2015 Solheim Cup Saturday Hangover

Sunday Singles Matches at the Solheim Cup Can’t Begin Until the Teams Deal With the Saturday Hangovers

My spirits soared when Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson and then Gerina Piller and Brittany Lang got out on the course early Saturday morning and salvaged half a point for each of their teams.

While wins would have been better, Kerr & Thompson and then Piller & Lang stopped the hemorrhaging and the second round of the 2015 Solheim Cup could begin with Team USA trailing by 3 rather than 5 points.

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My euphoria didn’t last long.  Friday’s alternate shot darlings, Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer looked like they were going to deliver an encore performance on Saturday but Suzann Pettersen, playing with Charley Hull rather than Anna Nordqvist, had revenge on her mind.  The match went 18 holes but in the end the point went to the Europeans.

Michelle Wie didn’t look any better Saturday morning playing with Alison Lee than she had on Friday morning playing with Brittany Lincicome.  Perhaps alternate shots just isn’t Wie’s format.

Lincicome, however, delivered a much stronger game against Sandra Gal and Catriona Matthew playing with Angela Stanford.  They took the match to the 18th hole, but just couldn’t squeeze out that last birdie that would have left things all square. The intrepid Matthew-Gal team notched their second alternate shots win.

Gerina Piller made a quick turn around and teamed up with Stacy Lewis for the 4th alternate shots match and the pair made my heart sing with their 5&4 victory over Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall.  It was the only point Team USA scored from the Saturday morning foursomes matches.

Going into the Saturday afternoon fourball matches the leaderboard was even bluer than it had been when the day dawned.  Team USA needed to reverse the trend.  Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson rolled that ball with a 3&2 win over the Spanish Armada, Carlota Ciganda and Azahara Munoz.

Jessica Korda, who missed making the 2015 United States team, but who’s staying connected, announced the win to the Twitterverse this way:

Whoo! @CKGolferChic and @Lexi killing the game💪🏼🇺🇸

— Jessica Korda (@Thejessicakorda) September 19, 2015

But with play slowed again by the intermittent rain, darkness overtook the last three fourball matches and the Europeans leading by 1 in one match and the Americans leading by 1 in two matches, all with at least 2 holes remaining.  Those matches will need to be concluded Sunday morning before the 12 singles matches can begin.

Here’s how things stand heading into the final day of the 2015 Solheim Cup.  With three fourball matches not completed, the score stands at 8-5 in favor of the Europeans, who will need to accumulate six more points from the remaining three fourballs and 12 singles to retain the trophy. The Americans require 9½ points from the same 15 games to win the trophy for the first time since 2009.  I would give almost anything to be a mouse in the corner of the Team USA locker room right now.

There is much golf still to be played!  Golf Channel coverage begins at 4:30am ET.

Next: 2015 Solheim Cup Blues

Saturday set the scene for the biggest come-from-behind victory in Solheim Cup history.