Stacy Lewis/Lizette Salas vs. Anna Nordqvist/Caroline Hedwall:
#1: Both teams played conservatively on their 2nd shots on this long par 5, leaving them behind the left-side bunkers; both Lewis and Nordqvist hit sweet approaches above the front-left hole about pin-high; and both Hedwall and Salas made great birdie putts, the latter to halve the hole from a few feet closer than the former. AS
#2: Hedwall went pin-seeking and hit it into the back-left bunker. Salas missed short right, also in a bunker. Lewis had a fairly long bunker shot and slid it a few inches to the right of the hole, leaving Salas a 4-foot tester back uphill. Hedwall played the slope beautifully, letting her bunker shot come back from the fringe down toward the flag. Still, Nordqvist has a 6-foot downhiller to save par and put pressure on Salas. Hedwall missed; Salas canned hers! TEAM USA 1-UP.
[Sorry, our wi-fi went down and I lost some writing. Then it took awhile to get it back up and I fell farther behind.]
#3/#4/#5: Team Euro won the 3rd hole, Team USA the 4th, and Team Euro the 5th. AS
#6: Nordqvist left her long birdie putt dead center and just short. Lewis's birdie try went well by the hole, putting pressure on Salas, who missed low. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#7: Lewis charged another long birdie putt, but this time Salas was able to make the comebacker to halve the hole. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#8: Hedwall made a great 12-foot downhill-sidehill slider for birdie. TEAM EURO 2-UP.
#9: Salas missed another approach short right after Hedwall stuck an approach 2 feet left of the pin. Not looking good for Team USA in this match! TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#10: Another good approach from Team Euro, but Hedwall didn't make the birdie. Lewis made a tester to par the hole. Now it's up to Nordqvist to halve the hole from a couple of feet away. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#11: Lewis played the hill well on her approach and gave Salas a chance to win the hole. Hedwall couldn't get a 20-foot birdie putt from behind the hole to drop. Salas's birdie putt did a U-turn around the cup. Nordqvist has a tester for par. She made the 4-footer. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#12: Salas had the dreaded long bunker shot and put it over the green. Hedwall hit a low pitch over the green, as well. Lewis hit a bad chip, Team USA bogeyed. TEAM EURO 4-UP.
#13: Bizarre Team Euro 3-putt from 6 feet. Salas made a 2-footer to take the hole for Team USA. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#14: Salas has a great 12-foot birdie chance to win the hole. Just snuck by on the low side. Nordqvist made a little tester to halve the hole. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#15: Lewis went left off the tee, giving Salas a tough stance on the edge of a bunker for her lay-up on the par-5, but she handled it fine. Lewis pushed her approach, but still carried the trap, giving Salas a 20-footer from past the pin for birdie. Nordqvist kept hers 10 feet short of the pin from 80 yards out. Salas has a downhill-sidehiller that's pretty much a must-make. She misread it, missing it on the right. Hedwall has a chance to win the match. But she jammed it 4 feet by well on the low side. That's putting the pressure on Nordqvist to make a downhill-sidehiller of her own! She did it. Now Lewis has to make her tap-in to keep Team USA alive; she did it. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#16: Team USA has to win this hole to keep the match going. Lewis pull-hooked her fairway wood into the left bunker from a downhill stance, but Team Euro caught a bad break when Nordqvist's great approach went over the green into what looks like a bad lie. Salas went over the green and to the right from her 80-yard long sand shot. Lewis needs to get this pitch close--or in! It rolled over the edge of the cup and ended up 8 feet away at least. Looks like this one is over. Hedwall used the backstop to get Nordqvist's birdie putt closer than Salas's par putt. Salas made hers but Team Euro needs only 2 putts to win the match. Nordqvist made hers, too. TEAM EURO WINS 4&2.
Captain Neumann's Vikings did just what she needed them to do. Lewis's struggles in the Solheim Cup continue, which is even more bizarre when you consider that she went 5-0 at the Curtis Cup.
Angela Stanford/Brittany Lang vs. Suzann Pettersen/Beatriz Recari:
#1: Great drives from Pettersen and Stanford. Pettersen looks really pumped! Lang laid up about where Salas had from the fairway bunker; Recari a few yards closer to the green but still safely behind the bunkers. Stanford hit it pin-high and about the distance Team Euro had in match 1. Pettersen hit her approach a little heavy and barely got it onto the front of the green. Recari had great pace on her putt but missed on the high side. Lang hit the cup but too low. Team Euro conceded Team USA's par putt; Team USA made Team Euro putt out. AS
#2: Pettersen made a long birdie putt. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#3/4: Team USA won the 3rd and Team Euro the 4th. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#5: Pettersen had a good lag on her 45-footer. Hole halved. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#6: Lang just missed a hole in 1. AS
#7: Team USA played the hole textbook, while Team Euro struggled. TEAM USA 1-UP.
#8: Stanford missed the green right with a wedge in her hands. Pettersen, 76 yards out, stuck hers just past pin high and 5 feet right of the pin. Team USA parred. Recari made the birdie. AS
#9: Lang almost bounced her approach in the hole, it scooted by, but then came back down the hill at the back of the green back toward the pin. Maybe 10 feet for birdie for Stanford? Pettersen responded with a 25-foot uphill birdie putt. Now the pressure's on Angela! She's having a great putting year and she made another great putt to halve the hole. AS
#10: Pettersen left her approach a little short of the green from rough stuff right of the rough. Stanford went over from the right side of the fairway. AS
#11: Front-right pin on elevated-tee 2-tier long par 3. Pettersen put it on the middle of the green. Stanford took a risky angle and just carried the front-right trap. Her shot ended up on the back of the front tier. AS
#12: Lang left 50-foot eagle putt within tap-in range. Stanford's short birdie putt spun out. AS
#13: Pettersen just needed to get the 15-footer close to take the hole. She did. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#14: Pettersen missed the green short on the short par 4. Lang has a 25-foot birdie putt from past the pin to win the hole. Just missed the double-breaker! Pettersen has a 3-footer for par to halve the hole. Made it. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#15: Team USA missed the green short and in the bunker, but Pettersen couldn't spin back her approach and left Recari an even longer birdie putt than Salas just had. Lang hit a great bunker shot that almost went in and ended up 6 feet away. Recari's lag only went a couple of feet by the hole and was conceded by Team USA. Stanford has a chance to make up for her awful wedge from the previous hole with this par save. She canned it! TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#16: Pettersen hit the back of the green from over 250 yards out. Stanford went well over and Lang couldn't even get her wedge on the green. Stanford missed low from the back fringe. Looks like the cowgirls won't be able to match the Vikings' upset. 2 putts to win the hole and go dormie for Team Euro. Recari has about an 18-footer on the same line as Stanford's putt. She made the eagle! TEAM EURO 2-UP.
#17: Pettersen carried her 6-iron all the way to the back of the green. Stanford responded with a fantastic low draw that ended up just inside Pettersen's ball. Putting contest! Recari lipped out her putt to win the match. Lang missed hers low and Team Euro wins. TEAM EURO WINS 2&1.
Morgan Pressel/Jessica Korda vs. Catriona Matthew/Jodi Ewart Shadoff:
#1: Shadoff looked really nervous but hit a great drive right down the middle. Korda's swing looked good, but she pulled it into some rougher-than-rough stuff. Pressel hit a great recovery shot and Korda a great approach. Team Euro bogeyed the hole. TEAM USA 1-UP.
#2/#3: Both holes were halved. TEAM USA 1-UP.
#4: Pressel left a long putt from the front fringe about 3/4 of the way to the hole. Team Euro won with a par. AS
#5/#6: The teams halved 5, while on 6 Korda spun out a birdie putt that looked in most of the way. AS
#7: Team Euro in trouble, while Pressel put her approach on the front of the green. Matthew did well to get it on the green from a fairway bunker on the left. Putting contest. Ewart Shadoff, who's been really shaky on the greens this match, finally made a good run at a long putt, but she left Matthew a 4-foot tester. Matthew hasn't missed a putt today--let's see if she can keep that streak going. Nope. Pressel made hers. TEAM USA 1-UP.
#8: Korda was able to use the ridge to bring her shot back toward the pin from past and left of it. Pressel just babied her birdie try and missed on the low side. TEAM USA 1-UP.
#9: Didn't see how they won, but Team USA won the hole. TEAM USA 2-UP.
#10: Lucky halve for the Americans, according to Kay Cockerill. I was helping the Full Metal Archivist make lunch for 6 kids. TEAM USA 2-UP.
#11: Team USA stuck it and Matthew couldn't make the 25-foot birdie putt. TEAM USA 3-UP.
#12: Morgan stubbed a chip. Matthew got it close enough for Team USA to concede. TEAM USA 2-UP.
#13: Fantastic approach from Pressel, pin-high and just right of the hole. Matthew missed the green. Ewart Shadoff went bunker (left) to bunker (right). When Matthew couldn't get her bunker shot to drop, Team USA won the hole. TEAM USA 3-UP.
#14: Clutch 5-footer from Korda to halve the hole. TEAM USA 3-UP.
#15: Korda made another clutch halve. TEAM USA 3-UP.
#16: Pressel and Korda have a great chance to get Team USA tied 1-1 with Team Euro. Let's see if they can close out the match on this par 5. Ouch! Team USA is in the hazard in 2. Pressel drops and plays the next shot from about 90 yards, bouncing and rolling it to within 6 feet. But with Team Euro with a short birdie putt just barely longer than Team USA's par effort, the odds are this match will continue. Wait a second! Ewart Shadoff missed badly! Korda's par putt is now to win the match! She made another! TEAM USA WINS 3&2.
With that hole taking so long, it's now Team Euro 2, Team USA 1.
Cristie Kerr/Paula Creamer vs. Azahara Munoz/Karine Icher:
#1/#2: Team Euro won the 1st with a par. Uncharacteristically bad putting from both Creamer and Kerr. The teams halved the par-3 2nd. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#3/#4/#5: Kerr had a birdie putt to win the 3rd hole and couldn't get it. All 3 holes were halved. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#6: Kerr tapped the lip from about 65 feet. Great putt, just didn't drop. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#7: Creamer bounced her approach in nicely, giving Kerr another good birdie chance. Kerr tried to walk it in, but it spun out. TEAM EURO 1-UP.
#8: Fantastic bunker shot from Creamer to kick-in range. Icher made a great birdie putt from 12 feet to make Creamer's heroics irrelevant. TEAM EURO 2-UP.
#9: Munoz made a great long putt for birdie. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#10: Icher made another great putt for Team Euro. TEAM EURO 4-UP.
#11: Rare bogey for Team Euro (actually, Icher had to make a good save just for that). Kerr made a solid 4-footer to finally get a hole for Team USA. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#12: Both teams missed the green short right. With pin in the way back, it's a pitch-and-putt competition. Icher put her pitch just past the hole. Creamer is on more of an upslope just short of the front right trap, but left her pitch 20 feet short of the pin. Kerr couldn't get the putt to drop. Munoz misread her 8-footer. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#13: Paula hit an 8-iron into the left bunker. The short-sided Cristie left her a 15-footer to save par, and she couldn't do it. TEAM EURO 4-UP.
#14: Great wedge from Kerr to 6 inches. Icher responded by making a 10-footer from the back fringe to halve the hole. TEAM EURO 4-UP.
#15: Munoz spun her approach off the false front into the trap. TEAM EURO 3-UP.
#16: Long wait for both teams as Pressel and Korda unexpectedly closed out their match despite taking a penalty shot. Creamer and Kerr need to win the 3 closing holes to limit the damage to a half-point for each team. Kerr hit the back of the green in 2, while Icher spun one close with her 88-yard wedge. It looks like Creamer needs to eagle to keep the match going. Paula couldn't do it; Munoz can finish the match if she makes this 8-foot birdie try. But she missed on the low side. Cristie now needs to make the 2-foot birdie putt to keep Team USA alive in this match. Of course she did it. TEAM EURO 2-UP.
#17: OK, on to the par 3 with the back-left pin position. Kerr had a great line, but carried it a little far and her ball rolled over the green. Now it's up to Munoz. She took an easy 6 and put it on the very front of the green, actually leaving Icher a long lag to clinch the match. Wow! Icher started it so far right and still missed on the low side, going 10 feet by. Team USA has a glimmer of hope. Can Creamer put this pitch in or get it close? No, she fluffed it. Still, in a putting contest between Kerr and Munoz, I'd take Kerr. Munoz made hers anyway! TEAM EURO WINS 2&1.
Team Euro 3, Team USA 1. Not quite what I predicted this morning!
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