Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall was an amateur a matter of months ago but now as a proud member of the Ladies European Tour she wrote her name into the record books when she won the half point that secured a 15-13 victory for Europe over America in the 12thSolheim Cup at Killeen Castle in Co. Meath, Ireland.
Hedwall spent much of her singles trailing her opponent, rookie Ryann O’Toole, but came good when it mattered most, calmly securing a run of par figures as the tension reached fever pitch. Her victory, achieved when O’Toole failed to secure par on the last, gave Europe its first victory since 2003 and just its fourth in a series inaugurated back in 1992.
European captain, Alison Nicholas described the victory as “the finest moment of her career” and few among the exultant crowd that surrounded the final green disagreed. It was a momentous occasion, achieved against a strong and resilient US side that lost its talisman, Cristie Kerr, to injury before the start, but never stopped battling right to the very end.
At the top end of the draw, Scotland’s Catriona Matthew gave Europe a great start when she defeated Paula Creamer 6&5. It was the 2009 Ricoh Women’s British Open champion’s fifth successive victory in Solheim Cup singles.
Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson also produced a point, defeating Stacy Lewis by 2 holes but Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lang both put valuable points on the board for the American team with victories over Anna Nordqvist and Sandra Gal.
The battle of the veterans ended all square after England’s Laura Davies failed to match Juli Inkster’s par four on the 381-yard par-4 18th hole. That half point extended the American’s record for Most Points Scored in the Singles to seven points or one more than her opponent in today’s singles match.
Christina Kim won her third singles in three Solheim Cup appearances when she defeated Sweden’s Maria Hjorth by 4 & 2. Prior to this year’s match in Ireland Kim had also beaten Ludivine Kreutz by 5&4 in 2005 and Tania Elosegui by 2 holes in 2009.
Vicky Hurst added to her country’s tally when she recorded her first point of the week with a 2 hole victory over England’s Mel Reid in what was an all-rookie contest. At that stage the Americans took the lead for the first time during the final afternoon at 12 ½ - 11 ½.
Dutch rookie Christel Boeljon restored parity at 12 ½ - 12 ½ when she defeated the big-hitting Brittany Lincicome by 2 holes and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen then brought Europe to within one point of victory with a colossal birdie on the last hole against Michelle Wie.
At that stage, with the match standing at 13 ½ - 12 ½ in favour of the Europeans, there were two matches left on the course. Caroline Hedwall was one down playing the last against Ryann O’Toole, while Azahara Munoz was tied with Angela Stanford playing the 17th hole.
Munoz was the first to strike, securing a birdie three to give her a one hole lead playing the last against Stanford. Hedwall then won the last to halve the match before the final score was confirmed as 15-13 when Azahara Munoz defeated Angela Stanford by one hole. Both putts were conceded on the 18th green.
The day was plagued by poor weather almost from the outset. A combination of torrential rain and the threat of lightning resulted in three postponements to play and in the end the winning putt did not drop until after 18.00 (BST).
The drama began even before play started when Cristie Kerr was forced to pull out suffering from a wrist injury. Under the terms of the Captain’s Agreement signed by both Alison Nicholas and Rosie Jones the Americans had to concede Kerr’s singles match against Karen Stupples and the point was awarded to the European team.
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