CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — “I’m not going to bed, I’m just going crazy,” Carlota Ciganda said, standing on the 18th green, her European blue shirt a few shades darker, stained by champagne.
The Spaniard is from Pamplona, the city best known for where they run with bulls, and she found herself at the heart of the drama all weekend, her fire antagonizing the United States and leading Team Europe. It was only fitting then that Ciganda was the one who officially brought the Solheim Cup back to Europe, beating a newfound nemesis, 4&2, for the decisive point.
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“Mrs. Solheim Cup,” Nelly Korda said as she congratulated Ciganda after Europe’s 15-13 win over the U.S.
Ciganda, who hit the decisive shot in 2023 when Europe retained the Solheim Cup, is an eight-time veteran with a 5-2-1 record in singles. In her match against Jennifer Kupcho she had already clinched at least a half-point, meaning it was actually LPGA breakout star Lottie Woad who got to unknowingly hole the Cup winner in her match against Auston Kim.
Woad, the world No. 7, had been paired with world No. 8 Charley Hull in four matches over the first two days by Europe’s captain Anna Nordqvist. That turned out to be an ongoing concern all weekend as the all-English partnership lost three times and produced just half a point. But it was Hull who earned the first point of Sunday singles, putting Europe in the lead. The European stars bullishly delivered all day. Besides the aforementioned trio, Linn Grant (4-0-0 this week), Nastasia Nadaud (3-1), Nanna Koerstz Madsen (3&2 over Andrea Lee) and Julia López Ramírez (3&2 over Yealimi Noh) all earned full points.
“Europe’s on fire, USA is terrified,” shouted Woad, draped in an England flag with compatriot and fellow rookie Mimi Rhodes. Swirling around them was a melee of cameras, celebrations and commiserations. The U.S. team had to cut through Europe’s excitement to offer congratulations to their rivals, who did pause their beer-swilling antics to accept what was a true graciousness in defeat.
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As “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond blared out from the speakers on the first tee, the Europeans headed back to where the fun began on Friday morning. And to be reunited with their jubilant fans who had made it an incredible and raucous occasion for both teams across all three days.
That Diamond song, a staple anthem at sporting events, is what vice-captain Mel Reid said — or tried to say with a lost voice — helped find Europe a way out of their low mood on Saturday evening. Ciganda and Céline Boutier were 2 up with two holes to go in the final match Saturday evening, when Kupcho made a 92-foot putt on the 17th followed by one from 29 feet on No. 18 to win the full point alongside Lindy Duncan and ensure Day 2 ended in a tie, 8-8.
The putts were huge in distance and momentum. And when the final one went in, Kupcho cupped her ear in the direction of Ciganda and screamed “vamos”, a clear reference to what Ciganda had shouted a day before, when she somehow won a half-point with a messy up-and-down on the 18th hole against Korda and Lauren Coughlin.
By chance (opposing captains release their lineups without knowing the other’s), Ciganda and Kupcho were paired against each other on Sunday. For Ciganda, that meant only one thing — revenge.
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“I was really happy to see that I was playing against Kupcho,” Ciganda said. “She’s a fighter, I’m a fighter, and I told her, ‘Look, great playing’. I mean, even yesterday what she did was amazing on 17 and 18. But today I knew she had no chance. I was like, I want to kill you.”
What had also lifted Ciganda and Europe when they got back to the team hotel on Saturday was a message sent directly to Ciganda from compatriot and Ryder Cup legend José María Olazábal. And there was “Sweet Caroline” put on over the speakers in the team room.
“I just felt like it just changed the mood and united us. It was weird, we just forgot what happened, the disappointment, and we just got back on it,” European vice-captain Mel Reid said.
Olazábal may have captained the “Miracle at Medinah,” but Europe needed no fairytale comeback on Sunday. It did need heart and passion, the kind of which was served up and best exemplified by Ciganda.
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“I love this week. As I said, I love playing for the team, for my teammates, for everyone here,” Ciganda said. “… I just love it. I mean, I love beating the Americans. And then, yeah, just winning for Team Europe, it’s the best feeling.”
As Europe’s giddy and gallant team danced on the first tee while waiting for their trophy to be presented to them by John Solheim, whose family founded the competition back in 1990, U.S. captain Angela Stanford pulled her team together for a photo on the 18th green. Beer bottle tops, champagne corks and a broken American dream each lay scattered.
“I can promise you this hurts more for them than maybe for us because they were the ones playing,” Stanford said. “The good news is they can show back up in Kentucky in a couple of years and make it right.”
The next Solheim Cup is in 2028 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Europe will come in having held the Cup after four of the last five editions.
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As a cloud of blue and yellow smoke exploded into the air behind them, Nordqvist lifted the trophy in front of her entire family, who had traveled in from Sweden to witness the crowning moment of a career that lasted almost two decades and saw her win three majors.
And that is when the rain, which had been off but mostly on all day, began to fall on Europe’s stage, a place where there was to be no American parade.
On Saturday, Stanford ran onto the team bus with a crate of beers for her team in hand. Some wondered if they celebrated too soon. But Stanford defended her actions after Kupcho’s heroics. “You don’t want to take away from those moments,” Stanford said. “We’re never going to see anything like that again.”
Perhaps not, but on Sunday night as Europe loaded the bus for the trip back to their lodgings, team helper Dame Laura Davies, who won four Solheim Cups as a player and three as a vice-captain, appeared with a case of Heinekens.
“Is anyone thirsty?” she shouted.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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