Not only did Carlota Ciganda hole the crucial putt late on Sunday in her own backyard, but the Spanish warrior also scored the most points in the 2023 Solheim Cup.
Team Europe retained the marvellous crystal trophy courtesy of a thrilling 14-14 tie at Finca Cortesin in which several players from both teams produced highly-memorable performances.
Ciganda soared to maximum points from her four outings, while only three other players out of the total 24 also managed to avoid defeat. Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh showed her resilience by chiselling out two half points from her pair of trips onto the course for Team Europe.
Fittingly, the unbeaten quartet was also made up of two Americans. On the red side of the match, the imperious Megan Khang went so close to equalling Ciganda’s record but was forced to settle for a half in the Friday fourballs – leaving her hanging on 3.5 points from a possible four. And Khang’s teammate Cheyenne Knight battled back from a troubling situation to steal a share of the spoils with Dryburgh on Sunday and maintain her own clean sheet.
Another notable display came from one of eight players to land on the end of Team USA’s first-session gut punch, Maja Stark. The Swede responded with aplomb to take 2.5 points from a possible three thereafter. Meanwhile, Lexi Thompson navigated her way through a controversy-filled week having won all but her Friday fourball fixture.
While there was plenty to smile about for most, especially those of a blue persuasion, it was a disappointing weekend for a handful of stars on both sides. Europe’s most recent Major champion, Celine Boutier, came up empty from three matches – the only player to do so – while vice-captain Anna Nordqvist secured just one point from four outings. English hopes, Charley Hull and Georgia Hall would have hoped for better too, bagging just one and 1.5 points from three and four appearances, respectively.
The competitiveness of the contest was most evident in the US team’s scoring, as five members finished with lower than a 50 per cent strike rate. Andrea Lee, Ally Ewing, Lilia Vu, Rose Zhang and Jennifer Kupcho went at under .500 for the week.
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