CASARES, Spain — With the help of a hole-in-one, a hole-out from the fairway and a chip-in, Europe rallied against the United States after being swept in the opening foursome matches at the Solheim Cup, winning two of the afternoon fourball matches to reduce the Americans’ lead to 5-3 on Friday.
Denmark’s Emily Pedersen aced the par-3 12th hole to ignite the Europeans’ comeback after the U.S. team had its best start ever in the biennial competition, and then Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh holed out from the fairway on the 16th and Ireland’s Leona Maguire chipped in from off the green on the 18th to make it close again for Europe at Finca Cortesin.
“I’m really proud of the way the entire team fought back in the afternoon,” European captain Suzann Pettersen said. “It’s not easy to stand on that tee in the afternoon knowing you’re down four after the first session. So I’ve got to say hat’s off to all my players, the way they fought and the way they showed their character on this Friday afternoon. You get knocked down, you stand up, and you try it again, and that’s kind of what I told the girls, and they did.”
The Europeans also got a boost from Carlota Ciganda, the only Spaniard on the roster. After sitting out the morning session, Ciganda made six birdies in a 4-and-2 win with Sweden’s Linn Grant against Ally Ewing and Angel Yin.
“I’m just trying to put a leash on (Ciganda) this week. I mean, she would jump off and fly if she could,” said Pettersen, a Norwegian who played in nine editions of the Solheim Cup. “So I’m really just trying to keep her grounded. She’s playing fantastic. It’s just fun to see how she can cope with the pressure being on home soil playing for Spain in front of literally her entire nation.”