There was a sense of justice having prevailed after the United States claimed an historic 14.5-13.5 victory in the Solheim Cup after three days of intense match play golf at St Leon Rot in Germany.
A controversial incident during the closing stages of one of the fourball matches that was concluded on Sunday morning sparked a major row that left some of the players in tears, the captains at loggerheads, and the rest of the golfing world bemused and stunned in equal measure.
The incident took place at the 17th green during the match between Suzann Pettersen and Charley Hull and Alison Lee and Brittany Lincicome. With the match all square, Lee had a 12-foot putt to win the hole, which missed and went no more than two feet past. As the putt slid by, Hull, standing nearest to Lee, turned away as if to walk off the green. Lee, looking up, made the assumption from Hull’s body language that she had conceded the short putt, despite no words having reportedly been exchanged. Lee then scooped the ball up with the back of her putter, and the referee announced that the hole had been halved in four and the match remained all square. At that point, Pettersen, standing at the other side of the green, said that she had not conceded the putt. The referee was then left with no alternative but to declare the hole for Europe, who went on to win the match 1-up after halving the 18th.
When asked about the incident. Peterson said: “It was very clear from Charley and me that we wanted to see the putt [in]. At that point of time in the match and the putt she left, I would still like to see it in.” European captain Carin Koch supported her players’ view. “It wasn’t a short enough putt where they would have even given it,” she said. “We have to follow the rules of golf.”
American team captain Juli Inkster called Pettersen’s decision not to concede the putt ‘disrepectful to her peers’ and ‘a load of BS’ and used the incident as a rallying cry for her team in the afternoon’s singles’ matches.
The fall-out soured the rest of the day’s proceedings, given the closeness of the competition, and completely overshadowed a remarkable American comeback. Starting the singles 10-6 down – a scoreline that is something of a motivating force for all teams in the wrong end since Europe performance at the Ryder Cup at Medinah in 2012 – Inkster’s team were initially slow out of the blocks, with five blue flags on the scoreboard in the early exchanges, but by midway through the afternoon red began to take over, and then dominate, especially among the later starters.
Wins by Karine Icher, Melissa Reid and Anna Nordqvist and a half from Carlota Ciganda took Europe to 13.5 – half a point short of the score required to retain the cup – but a 12-foot miss on the final green by Caroline Masson saw the home team’s hopes disappear, as Morgan Pressel, Alison Lee, Gerina Piller, Lizette Salas, Angela Stanford, Cristie Kerr, Michelle Wie and finally Paula Creamer all prevailed to give America a 8.5-3.5 win in the singles that took them over the line.
Stanford’s win was the most celebrated, coming 2&1 against Pettersen. It also marked the first Solheim Cup point Stanford had returned in 10 matches.
Asked if the incident with Lee had been a motivating force behind the team’s win, Inkster said: “I think they were ready to go, but I also think that it maybe just lit the fire a little bit more. I think in their bellies they wanted to just maybe do a little bit more. That little bit more got us the Solheim Cup.”
Her senitment were echoed by Stacey Lewis. “I think the motivation honestly came from what happened to Alison this morning. When it happened to her, we all jumped in there and said we’ve got to change this, we’ve got to right a wrong.”
USA’s win was the first since 2009, and takes the overall scoreline to 9-5.