PARKER, Colo. -- A stunning momentum swing and a heated green-side exchange among players mixed in with some exceptional play on the course set the stage for a dramatic final round Sunday in the Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club.
The Americans, trying to prevent
the Europeans from winning the Cup for the first time on U.S. soil, trail 10.5-5.5 going into the final day of competition when all 12 members from each team square off against each other in singles match play.
"I know they're upset. I know they're motivated," U.S. team captain
Meg Mallon said of her players. "But there's 12 points to get out there (Sunday). We can do it."
The Americans began the second day of the event down two points to the Europeans and still steaming over a blown official's ruling allowing an improper drop that helped swing a critical day one match against the Americans.
Initially, the Americans cut the deficit to a point despite losing one of the four morning matches on a hole-in-one by Sweden's Anna Nordqvist.
But the European women fought back in the afternoon four-ball session, sweeping all four matches, combining grit with motivated, skilled play to stun the Americans.
"It was literally shocking to see us lose all four matches in the afternoon," Mallon said. "Today for the Europeans was a magical day."
The
Europeans clinched the afternoon sweep when
Karine Icher of France chipped in on the par-4 18th hole.
"I couldn't imagine that it was going to look like this coming into the singles,"
European captain Liselotte Neumann said. "These girls played their hearts out. It's awesome. It was a fantastic afternoon. I'm so proud of them."
The final shot of the day allowed the Europeans to halve the hole, giving Icher and
Beatriz Recari a 1-up victory over
Cristie Kerr and
Morgan Pressel in a match that included another prolonged rules dispute over a drop when Recari put a shot into a hazard on the 16th hole.
Earlier in the afternoon session, Carolina Masson and
Caroline Hedwall were 2-and-1 winners over
Michelle Wie and
Jessica Korda; Carlota Ciganda and
Azahara Munoz beat Gerina Piller and
Angela Stanford 1-up, and
Jodi Ewart Shadoff and
Charley Hull won 2 up over
Paula Creamer and
Lexi Thompson.
The tournament has been tightly contested and intense with emotions on both sides occasionally boiling over. That was the case on the green at the seventh hole when
Creamer got into a verbal exchange with
Ewart Shadoff and other members of the European contingent in full view of the gallery.
In a game known for its decorum on the course, it was a surreal scene more reminiscent of an ill-tempered baseball batter jawing with a pitcher who just threw a brush-back pitch.
After Ewart Shadoff, who was teamed with 17-year-old Hull, hit an approach shot to tap-in distance for a conceded birdie on No. 7, Creamer's long birdie attempt came up a few feet short. As she lined up to tap in the par putt,
the Europeans made a last-minute concession, forcing Creamer to pull off the shot and pick up her ball.
Creamer, wanting to take the shot to help teammate Lexi Thompson with her line on her upcoming birdie putt attempt, was visibly angered by the move and let the Europeans know it.
A rules official intervened to try to calm the situation and apparently reiterated the Europeans' right to concede the putt.
Mallon said later that European assistant captain
Annika Sorenstam was at the hole and suggested out loud that the shot should be conceded and then Ewart Shadoff's caddie yelled out for the concession request, which was honored by the officials and triggered the angry response from Creamer.
Only player-issued concessions are supposed to be recognized.
Mallon said that while officials told her Sorenstam didn't break any rules because they didn't believe her remark technically constituted prohibited on-course "advice," the U.S. captain said in her view "it wasn't good etiquette."
Ewart Shadoff said she did not want to talk about the episode. Creamer said both Hull and Ewart Shadoff later apologized to her.
Thompson, at 18 the youngest ever to play on the American squad, punctuated the brouhaha by draining a birdie putt to keep the match square. But the tie was short-lived as a fired-up Ewart Shadoff drained a birdie putt on the par 4 eighth hole as the Europeans went 1-up.
The Americans came back to square the match when Creamer sank a 5-foot birdie putt on the par 5 16th. On the par-3, 180-yard 17th, though, both Thompson and Hull, the youngest player in
Solheim Cup history, landed their tee shots within a few feet of the hole. Thompson just missed her birdie putt and Hull sank hers, pumping a fist and then wiping her brow with her forearm and sighing in relief as the Europeans again went 1-up.
The Europeans won the final hole, and in a sign of some conciliation after the blowup on No. 7, Creamer and Thompson both gave congratulatory hugs to Ewart Shadoff and Hull.
At the same hole during morning session, Nordqvist, who was paired with fellow Swede
Caroline Hedwall, put the
Europeans up 6-3 when she aced No. 17 using a 7-iron. The ball took a couple of bounces on the green and rattled in off the flagstick, clinching a 2-and-1 victory over Pressel and Jessica Korda.
"It's definitely one of the highlights of my career," Nordqvist said. "It's one of the moments that I'm really going to remember for a long time."
The Americans nearly completed a sweep of the three other matches in the morning session. However, Catriona Matthew of Scotland, teamed with Masson, drained a birdie putt on No. 18 to win the hole and halve the match for the Europeans.
Wie and Brittany Lang were as many as four holes up early in their match against Suzann Pettersen of Norway and Recari. The Europeans fought back to square it before Wie made a short birdie putt on the 17th hole for a 1 up-victory for the United States.
Lewis and Creamer were 1-up winners for the U.S. over Munoz and Icher in the morning session.
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