ST. LEON-ROT, Germany – Suzann Pettersen said it best.
“This one was a robbery.”
Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel were robbed. Pettersen and partner Charley Hull were the robbers.
The Americans made four birdies in the first 11 holes and built a seemingly insurmountable lead but Europe birdied each of the last four holes to win their Saturday foursomes match, 1 up.
Moments later Europe won the final match of the session to take a huge 8-4 lead in the Solheim Cup.
Creamer and Pressel were 1-1 on Friday and were sent out again on Saturday with hopes of providing the U.S. a much-needed spark. That was the case for a moment when the two built a lead by making clutch putts and hitting iron shots close to pins.
Then it all turned on a dime.
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“I told Charley, ‘Let’s throw darts at the pins, stay aggressive,’ ” Pettersen said.
Europe won the 12th hole with a birdie,but the fireworks really started on the par-3 15th hole when Hull nearly made an ace. Pettersen and Hull then both saved their best golf of the week for the next three holes.
With the match all square on the 18th hole Pettersen smoked a drive and Hull hit a bullet approach shot to 8 feet. The Americans two-putted from 60 feet, setting the stage for Pettersen, who made the 8-footer for birdie and was immediately swarmed by teammates.
“I was just buzzing,” said Hull, who has won all three of her matches and will be the only player on either side to play in all five matches this week.
“We were totally in control for a long time,” said Creamer. “We could both sit here and say ‘we could have done this, we could have done that,’ but they played well and they finished strong and that’s all you can say.”
