A full day came down to the final hole Friday in the 20th Solheim Cup.
And, once again, Carlota Ciganda delivered.
Wide off the tee on the par-4 18th and even farther right with her second shot, the 2023 Finca Cortesin hero, saved par from 12 feet to tie her fourballs match and keep the overall competition even entering Day 2.
Europe and the U.S. are knotted, 4-4, after the opening two sessions at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands. In danger of falling behind on home turf, Ciganda added to her Solheim legend in teaming with fellow Spaniard Julia Lopez Ramirez, a cup rookie, to secure an improbable tie against Nelly Korda and Lauren Coughlin.
The two sides both won two points in the better-ball format. They also split the morning foursomes, with the U.S. capturing the first two matches and the Euros claiming the latter two.
European captain Anna Nordqvist kept together the two pairings that lost in alternate shot, the only repeats for either team.
That gamble was met with disappointing results.
Charley Hull and Lottie Woad blew a 3-up lead through 11 holes to earn only a half-point, which was more than Celine Boutier and Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who went 0-for-2.
All 12 players competed in at least one session Friday for Nordqvist and U.S. captain Angela Stanford.
Here’s a recap of the four better-ball matches (Saturday’s play will also include four foursomes and four fourball matches, with coverage beginning on Golf Channel and Golf Channel mobile at 1:30 a.m. ET):
Match 5: Charley Hull/Lottie Woad (EUR) tied Yealimi Noh/Angel Yin (U.S.)
The European duo twice took 3-up leads. And both times, the U.S. immediately won back-to-back holes to get 1 down.
It remained that way until the par-4 17th. Noh hit her tee shot into a fairway bunker and Yin found even more trouble to the right. In danger of losing the match, Noh hit an incredible approach shot to 6 feet and converted the birdie to draw all square.
The par-4 18th came down to Noh vs. Woad as their partners’ tee shots went awry. With music blaring in the background, Woad backed off her 20-foot birdie effort multiple times. Her putt eventually slid by the left edge, leaving Noh with 12 feet for the win. Her putt, however, died weakly to the right.
“Down on the front and then on the back,” Noh said. “The front, Angel really kept it together with three birdies. My putter was kind of cold, and she was keeping us in the game. And I mean, we just played really well. Like, we made mistakes but on different holes, but just had a really good rhythm out there together.”
Match 6: Megan Khang/Alison Lee (U.S.) def. Celine Boutier/Nanna Koerstz Madsen (EUR), 5 and 3
Boutier and Koerstz Madsen won two of the first three holes and were 2 up through five — then the U.S. took over.
Khang and Lee won the sixth hole in par when both Euro players found water on the par 3. Khang followed with a birdie to win the seventh, and Lee made eagle to win the 10th. They then traded birdies at Nos. 11, 13 and 14 — and were conceded one at the 15th — en route to an easy point.
“I think the back nine easily kicked off with her eagle,” Khang said of Lee’s ‘3' on the par-5 10th. “That was so cool to see. Obviously, it’s always nice seeing a big bird and it definitely took the lid off for us. It was definitely a ham-and-egg session on the back nine.”
Match 7: Mimi Rhodes/Natasia Nadaud (EUR) def. Allisen Corpuz/Auston Kim (U.S.), 2 and 1
Rhodes, Nadaud and Kim all made their Solheim Cup debuts in this match.
One down through six holes, Rhodes birdied the seventh to tie the match and birdied the 10th to take the lead. They never again trailed. Nadaud won the 12th with a birdie and Rhodes added another at the 13th.
The good friends hung on from there, closing out the Americans with a par on No. 17.
“Honestly, once I got off the first tee, yeah, it was just a lot of fun out there,” Rhodes said. “I just was playing golf out there with Nas and our caddies, and, honestly, the chemistry was unreal and it just felt really comfortable, especially when we had two balls on the green the whole time and just giving ourselves looks for birdie.”
Match 8: Nelly Korda/Lauren Coughlin (U.S.) tied Carlota Ciganda/Julia Lopez Ramirez (EUR)
Korda and Coughlin — the two highest-ranked Americans — grabbed an early lead before losing three consecutive holes (Nos. 6-8) to fall 2 down.
They then won three consecutive holes (Nos. 11-13) to go 1 up.
On the par-5 16th, Ciganda coaxed in an eagle putt to tie the match — the last one of a long day in which the overall score stood even, 3 1/2 to 3 1/2.
Hitting first and directly into the setting sun, Lopez Ramirez found a fairway bunker and Ciganda went even farther right. Ciganda flailed her second shot and Lopez Ramirez thinned hers into the face of the bunker, where it settled near her feet.
That seemed to make it easy on the Americans as they both hit the fairway and both found the green. But after Ciganda played a fabulous third shot to 12 feet, Korda and Coughlin both missed their birdie putts.
That left the stage to Ciganda, who rolled in her par save and emphatically dropped her putter.
“I love this week. I just love playing for the team, for my teammates. Anna is a good friend of mine, so I just want to win for her,” said Ciganda, who earned Europe’s retaining point in ’23. “So I’ve been playing alongside Julia, my good Spanish friend. It’s been amazing. We had a tough match against Nelly and Lauren, very consistent, but we fought hard and at least we got half a point, which I think is really important.”
