Solheim Cup locked at 8-8 after ferocious Saturday split
Europe and the United States are tied 8-8 heading into Sunday's singles at the 20th Solheim Cup at Bernardus in the Netherlands. Nothing separates them after two days of hard, swinging golf The Guardian.
The teams split Saturday clean down the middle. Europe took the morning foursomes 3-1. The United States answered with a 3-1 win in the afternoon fourballs BBC Sport. They had started the day locked at 4-4.
Foursomes means alternate shots with one ball. It punishes any miss. Fourballs means each player plays her own ball, with only the best score on each hole counting for the team. It rewards bold play.
Europe struck first on Saturday morning through Sweden's Maja Stark and Linn Grant. They beat Allisen Corpuz and world No. 1 Nelly Korda. Leona Maguire and Esther Henseleit followed with a win over Jennifer Kupcho and Rose Zhang.
Rookies Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud added the third European point against Auston Kim and Andrea Lee. The American reply was emphatic. Lauren Coughlin and Alison Lee, the self-styled "Chill" combo, thrashed Charley Hull and Lottie Woad 6&5. That scoreline means six holes up with only five left to play.
It was a brutal morning for Hull and Woad. They became the first pairing to play four sessions together in the same Solheim Cup, but paid for it.
The afternoon hurt them again. Yealimi Noh and Andrea Lee edged Hull and Woad 1UP, winning by one hole on the final green BBC Sport. Woad had made her debut alongside Hull earlier in the week against a pairing including Korda.
Stark and Grant kept Europe afloat in the afternoon. They beat Coughlin and Megan Khang for a second win of the day. Coughlin was the only American asked to play all five sessions to that point.
The United States found two more points late. Auston Kim and Rose Zhang beat Maguire and Nadaud 3&2, three holes up with two to play. Then came the loudest moment of the day.
Kupcho holed a 90-foot birdie putt on the 17th to drag her partnership with Lindy Duncan back level against Carlota Ciganda and Céline Boutier. Kupcho and Duncan then won 1UP on the last BBC Sport.
American captain Angela Stanford made the boldest call of the day. She stood Korda down for the afternoon after the morning defeat.
What makes this stand out is how little either side has bent. Europe won the morning. America won the afternoon. For fans, this means Sunday is simple. Twelve singles matches, first to 14 points lifts the Cup, and every putt matters.
