With a Sunday Surge, Europe Has Reclaimed the Solheim Cup

For the first 48 hours, it felt like neither team in the 2026 Solheim Cup could shake the other. Match after match, session after session, the Americans and Europeans traded blows without giving an inch. For the seventh time in its history, the Solheim Cup was deadlocked headed into Sunday singles.

Jennifer Kupcho propelled the Americans back into the conversation with her Saturday heroics, but when it's just you versus your opponent with it all on the line, there's very little room for error on the final day.

Europe came out the gate swinging, with veteran star Charley Hull squared up against Megan Khang who has gone unbeaten in singles.

The Englishwoman had come under quite a bit of criticism this week after her partnership with rookie Lottie Woad left much to be desired. They were statistically the strongest duo, as top-10 players in the world, but they met their match a few times over. Today was the day to redeem themselves, and boy did they ever.

Captain Anna Nordqvist said that Hull was always destined to be in the lead group. "This was the no-brainer to put Charley first. We saw the stats yesterday, and Charley and Lottie were actually top-four players that made the most birdies for the week. Hadn't scored really many points, but they just played really tough matches," Nordqvist said. "People don't understand how good all these players are and how good the golf has been all day in the last three days."

Hull was the first to put up a point on the board for her team, followed by Linn Grant who was flawless through out the week. She left Virginia winless, so it was a lovely recovery to team up with friend and fellow Swede Maja Stark to collect early points, and then deliver the final blow against a questionable Angel Yin.

But in the same breath, Yin was spirited for her team, and it took guts to come into this week working as hard as she did to try and prove herself.

The early morning saw a little fight from the Americans thanks to Alison Lee, who is my MVP for the red, white and blue this week. She went 4-0 in her matches, and when her back was against the wall, 4-down to Esther Henseleit, she kicked things into another gear to not just climb back to tie but to outright win a point for her team.

It's the biggest, and honestly, the greatest come back this event has ever seen from one player.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda looked clinical against an impressive rookie and captain's pick in Mimi Rhodes.

But by the mid-afternoon, a blue wave was sweeping across Bernardus. The points kept falling in favor of Europe and the final blows come from the two players that fit the bill almost perfectly.

Lottie Woad, who went up against rookie Auston Kim, had a pretty sizeable lead, until the young American rolled in a few clutch putts to keep her team's hopes alive. But the two-time winner on the LPGA Tour delivered the Cup-clinching putt to secure it for Europe, and the early cheers started to ring in.

I believe whole-heartedly that Woad will be a Solheim all-timer. She has such a poise to her game that made me forget that this was her first time. She just feels inevitable. No matter what, you can count on her to deliver, and that's something that will keep her in this line up for years to come.

And at last, who better than Carlota Ciganda, making her eighth appearance, to slam the door on Kupcho, who never really had a chance Sunday despite her final-hour performance a mere 24 hours prior.

As one of the most tenured players in this match up, Ciganda played her heart out for this team and her friend Anna.

After two days of absolute gridlock, Europe didn't just find a way to win Sunday—they took control of it. The Europeans reclaimed the Solheim Cup, their fourth victory in the last decade, and gave Nordqvist the cherry on top for her debut as captain.

Solheim '26, you were one to remember.