Solheim Cup 2026, Day 2 fourballs: Jennifer Kupcho’s heroics tie match entering singles

Juli Inkster paused, let out a little laugh and said, “Well, I see a lot of change.”

Inkster, a three-time U.S. Solheim Cup captain, was studying the fourballs lineup as part of TV coverage ahead of Saturday’s afternoon session. “Curious,” she added.

That change paid dividends for the U.S. And those curious calls cost Europe.

After losing the morning foursomes, 3-1, the U.S. reversed the score in better ball to tie the competition, 8-8, entering Sunday singles.

The sun-setting dramatics, this time, favored the away team.

In desperate trouble on the par-4 17th, Jennifer Kupcho raced in a 91-foot birdie putt to even the day’s final match.

She then made a 25-foot birdie on the par-4 18th to give the U.S. an emotional full point.

Playing catch-up, current U.S. captain Angela Stanford put out four new pairings in fourballs. Her counterpart, Anna Nordqvist, made a couple of changes. But it was a particular insistence that raised eyebrows (including Inkster’s).

Despite going 0-2-1, Nordqvist kept together Charley Hull and Leona Maguire for a fourth chance at a first full point.

They never led in their match and fell to Yealimi Noh and Andrea Lee.

On the opposite end were Linn Grant and Maja Stark. Not only did they remain undefeated in this Solheim Cup, they handed Lauren Coughlin her first loss in two cup appearances and gave Megan Khang her first ‘L’ in her last 10 Solheim Cup matches.

Four team sessions down, 12 singles matches to go. All tied up.

Here’s how the better-ball session played out Saturday afternoon. Sunday’s action will include 12 singles matches with live coverage on Golf Channel and Golf Channel mobile at 5 a.m. ET.

DAY 2 FOURBALLS RECAPS

Match 13: Maja Stark/Linn Grant (EUR) vs. Megan Khang/Lauren Coughlin (USA), 2 and 1

Strength vs. strength. Europe’s undefeated duo vs. America’s emotional leader and top player. Grant and Stark won both of their foursomes matches so Nordqvist put them together again for fourballs.

It looked great from the start.

After Coughlin stuffed her approach shot on the par-4 first, Stark holed hers for an eagle-2 and the win.

Unfazed. the Americans won Nos. 3 and 4 to take a 1-up lead which held through 10 holes. That’s when Stark and Grant started looking like Stark and Grant. They won three straight beginning at the 11th to move 2 up.

With both U.S. players in close at the par-3 15th, Stark drained a crazy, downhill, right-to-left, 30-foot birdie putt to maintain the 2-up advantage with three to play.

Coughlin cut the deficit in half with a birdie at the par-5 16th, but Stark sealed it with a 15-foot clincher at the 17th.

“Just to know that I know that Linn is not freaking out and she knows that I’m not freaking out,” Stark said of her team’s front-nine deficit. “That makes you able to focus on yourself a lot more and you don’t have to baby each other. Yeah, it’s just really nice and you just kind of keep playing your own game.”

Match 14: Yealimi Noh/Andrea Lee (USA) def. Lottie Woad/Charley Hull (EUR), 1 up

While much of the focus was on Nordqvist’s decision to stick with Woad and Hull, Stanford made a bold call as well. She opted to sit Angel Yin for the day and play Lee, who was 0-2 including a morning foursomes defeat.

Noh carried the team for most of the match, but a Lee birdie at the par-4 13th gave the Americans a 2-up lead. It remained that way until the par-4 17th, where Woad converted a do-or-die putt to keep the match alive.

Needing to make a 20-footer at the 18th for a chance at a half-point — after Hull drove into the water for a second straight afternoon — Woad came up short. The U.S. matched the par, courtesy Noh.

Match 15: Rose Zhang/Auston Kim (USA) def. Leona Maguire/Nastasia Nadaud (EUR), 3 and 2

This was another “curious” decision by Nordqvist. Nadaud and fellow Solheim Cup rookie Mimi Rhodes won their Friday fourballs and Saturday foursomes matches. But Nordqvist opted to bench Rhodes and partner the Frenchwoman with Maguire.

They didn’t produce.

Zhang and Kim, both 0-2, won the third, fourth and fifth holes to go 3 up. And though Maguire managed to cut the deficit to 1 down at the turn, Zhang eagled the par-5 10th, birdied the par-3 11th and Kim was conceded a birdie at the 12th.

The U.S. cruised in, shutting the door with a 7-foot Zhang birdie at the par-3 15th.

“All the captains were saying to have a short memory, be a goldfish, and that’s such good advice,” Kim said. “I feel like Rose and I did a really, really good job, and we had a little extra motivation after losing a couple of times, but it’s nice to finally get a win.”

Match 16: Jennifer Kupcho/Lindy Duncan (USA) def. Carlota Ciganda/Celine Boutier (EUR), 1 up

Could Ciganda be the hero again? She closed out Day 1 by earning a dramatic half-point for the Euros. Saturday afternoon felt like more of the same as she led her side to a 2-up lead through seven.

A Kupcho birdie at the eighth and a Duncan birdie at the 12th evened the match. But Ciganda responded with her fifth birdie of the day at No. 13 and a sixth at the 14th — the latter resulting in a putter drop usually reserved for a match’s conclusion.

This match, however, wasn’t over as Ciganda and Boutier both found water at the par-3 15th to hand the Americans a hole.

After matching birdies at the 16th, Europe appeared primed to end things on 17. Both players were inside 10 feet while Kupcho faced a 91-foot putt from off the green.

With the ball rolling — for 91 feet! — and a voice yelling, “One time! One time! One time!,” Kupcho made an improbable birdie. Equally improbable, both Euros missed.

Match tied, Ciganda had a 30-footer for birdie at the last to put some pressure on the Americans but missed. That left the stage to Kupcho. After a Duncan miss, and with all eyes on her, Kupcho hit another perfect putt.

“I don’t know, walking up to the green, honestly, like, I just thought, like, OK, during all these practice rounds, I’d just get up and whack it,” Kupcho said of her putt on 17. “So, yeah, really didn’t read it. I was, like, all right, we’ll just give it a run, make sure we get it there, but what the heck it went in. That was insane.”