US takes the Solheim Cup — Hana Ryskova’s Mid-Amateur win
The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, Sept. 19, 2024
What an absolutely electric win by the American team at the 2024 Solheim Cup. It came down to the wire, but Lilia Vu’s match-tying win on the 18th hole propelled the U.S. team to their first Solheim Cup victory since 2017.
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Last week, we took a look at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in preparation for one of the greatest team competitions in golf. Watching the matches throughout the week, this course had nothing on these players.
Players on both the European and American teams dominated that course, to say the least. It often came down to the Americans sinking some crazy-long putts, winning hole after hole as the Europeans missed their birdies.
Solheim Cup recap
Friday
Friday’s foursomes and four-ball matches both resulted in one point for Europe and three points for the United States. The end of the day point totals were six to two, with the U.S. on top.
All four morning matches were tight. The three American winning teams took their matches by margins of 3 and 2, while the sole victorious European team won 2-up. Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz were the first to clinch their match. They meshed well together — Korda’s near perfect approach shots were complemented well by Corpuz’s finishing putts.
“We just vibe really well. As Allisen said, when one of us didn’t hit it well, we really relied on each other and kept calm out there and knew there were more opportunities,” Korda said of her chemistry with her teammate. “I have such a great partner. She comes up clutch every single time. Couldn’t have asked for a better one.”
Rose Zhang and Solheim Cup rookie Lauren Coughlin showed their grit and closed out their match against Celine Boutier and Albane Valenzuela. Rose’s “buckets” mentality and celebrations were unmatched. She was making everything this tournament. (We’ll get to the long ones.)
Captain’s pick Sarah Schmelzel and Lilia Vu delivered in their match against Linn Grant and Carlota Ciganda. For the U.S. Solheim Cup rookie, it was all about the chance to represent her country and throw some absolute darts.
“To be out here with these crowds, especially these last few holes kind of rooting us on, encouraging us to get this point — it’s exceeded so many expectations,” Schmelzel said after the victory. “The girls, the captains, everyone is amazing. And then playing in an atmosphere like this, you can’t ask for anything better than to represent your country like this.”
It was also all about the vibes on the first tee.
Now onto Friday afternoon four-ball matches. Nelly Korda went 2-0-0 in her 2024 Solheim Cup campaign, this time with teammate Megan Khang with their 6 and 4 win over Georgia Hall and Leona Maguire.
Nelly’s trust in her teammate was unbreakable, but what might have been more impressive was her execution. Korda had the confidence to bomb driver, knowing she had a straight-shooting teammate in Khang to bail her out if her swing went awry.
“When you have a teammate who’s so pure off the tee, you never have to worry,” Korda said. “You just kind of send it. So that was kind of the motto, is I was going to go first and send it. If I sent it in the wrong direction, I knew I had a really good partner that was going to go next.”
Honestly, though, Nelly didn’t often send it in the wrong direction. The power she packs behind that drive along with deadly accuracy is most impressive.
But let’s talk about a different kind of length with Rose Zhang’s Friday afternoon.
Zhang and Andrea Lee beat Linn Grant and Charley Hull 5 and 4 in an absolute stunner. Once again, buckets.
But the best part of Friday afternoon had to be the rookies. Lauren Coughlin and Sarah Schmelzel both advanced to 2-0-0 in their first Solheim Cup appearances, winning in their match over Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark 3 and 2.
“We have a really great team. We had fun this week. I figured, if we can go out and have a good time, good things will happen,” Coughlin said.
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Saturday
The foursomes and four-ball matches on Saturday were a bit more split between the two sides, each side winning two contests in the morning and afternoon.
Highlights? Tough chips, gritty par saves and teammates carrying one another on their backs. This eagle from Nelly Korda after a mishit from Allisen Corpuz is just one of those clutch team moments.
“Honestly Nelly was playing really solid all day,” Corpuz said of her teammate. “I hit a few squirrelly ones and she saved me there. I feel like every single time you play with Nelly it’s kind of like, hey, it’s going to turn around at some point, just be patient and keep playing the way that we have.”
That match against Emily Pedersen and Carlota Ciganda ended with the Americans winning 1-up.
But more highlights were on the horizon in the afternoon, especially for Alison Lee.
What a hilarious moment, but what a hole out for Lee! Her precision was exquisite, and she and Megan Khang went on to win their match 4 and 3.
“Right off the second tee, Jack, Megan’s caddie, had said, oh, come on, guys, I want to see one of you guys hole one in. If one of you guys hole one out, I’ll give you $500,” Lee said of the apparent bet that gave way to the hole out. “I said, no, I don’t need $500; I want you to take your shirt off. Literally holed out five minutes after that conversation. Great motivation.”
Sunday
This is where things got crazy.
Europe always pops out of the shadows and makes the Americans shake in their Footjoys during Sunday Singles.
The day started a bit shaky for the Americans, with Nelly Korda losing her match against Charley Hull. Hull claimed her victory over Korda by a margin of 6 and 4, making it the largest loss of Korda’s Solheim Cup career.
“I know I have what it takes to play Nelly, and I feel like I left a few shots out there; as well, a few putts, but it was a good match, and I felt like we gave the crowd what they wanted to see,” Hull said.
They delivered, and game always respects game.
After wins from Megan Khang, Allisen Corpuz and Rose Zhang, the U.S. side reached 13 points to Europe’s eight. The board of matches in progress, though, showed a possible comeback for the Europeans.
Andrea Lee’s confirmed tie with Esther Henseleit put the Americans just one point away from securing the crystal trophy, but there was still work to be done.
After wins from a fiery Leona Maguire and later on Celine Boutier, Europe pressed even closer to defending the cup. Massive pressure was on the American side to close out the tournament.
And close out they did, with none other than Lilia Vu coming back from a dormie position to tie her match.
“I can’t even put it into words. I felt like I didn’t do my part this week and I wanted to get something done,” Vu said of her determination to contribute to the victory. “On the 18th hole in the middle of the fairway. I saw that we were at 14 [points]. I was like, oh, shoot. I better birdie this. Let me try my best.”
With that half point, the U.S. reached 14.5 points to win the Solheim Cup. Jennifer Kupcho then closed out her match on hole 17, winning 2 and 1 and solidifying the amazing American run.
From the writer
My takes? What a show. What a show of golf, what a show of personality, what a show of community.
From the first tee to the last green, the energy that the U.S.A. specifically brought to their game was so positive. Attitude is everything. The way these girls, both the Europeans and Americans, danced up to the first tee, gigantic smiles on their faces, ready for a good time just showed how much they love this sport.
Sure, focus and discipline are musts when you’re competing on the world’s biggest stage. But not taking yourself so seriously can also be a winning advantage, i.e., Megan Khang, the entire tournament. No one on that golf course was more amped up than Khang at any given moment.
They were so loose the entire weekend. It didn’t look like these players held any anxiety on their shoulders or in their golf swings. That’s the secret to playing better in competition. You hold so much tension in your golf swing if you’re anxious or nervous. And on the other hand, adrenaline only helps on a course playing over 6,700 yards.
This golf was so much fun to watch. From Rose Zhang sinking putts from other zip codes to all of the gettable par fives and converted eagles, each match had me hooked. I couldn’t peel my eyes away. Even my fiancé, who doesn’t watch a lot of golf, was glued to our TV and was so impressed by these players.
I was so enamored by the chemistry of the girls on the U.S.A. side. It made me miss playing college golf, and it made me wish we had played more match play competitions. It made me relish the one match play tournament we did have. Four of us packed into one golf cart (don’t tell anyone) followed the last match of the day, extending hole after hole.
Seeing these ladies in community with one another made me thankful for the friendships I made while playing competitive golf. The unconditional support for one another was so beautiful. Even if a player wasn’t in the pairings for the morning or afternoon, they showed up and cheered their teammates on. I loved that about the U.S. team.
What are sports without a bit of controversy?
I linked a fantastic article by Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols in this week’s news from around women’s golf about the transportation debacle on Friday at the Solheim Cup. In sum, fans had to wait massive amounts of time to shuttle over to the first tee, missing much of the morning action.
But I want to focus on a quote that Nichols included in her article.
“It’s been a week of putting out fires when it should be a week the LPGA lights up the sports world,” Nichols wrote. “The fact that ESPN sent out a push notification on the Solheim Cup and it had nothing to do with golf is a black eye for the tour.”
If this isn’t the upsetting truth.
On Monday, Sept. 16, I did a quick Google search with the keywords “Solheim Cup”. What were the results? Every article published about the transportation dilemma. The day after the U.S.A. won its first Solheim Cup since 2017, the news was flooded with PR that the LPGA needed to manage.
I’m disappointed. I find it really hard to believe that with all the holes won that weekend, the only thing the major news outlets could find to report on was a bus mishap.
This isn’t to say that the LPGA’s management of ticket holders and fan support isn’t lacking. It’s never positive to hear that a major sports organization faltered in communication and resources to provide their fans with the best tournament viewing experience.
Nichols has a point when she says that the LPGA might not be ready for as big of a stage as its getting placed on. Viewership of the Solheim Cup skyrocketed, but TV viewers still found issues following their favorite players.
So yes, the LPGA is expanding, growing and capturing more interest by the day, and that’s great. But if the association can’t adapt to these rapid changes, it’ll end up catching more bad press. Let’s hope it takes the Friday bus saga as a learning experience. I want to see women’s golf thrive.
I do accept responsibility for feeding into the drama in reporting on this in my Solheim Cup recap. Guilty. But I think it needs to be addressed. Not because it’s drama but because the fate of women’s golf depends on us learning that we truly need to focus on the growth of the game. We can do that by encouraging resources and integration of more effective communication in organizations and, further, not jumping on the negative news bandwagon whenever something goes wrong.
Yes, we can hold the LPGA accountable. But we shouldn’t take away from the exceptional performances of the golfers. That’s where I think these major news outlets went wrong.
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This week in women’s golf
Solheim Cup News
Nichols: Solheim Cup shuttle bus debacle shows LPGA not ready for primetime
Stacy Lewis was the culture-changing captain the U.S. needed to win
Leona Maguire frustrated at limited role for Suzann Pettersen’s Team Europe
Date announced for 2026 Solheim Cup at Bernardus Golf
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Field breakdown: 2024 Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout
Does the runner-up to winner trend continue?
Amateur/NCAA News
Czech Mate! Ryskova claims 37th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur
37th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur: Thursday scenes from championship match
This Rhode Island university is adding three sports, including women’s golf
NCAA women’s golf preseason rankings: Top teams, players for 2024–25
Five at The IX: Czech Republic’s Hana Ryskova wins the 37th US Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship
On Thursday Sept. 12, 2024, this year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, Hana Ryskova, spoke to the media following her victory. Here’s what she had to say about her match, a long week of golf, her emotions and the realization of playing in next year’s U.S. Women’s Open.
Q. You’re a USGA champion; how does it feel?
HANA RYSKOVA: It feels great. I think it needs to settle a little bit. But it feels great for sure. It was a good day.
Q. Starting with the match on the front, back and forth a little bit. On 3 it seemed like your only hiccup, the tee shot hitting the tree, but you still managed to get a par there. Were you kind of thinking fairways and greens on the front to kind of just stay in it?
HANA RYSKOVA: I mean, Lindsay is such a great golfer, so I knew this was going to be about birdies, that par is not going to be enough. On hole No. 3 on the front nine, I hit a fairway once — second time today. I didn’t really on that particular hole, but in general I knew I needed scoring … I was trying to be more targeted, a lot of flags, chips.
Q. How were you holding up out there today? The week is such a long week, so many holes of golf. How did you feel this morning?
HANA RYSKOVA: Oh, I slept like three hours. I had such a belly ache. But I think I ate something — you don’t have to write it down. But I felt good because I met Lindsay once but I had so many people from Louisville reach out how great they are — her and Austin, and Ethan was excited to have a good match, too, just the vibe was so much different today than the rest of the week.
I was excited to play. Obviously I think we were all hurting and I think we’re all tired. I was kind of excited it was the last round, but I was excited to play. Coming here — we decided on Tuesday, we booked everything on Tuesday, so we weren’t sure until the last minute if we were coming here or not, but I’m glad that we did.
Q. How do you control your emotions in a match like this, in the final match? It’s so close on the front, big crowd out here watching you?
HANA RYSKOVA: Oh, I love the crowd. I feed off the crowd ever since — and I am so appreciative they all showed up at 8:30 in the morning. It’s not that warm anymore.
But the front nine doesn’t really play in my cards because I can’t use my driver, and if I use driver on 5 I can’t reach it most of the time anyway or it’s not a smart decision to go second to the green. I knew if I was patient — again, patience is everything. I was just being patient and really more focused because I knew Lindsay is a really good player.
Q. You will be playing now in next year’s U.S. Women’s Open. Does that sound good? At Erin Hills.
HANA RYSKOVA: I mean, it sounds amazing. I just need to tell my future employer that I need some PTO for that. No, it feels great. We were looking at the sites, and I’ve never been to Wisconsin or Oregon. So it’s great. I’m just super excited. It’s a big thing just to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur in general. It’s such a big deal. For me to not worry about that part and focus on the bigger deal, it’s really cool. And for U.S. Open, dream come true. Not even a dream. There’s these opens and these opens but am I ever going to play them? I’m an amateur. I didn’t really want to turn pro ever. It’s just a good experience to go as an amateur and go play that tournament for sure.
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