Suzann Pettersen would have taken enormous pride from the way her side fought back to set up an incredibly tense finish on Sunday at the Solheim Cup, with Europe giving the Americans a good scare in the singles.
Europe had a mountain to climb heading into Sunday, with USA leading 10-6 after the first two days of the Solheim Cup, with most of the damage done on day one. Of course, there was reason to believe that the visitors were not completely out of it, with the US coming back from the same deficit nine years ago.
Charley Hull and Georgia Hall certainly handed Europe a lifeline with emphatic victories in their matches. But as the final matches approached the last few holes, it appeared that Suzann Pettersen’s side were going to need to be nearly flawless to reach the 14 points which would see Europe retain the cup.
Unfortunately for the Europeans, Lilia Vu’s half point against Albane Valenzuela was enough to ensure that Stacy Lewis’ team got across the line. But it really did appear that things were going to go down to the wire.
Golf fans hit out at Suzann Pettersen over Solheim Cup decision
Esther Henseleit halved her match with Andrea Lee, while Celine Boutier managed to come back to beat Lexi Thompson on the final hole.
But there was also a win for Leona Maguire, with the 29-year-old beating Ally Ewing 4&3 to secure her first point of the week.
Maguire, along with Georgia Hall, suffered a 6&4 loss to Nelly Korda and Megan Khang in Friday’s fourballs. And it seems that the Irish golfer took the brunt of the blame for that loss, with Pettersen sitting her out of both sessions on Saturday while Hall played twice.
Leona Maguire proves a point on Sunday
Maguire has a phenomenal record in her Solheim Cup career, winning nine of her 12 matches. Remarkably, she had played all five matches in both of her previous appearances.
And following her win over Ewing on Sunday, many fans have taken to social media to hit out at Pettersen for sitting Maguire out of all of Saturday given how close the event proved to be…
Meanwhile, Maguire herself also took to social media to issue her reaction to her victory, and it seems that many will agree with her simple comments following her win…
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