams in the past.
Just ask the Europeans who played in the 1999 Ryder Cup or the Americans who donned the red, white, and blue in 2012 at Medinah No. 2.
The 2015 European Solheim Cup team also held a 10-to-6 lead but lost it on Sunday, suffering a brutal loss on their home soil in Germany.
This year’s U.S. team would not join those infamous squads on Sunday. They won the Solheim Cup for the first time since 2017, as Lilia Vu clinched the winning point thanks to her birdies on the 17th and 18th holes.
“I can’t even put it into words. I felt like I didn’t do my part this week, and I wanted to get something done,” Vu said.
“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 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.”
Vu faced a 2-down deficit with two holes to play but somehow secured a half-point, getting the job done for the Americans and flexing her clutch genes in the process. Her approach on the 18th landed inches from the hole, thus bringing the Americans to the 14.5-point threshold necessary for the win.
“On the 18th hole in the middle of the fairway, I saw that we were at 14 points,” Vu said.
“I was like, oh, shoot. I better birdie this. Let me try my best.”
Her spectacular shot sent the entire United States team into a frenzy, as they secured their first Solheim Cup since 2017.
It’s been such an amazing week,” said Nelly Korda, who finally won a Solheim Cup in her fourth appearance.
“We all bonded really well. It’s been so much fun from the get-go with the caddies, with the players—honestly a dream week.”
Korda faced Charley Hull in the opening match on Sunday but lost 6 & 4, an eye-opening start to the singles matches. Yet, it was not a harbinger of things to come for the Americans, as they held on to win 15.5-to-11.5 over their European counterparts.
“It really could have gone either way,” said captain Stacy Lewis.
“It’s crazy there at the end how it all unfolded. I was hoping and praying it went our way. Just proud of the team, and Lilia’s finish there was unbelievable. That’s what you expect from one of the best players in the world.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
