USA Wins 11th Solheim Cup

Morgan Pressel's victory on the 16th hole to go over LPGA Champion Anna Nordqvist 3&2 provided the assurance of the USA retaining the Solheim Cup.  Christina Kim's victory on the final hole against Spain's Tania Elosegui secured an American win in the 11th Solheim Cup at Rich Harvest Farms.

There were a lot of fantastic performances on Sunday by both sides.  The match of the day has to go to Michelle Wie, though.  Wie was locked in a great battle with Swede Helen Alfreddson in what was expected to be a pivotal match.  Both Wie and Alfreddson settled their match with great shots, not hiccups.  Ultimately, Wie's 3 Up lead was eventually reduced to All Square, but Wie then took the lead for good.  Her second shot to the par 5 18th set up the match victory.

The turning points of the matches, though, really were in unexpected places.  49 year old Juli Inkster, in what is her final Solheim Cup, turned around a match against Gwadys Nocera.  Two down after thirteen holes, Inkster rallied to win 14, 16, and 17.  Ultimately, she lost the 18th hole to Nocera, but for the match to go from losing a point to gaining one-half point was huge.

The same thing happened in the match between Laura Davies and Brittany Lang.  Davies was dominating the match through 10 holes - was 3 Up.  As time passed on the back nine, Davies' lead eroded to a 1 Up lead on 18 for the Euros.  After Davies pumped her second shot at the last into the hazard, Lang was able to secure another crucial half point.

Those were the turning points in this Solheim Cup.  The more talented American team made good work of the opponents they were supposed to beat.  Paula Creamer set the pace with a 3 Up win over Suzann Pettersen.  Angela Stanford bested Becky Brewerton by a 5&4 margin.  Brittany Lincicome took care of Sophie Gustafson.

Now, the United States is 8-3 all time in the matches and is yet to lose on American soil.

To the Europeans' credit, they made the matches much closer than was anticipated.  Forging out a tie in the team format was quite an achievement for a team that was expected to get waxed by these Americans.  Though they ultimately were beaten - as expected - the Europeans made a great showing for themselves.  The result may not turn out to look as close as it actually was, but make no mistake that this Solheim Cup likely preserved its format because of what Alison Nicholas' squad achieved this week.