The chant "They drink on Saturday, we drink on Sunday!" rang out on the Team Europe bus on Sunday evening, capturing the jubilant mood after another home‑soil Solheim Cup victory. Anna Nordqvist clinched the decisive point on the final day, allowing Europe to reclaim the trophy from Team USA. Going into the rain‑soaked singles session at Bernardus Golf, the match was delicately balanced. The Americans appeared to have the edge after a dramatic Saturday four‑ball session that pulled the overall score back to an 8‑8 tie.
Jennifer Kupcho’s spectacular finish – holing a 110‑foot putt on the final two holes – secured a win for the United States alongside Lindy Duncan, who beat Carlota Ciganda and Celine Boutier. Team USA captain Angela Stanford declared that Kupcho’s heroics had "turned the tide" in America’s favour. However, a video that surfaced later showing the U.S.
team raising beers on their bus proved to be a premature celebration. The footage became a rallying point for the Europeans, who responded by winning six of the eight singles matches and re‑establishing control of the contest.
Lottie Woad’s point‑securing putt will be remembered as the moment Europe sealed the Cup, pushing the team to 14 points. Ciganda had already guaranteed at least a half‑point, but it was the Spaniard who closed out her match, confirming the victory.
The celebrations spilled over onto the course and into the trophy presentation, highlighted by a viral clip of Dame Laura Davies handing out beers to the European squad as the party continued late into the night. The final score of 15‑13 does not fully convey the dominance displayed by Nordqvist’s side on the last day. The U.S. top order, apart from Nelly Korda and Alison Lee, failed to maintain the momentum generated the night before, leaving Europe largely untroubled.
Ciganda, perhaps the player most enamoured with the Solheim Cup, began the event as Europe’s first‑tee supporter and later delivered a series of clutch performances. On Friday she and Julia Lopez Ramirez forced a half‑point with a dramatic final‑hole par, preventing the United States from taking the lead after day one.
The following day she fell victim to Kupcho’s birdie‑birdie finish, but in the singles she turned the tables, securing the clinching point and becoming only the second player in Solheim Cup history to deliver the decisive point in two separate editions. "I was really happy to see that I was playing against Kupcho," Ciganda said afterward.
"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 pairing together in all four sessions, a first for the competition. Despite a rough start that saw them lose 6&5 in the Saturday morning foursomes, they eventually contributed crucial points in the singles, ending the event with a combined 0.5 points.
Their early struggles highlighted the pressure of performing on home soil, yet their perseverance paid off when Hull finally secured Europe’s first point of the day in the singles. Nordqvist faced criticism for not rotating her pairings on day two and for sending Hull into the singles, a move she described as a "no‑brainer" after witnessing the 30‑year‑old’s steady play throughout the week. Hull admitted the tournament had been "frustrating," noting that both she and Woad were in danger of completing five sessions without a win until their singles victories.
"Being the leader of this team, we knew she [Hull] was going to deliver," Nordqvist explained. "It was blue on the board early.
Lottie has been very steady this week – it was nice to see her finally hole some putts." The standout performer for Europe was Linn Grant, who transformed a scoreless Solheim Cup appearance in 2023 into a four‑point haul in 2025. Grant’s 4‑0 (or better) record places her among an elite group of only nine players to achieve such a feat. She teamed with Maja Stark for three victories before dominating Angel Yin 4&3 in the singles.
Their all‑Swedish partnership echoed the successful pairing from the 2023 edition and suggests a continued Swedish influence in future Cups. Grant’s resurgence is remarkable given she entered the event after a slump that saw her miss five of six cuts. Her turnaround underscores the depth of Europe’s talent pool and the value of captain’s picks. Speaking about Grant, Stark noted, "It’s a really cool feeling to have a player you know inside and out, someone you can rely on.
For Anna, it was a no‑brainer to pair us together." All of Europe’s captain’s picks contributed at least 1.5 points. Leona Maguire, in particular, delivered a record‑breaking performance, winning both foursomes with Esther Henseleit and becoming the quickest player to reach ten Solheim Cup match wins in just 14 matches. Although she briefly held the highest winning percentage in Cup history, a loss alongside Boutier in the four‑balls lowered her average. Nevertheless, her impact was undeniable.
Team USA’s captain Angela Stanford defended her selections, pointing out that her three picks amassed five points and that the course demanded high‑ball hitters – a criterion her choices met. The final round of the AIG Women’s Open earlier in the month altered the composition of the European team.
With the tournament’s outcome, players like Rhodes, who had not qualified through the usual routes, earned a spot and made an immediate impact. Rhodes formed a winning partnership with Nastasia Nadaud, marking the first rookie duo to claim two matches together at a Solheim Cup. Their 4&3 foursomes win on Saturday morning matched the largest margin ever recorded by a rookie pair.
"A lot of people questioned why send out two rookies, but I said why not?!" Nordqvist recalled. "And they delivered.
I never felt like they were rookies." Nadaud, who was ranked just inside the world’s top 150 a year ago, announced, "Getting three points for Europe is just absolutely crazy – I have no words for that. Everything happened so fast!" Her meteoric rise, coupled with Rhodes’s surprise selection, highlights Europe’s ability to integrate fresh talent seamlessly. Looking ahead, seven of the twelve players who contributed to the victory will still be under 30 by the 2028 Solheim Cup in Virginia, suggesting that a core group could return to challenge again on foreign soil. The depth of Europe’s rookie impact was evident, especially since the team won without recent regulars such as Georgia Hall, Emily Kristine Pedersen, and Madelene Sagström.
This edition also marked the first Solheim Cup since 2007 without Anna Nordqvist as a player; she retired mid‑season and declined a captain’s pick. When asked if she would consider returning as captain for the 2028 event, Nordqvist responded, "You never say never. I don’t know what my future holds." When Europe last won at home in 2019, Catriona Matthew returned as captain to guide the team to an away victory the following year. Whether Nordqvist or another leader will steer the Europeans in 2028, the next Cup, scheduled for September 8‑10 at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky, promises another fiercely contested showdown.