The atmosphere on the Team Europe bus on Sunday night was electric, with players chanting, "They drink on Saturday, we drink on Sunday!" The rallying cry came after a dramatic comeback on the final day of the Solheim Cup, when Anna Nordqvist secured a crucial point that handed Europe the trophy back from Team USA. Heading into the decisive singles session at Bernardus Golf, the competition was finely balanced. A rainy morning had already produced a tense four‑ball round on Saturday, where the Americans rallied to level the match at 8‑8. The momentum seemed to be shifting toward the United States, especially after Jennifer Kupcho sank a spectacular 110‑foot putt on the 17th and followed it with another birdie on the 18th to clinch a win alongside Lindy Duncan against Carlota Ciganda and Celine Boutier.
Team USA captain Angela Stanford hailed Kupcho’s heroics as the moment that "turned the tide" in America’s favour. However, a video that surfaced later that evening showed the American contingent raising beers on their team bus, celebrating what they believed to be a decisive victory.
The footage turned out to be a premature party, and it gave Europe an unexpected motivational boost. The Europeans responded by winning six of the eight singles matches, reclaiming control of the event and ultimately sealing the Cup. Lottie Woad’s decisive point on the final day will be remembered as the match‑winning moment that pushed Europe to 14 points, with Carlota Ciganda already assured of at least a half‑point.
Ciganda herself capped the day by finishing her match, confirming the final tally. The celebrations continued long after the last putt fell, with Dame Laura Davies captured on a viral clip handing out beers to her teammates on the bus, the revelry spilling into the night.
The final score of 15‑13 does not fully convey the dominance displayed by Europe in the singles. Team USA’s top order, apart from Nelly Korda and Alison Lee, could not sustain the exuberance they displayed the night before, and they failed to apply enough pressure on the Europeans. Carlota Ciganda, a veteran who has been a stalwart of European Solheim Cup teams, embodied the spirit of the competition.
She opened the tournament on the first tee, offering encouragement to her teammates, and over the week she produced a series of clutch performances. On Friday she secured a half‑point with Julia Lopez Ramirez after a dramatic par on the final hole, preventing the United States from taking an early lead. The following day she was on the receiving end of Kupcho’s birdie‑birdie finish, but she later avenged that loss in the singles, becoming only the second player in Solheim Cup history to clinch the winning point in two different editions.
"I was really happy to see that I was playing against Kupcho," Ciganda said after her victory. "She’s a fighter, I’m a fighter. I knew she had no chance.
I was like, ‘I want to kill you,’ so I had it very clear in my mind." Charley Hull and Lottie Woad made history by being the first pair to play together in all four sessions of a Solheim Cup. Despite a difficult start that saw them lose a record‑tying 6&5 in the Saturday morning foursomes, they turned the tide later in the week. Both were among the top four Europeans for birdies during the early sessions, yet they only contributed half a point overall before their singles victories. Hull described the week as "frustrating," noting how many putts slipped away and how she and Woad were on the brink of becoming the first players to compete in five sessions without a win.
Nordqvist defended her captaincy choices, calling the decision to send Hull into the singles a "no‑brainer" after watching the 30‑year‑old earn Europe’s first point of the day. Linn Grant emerged as the standout performer for Europe. After earning no points in the previous Solheim Cup, she exploded onto the scene, finishing the event with at least four points—a feat achieved by only nine players in the tournament’s history.
Grant went 4‑0 in her matches, partnering with Maja Stark for three wins and then delivering a commanding 4&3 victory over Angel Yin in the singles. Her resurgence is even more remarkable considering she entered the competition after a slump that saw her miss five cuts in six starts. "Having a player like Linn on the team gives you confidence that you can just go out and play your best game," Stark remarked, noting the chemistry between the two Swedes and how natural it felt to pair them together. All of Europe’s captain’s picks contributed meaningfully.
Leona Maguire, in particular, broke records by becoming the quickest player to reach ten Solheim Cup match wins, achieving the milestone in just 14 matches—one fewer than the previous record holder. She briefly held the highest winning percentage in Cup history before a loss alongside Celine Boutier in the four‑ball matches. Meanwhile, newcomer Nastasia Nadaud, who was ranked outside the world’s top 150 a year ago, partnered with Maguire to become the first rookie duo to win two matches together at a Solheim Cup, delivering a 4&3 foursomes win on Saturday morning. The depth of Europe’s roster was evident as four rookies made an immediate impact, underscoring the team’s strength despite the absence of recent regulars such as Georgia Hall, Emily Kristine Pedersen and Madelene Sagström.
The tournament also marked the first Solheim Cup since 2007 in which Anna Nordqvist did not play, having retired mid‑season and ruled herself out of a captain’s pick. When asked whether she might return as captain for the 2028 edition, Nordqvist replied, "You never say never.
I don’t know what my future holds." Looking ahead, the next Solheim Cup is scheduled for September 8‑10, 2028, at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky. Europe will aim to repeat the success they enjoyed on home soil in 2019, when Catriona Matthew led the team to victory and later guided them to an away win. Whether Nordqvist will be at the helm or a new leader will take charge, the European squad’s blend of seasoned veterans and hungry newcomers positions them as a formidable force for the upcoming contest. In summary, Europe’s triumph was built on a combination of strategic captaincy decisions, clutch performances from veterans like Ciganda and Grant, and the surprising firepower of rookies such as Maguire, Woad, Hull, and Nadaud.
The premature celebration by Team USA served only to galvanize the Europeans, who turned a tightly contested match into a decisive victory and reclaimed the Solheim Cup with a final score of 15‑13.