Carlota Ciganda isn’t the only player made for the Solheim Cup. Add Jennifer Kupcho to that list. The American golfer is thriving amid chaos and relishing the chances to silence the rival fans. And her match against Carlota Ciganda and Celine Boutier had just the drama and late heriocs, that will remind you of 2016 Ryder Cup.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“They’re out there chanting—my team won’t shut up now, but (laughing). Yeah, they’re out there chanting, and it gets a bit annoying at some points,” Jennifer Kupcho said while talking about the rowdy fans. “But you just kind of hang in there, and I think we did that amazing today.”
Amazing would be an understatement. On the 10th, the 29-year-old holed a birdie putt and put her fingers against her lips, a clear sign to the boisterous European fans that it’s not over yet, even though they were against the formidable pairing of Boutier and Ciganda. Sure, the pendulum swung in Europe’s favor again on the back nine as the American pair went 1-down. But then Kupcho pulled off some magic that truly silenced the crowd.
Ciganda and Boutier were 1 up through 16 holes during the final Saturday fourballs match. Kupcho’s drive on the 17th found a waste area on the right, and her approach finished near the back of the green. This left her roughly 91 feet from the hole, but she somehow holed the spectacular birdie putt.
Her downhill putt kept rolling across the green before finally dropping into the hole for birdie. After draining the putt, Kupcho turned to the crowd, cupped her hand, and then once again shushed the crowd.
Reminds you of the 2016 Ryder Cup? Rory McIlroy vs. Patrick Reed? Kupcho walked with the same vigor and gusto and stormed the closing stretch of Bernadus to flip the script.
“Honestly, going into it, I had zero expectations,” Kupcho said about the putt on the 17th. “I hardly even read my putt.”
Right after the birdie putt on 17th, she also shouted, ‘Vamos!’—Spanish for ‘let’s go’—before celebrating with her team. It was quite ironic considering Ciganda was Spanish, but Kupcho clarified it was just a “playful” gesture and no malice was there.
On the 18th, Kupcho once again drained a birdie putt to clinch one crucial point. As for the loud fans chanting ‘Olé, Olé,’ her playing partner, Lindy Duncan, backed that by saying that the atmosphere was electric, although when you are the away team, it doesn’t work in your favor.
Kupcho had earlier said that it was not a planned move but a spontaneous gesture. As the crowd grew louder, she wanted to bring them down a level.
She repeated the heroics on the final hole, too. This time, it was an approximately 25-foot birdie putt that got Team USA the final point, as the two teams finished tied at 8-8 heading into Sunday Singles.
Her partner, Duncan, was equally excited. Speaking at the post-round conference, Duncan said that Kupcho was “absolutely insane.” She will never forget what went down on the 17th. But they aren’t the only ones who got excited.
USA captain Angela Stanford praised the team and said that the moment felt almost similar to Team USA’s historic comeback in Germany during the 2015 Solheim Cup.
According to her, this has turned the momentum in their favor because she believes that ‘all of a sudden they [Team USA] now believe that they can get it done
This came at a very crucial time because Team USA was two points down after the morning foursomes. But during the afternoon fourballs, teams of Yealimi Noh & Andrea Lee, Rose Zhang & Auston Kim, and Jennifer Kupcho & Lindy Duncan turned the tide.
Jennifer Kupcho’s emotional finish turned a challenging day into a major momentum boost for Team USA. They now head into Sunday Singles with renewed belief and a chance to complete a memorable Solheim Cup comeback.