Vamos! Team Europe regains Solheim
Cup from the United States as Ciganda and Woad seal victory
[September 14, 2026]
By STEVE DOUGLAS
DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) — Lottie Woad assured it. Carlota
Ciganda — who else? — sealed it.
Vamos! The Solheim Cup is back in the hands of Team Europe.
The blue wave came early in the Sunday singles at Bernardus Golf and
never went away, all the way through to Woad holing a putt from 2
feet on No. 17 to win her match and guarantee the Europeans would
reach the 14 1/2 points needed to reclaim the crystal trophy from
the United States.
Woad, one of Team Europe's four rookies, punched the air and jumped
into the arms of her teammates who flooded onto the green in
celebration.
Within 10 minutes, Ciganda, inevitably, officially got the Europeans
to the victory target.
The Spaniard, who got the decisive point when Europe retained the
Solheim Cup in 2023, completed a 4-and-2 victory over Jennifer
Kupcho, a feisty American who had roared “Vamos!” ("Let's go!") when
holing an outrageous 93-foot putt on the way to beating Ciganda in a
spiky four-balls match on Saturday.
“Today I knew she had no chance,” Ciganda said. “I was like, I want
to kill you.”
Strains of “Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé” drifted across the course as the
last matches finished and the European team and staff celebrated,
spraying Champagne over each other and draping flags over their
shoulders.
Captain Anna Nordqvist, her assistants along with the players and
their caddies formed a line, put their arms over one another’s
shoulders, and walked as one up the 18th fairway toward the green
where Celine Boutier — the remaining European player on the course —
was wrapping up her match.
When Boutier finished, she piled into the mass celebrations.
The final score in the Netherlands: Europe 15, the United States 13.
To a backdrop of blue-and-yellow smoke, Nordqvist hoisted aloft the
Solheim Cup on a podium in front of a first-tee grandstand filled
with jubilant Team Europe fans, then gave each of her celebrating
players and assistants a touch of the trophy.
“This feels so good,” said Nordqvist, who announced her retirement
from playing two weeks ago. “There’s just been so much hard work
this week and in the last two years leading up to this.”
The Europeans have now won three of the last five editions, the only
loss in that stretch coming in Virginia two years ago. The U.S. team
didn't have possession of the trophy for long and is still without a
win on the road since 2015.
“The Europeans played great today, and that’s the way it goes,” U.S.
captain Angela Stanford said. “Their backs were against the wall,
they had nothing to lose, and that’s exactly what they did — they
came out and played well.”
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Anna Nordqvist, Europe team captain, kisses the trophy after her
team won the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept.
13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The teams were tied at 8-8 after two days and set
out Sunday in heavy rain for the 12 singles matches, with Europe
going out fast, putting blue all over the scoreboard and ultimately
winning six of the first eight matches. Ciganda, in Match 11, added
the crucial other victory.
Early wins for Charley Hull and Linn Grant laid the platform for
victory, the only wobble for Europe coming when U.S. player Alison
Lee came from 4 down after 11 holes to beat Esther Henseleit, 1 up,
for the greatest comeback in Solheim Cup history.
Rookies contributed massively for Europe all week and especially
Sunday, with Woad, Nastasia Nadaud and Julia Lopez Ramirez all
winning matches in the singles.
Nadaud, a 21-year-old Frenchwoman, was a revelation this week,
winning three points. Only Grant, Lee (both 4) and Lauren Coughlin
(3 1/2) collected more.
“I think it’s been one of the best teams that we’ve had in the last
few years,” Ciganda said. “Everyone just a unit, a team. That’s what
Europe is about.”
The U.S. leads the all-time series 11-8, with one draw.
Redemption for Woad and Hull
A big part of the narrative of the week was the misfiring
performances of Europe's highest-ranked players.
Hull and Woad, two English players, were paired in each of the first
four sessions — a first for a Solheim Cup — and only contributed a
half-point.
Redemption came Sunday, with Hull leading from the front — she beat
Megan Khan, previously undefeated in singles, 3 and 2 in Match 1 —
and Woad going 4 up after nine holes against Auston Kim before
winning 2 and 1.
“She’s been playing so good this week and not really getting
anything off of it,” Nordqvist said of Woad. “But holing the winning
putt, I don’t think that’s ever going to be hard to (forget) for
her."
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