CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — Alison Lee made a rare and remarkable comeback for the U.S. in Sunday’s Solheim Cup singles. Whether it’s enough to help the Americans retain the Cup is another story, but her play was stunning.
Esther Henseleit was 4 up with seven holes to play in their singles match when Lee got on a roll. Lee birdied three straight holes from 12-14 and five of the last seven to win 1 up. No player has won a Solheim Cup singles match after being 4 down since at least 2015. It’s unclear if there were other comebacks from 4 down or more before that per the LPGA. Lee had a terrific week and was 4-0. She and Europe’s Linn Grant became the ninth and 10th players to go 4-0 or better during a Solheim Cup. Grant was 0-4 two years ago in Virginia.
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“I definitely kept an eye on the leaderboard the whole round,” said Lee, 31, who fell behind by four after the seventh hole. “I saw a lot of blue out there and tried my best to turn it red.”
She did. Lee is the only player on this team that was part of the last U.S. Solheim Cup win in Europe back in 2015. She took a maternity leave last year to have her son, Levi, then played quite well this year after returning to the LPGA in February. Her 1-year-old son Levi and her parents were here to watch her. Lee was very vocal about wanting to play in this Cup at Bernardus Golf Club, and she warned to earn her way on the team. She accomplished both.
It’s been over 20 years since the last player overcame a 4 down deficit to win a singles match. David Toms did it in 2002 when he came back from 5 down to defeat Sergio Garcia in the Ryder Cup.
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“I’m happy to be here,” Lee said. “My record coming into this week was 2-5. I was hoping to do my best to flip it around change that and I’ll be in the positive. That feels good.”
Lee is now 6-5-0 in Solheim Cup matches. Sunday’s singles match will no doubt go down as one of the most memorable.
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