Until the last two holes on Saturday evening in the Netherlands, it had not been a memorable Solheim Cup for Jennifer Kupcho. The four-time LPGA winner was paired twice with Rose Zhang and the duo was beaten both times. Then Kupcho and partner Lindy Duncan found themselves 2 down with four holes to play in fourball against Carlotta Ciganda and Celine Boutier.
It was the last match of the day. The light was fading. And so too were possibly the Americans’ hopes because it looked like they would go down by two points overall heading into Sunday singles.
They basically needed a miracle. Or two. And the fiery Kupcho somehow delivered.
After driving into a terrible spot in the rough at the par-4 17th, Kupcho could only put her approach to 91 feet away and just off the back of the green.
“I’m walking up to the green,” Kupcho later recalled, “and, honestly, I thought, ‘Ok, during these practice rounds I just get up and whack it.’ Really didn’t read it. I was, like, all right let’s give it a run and make sure we get it there.”
Taking several breaks, Kupcho’s ball traveled for a few seconds and then dropped straight into the cup for one of the most remarkable and important birdies ever seen in a Solheim Cup.
“What the heck, it went in,” Kupcho said with a huge grin. “That was insane.”
Kupcho was asked in the Golf Channel interview if she remembered making a putt that long. She thought of one right away—the 90-foot eagle putt she made in last season’s closing tournament that earned her $1 million for winning the AON Risk Reward Challenge.
So we guess it's a thing for her.
Kupcho’s long make at Bernardus Golf Club on Saturday got her duo to even in the match, and in front of a large, loud and partisan crowd at the 18th, she had the best look at birdie and drained the putt to win the match and tie the teams at 8-8.
The Americans stormed the green in celebration, and U.S. captain Angela Stanford was asked if she’d ever seen anything like what Kupcho had just delivered.
“No, not back-to-back like that, never,” Stanford said. “That was pretty special.”