GAINESVILLE: The United States lost eight games to the European champions on Saturday to take a 10-6 lead after the second day of the Solheim Cup, leaving the visitors in need of a record match on Sunday to retain the trophy. The U.S. women went 3-1 in the morning foursomes and afternoon fourballs on Friday before splitting 2-2 with Europe on Saturday at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. As a result, the Americans need just four wins and a draw in Sunday’s final 12 singles matches to claim the cup for the first time since 2017. “No lead is safe in the Solheim Cup,” said USA captain Stacy Lewis. “You have to keep plugging away, keep trying to win more holes. Europe must win eight singles matches to lift the trophy for an unprecedented fourth time in a row. That means he tied Team USA’s 2015 record winning streak in a 10-6 comeback. “We never say never but it will be very difficult to get the cup back,” said European assistant captain Laura Davies. “The Americans played incredibly. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda evoked the 2012 “Miracle in Medina” men’s European Ryder Cup victory by saying that Europe is not over yet. “We have a chance,” she said. “You have 12 points… we can win them all. That’s what we will try to do. Everyone is focused on their match. Why not? ‘Miracle of Medina’.” It’s getting close.” The home team will play at their level, said outstanding American Megan Khang. “We’re going to go 0-0 tomorrow and we’re going to do what we have to do, do our best and put in some work,” Khang said. American golfers staged a clutch championship course to end Europe’s four-ball battles. Alison Lee holed an eagle from 86 yards down the fairway to win the par-4 second, prompting a shirtless caddy dance, and Khang eagled 14 from an approach that bounced out of a bunker in the American duo’s 4&3 win over Sweden’s Anna. Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom. “It was absolutely surreal,” Lee said of her eagle. “Definitely one of the most amazing moments of my life. Khang also halved 11 with a long birdie putt that hung to the left for nine seconds before dropping into the hole. “I was like, no way,” Khang said. “Thank you very much that the ball fell into the box. It was crazy. Andrea Lee started with back-to-back birdies and entered from a bunker to one bounce to win 13, while Rose Zhang eagled 14 to beat France’s Celine Boutier and Sweden’s Linn Grant 6&4. “We both played incredible golf. Super solid,” Lee said. “We both did a lot of heeling and had a lot of fun. Europe produced the first double session split in cup history as Ciganda and Dane Emily Pedersen beat Ally Ewing and Lexi Thompson 2&1 and England’s Charley Hull and Georgia Hall took down Allisena Corpuz and another Lilia Vu 2-up. Davies said not winning these games would be “almost the nail in the coffin” for European hopes. Top-ranked Nelly Korda, this year’s six-time LPGA champion, and Corpuz rallied from 2 down to beat Ciganda and Pedersen by 1 to become the first duo with four consecutive wins in four. “She said I played great, but so did she,” Korda said. “We make a really good team. Korda improved to four wins and a tie from nine matches where she trailed by two or more holes. “We have a world number one and it’s very helpful when he plays well,” Lewis said. Korda, who has never played a US Cup winner, is 3-0 this week. She won the 10th with a seven-foot birdie putt and took 14 with a 20-foot eagle. “Nelly played really solid all day,” Corpuz said. Lauren Coughlin improved to 3-0 and tied the best American start for a rookie in a 4&3 win with Thompson over Hall and Sweden’s Maja Stark. “It was unbelievable,” Coughlin said. “It was amazing and I enjoyed every minute of it. In the European winners’ foursome, Boutier and Nordqvist beat Vu and Sarah Schmelzel 4&3 and Germany’s Esther Henseleit and Hull beat Jennifer Kupcho and Ewing 1 as Henseleit got within 18 inches of the hole.
