Europe wins Solheim Cup

Associated Press

PARKER, Colo.

Europe showed Sunday it can win the Solheim Cup anywhere.

Caroline Hedwall became the first player in Solheim Cup history to win all five of her matches, holing a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 1-up victory that assured the Europeans retaining the cup.

Moments later, Catriona Matthew finished off a rally to halve her match against Gerina Piller. That gave Europe 141/2 points for its first win on American soil since this event in 1990.

And it wasn’t even close.

Charley Hull, the 17-year-old teenager and the youngest player in Solheim Cup history, capped off her amazing week by demolishing Paula Creamer in a match that set the tone for Europe. Carlota Ciganda of Spain handed Morgan Pressel her first lost in singles in four appearances to go 3-0 for the week.

Not even a one-hour delay due to lightning in the area could damper this European celebration. Suzann Pettersen was lining up her putt on the 16th hole when she heard the cheers from the 18th, got the news and began pumping her first.

Europe still trails 8-5 in the competition, but this was the first time it has won back-to-back.

“It’s a fantastic feeling right now,” European captain Liselotte Neumann said. “I’m so proud of them. They played such good golf this week. They just played tremendous golf.”

Matthew holed the winning the putt, but the Europeans really won Saturday afternoon when they swept the fourballs matches.