After Friday afternoon’s fourballs ended in a 4-4 deadlock, Europe broke the tie on Saturday morning’s foursomes at the Solheim Cup, winning the first three matches of Day 2 and leading 7-5. They couldn’t get a sweep because of Americans Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin’s dominating performance. But the three-match win wasn’t the highlight of the day. It came in Saturday afternoon’s fourballs session, when Team USA’s Jennifer Kupcho and Lindy Duncan went head-to-head with Carlota Ciganda and Céline Boutier in a contest that quickly became one of the day’s most dramatic battles.
“Celine Boutier chips in for birdie, then Jennifer Kupcho responds and shushes the crowd 🤫👀,” Golf Channel reported on X alongside a clip of the moment.
At the sixth hole, Boutier produced a spectacular chip-in birdie from off the green, sending the partisan European crowd into a frenzy. But Kupcho had the perfect response. She calmly sank her own birdie putt to tie the hole despite the deafening home support.
After making the putt, Kupcho turned toward the crowd and put a finger to her lips, shushing the European fans in a fiery celebration. This appears to have left the broadcasters stunned.
“Shushing the crowd, that’s a brave move,” one broadcaster said.
The exchange added even more intensity to an already heated Solheim Cup atmosphere. Team USA started strong and kept the contest tight, with neither side able to establish a clear advantage for much of the front nine. The match between the two pairs was all square after the 4th. But Carlota Ciganda then birdied the 5th to give the Europeans a 1-up advantage.
The Americans fought hard to level the playing field, but Ciganda struck again later on the back nine, rolling in another clutch birdie at the 14th hole. But Team USA didn’t lose hope. Jennifer Kupcho brought her team back with a birdie on the 17th and set up a win with another on the 18th. The tense moment came after the American side was already worried about a lack of home crowd support before the event had even started.
On Wednesday, Nelly Korda acknowledged that the European galleries would not be on the Americans’ side and stressed the importance of mental toughness and team unity. Meanwhile, Angel Yin suggested that Americans may be less accustomed to European courses and conditions because European players have more experience competing in the U.S.
However, just the next day, Yin urged American fans to be loud and passionate in their support for Team USA. Yin told Golf.com that American supporters should “be obnoxious” and embrace the stereotype because the team would need their energy while competing in Europe. However, she clarified that Americans are not really obnoxious. They are simply passionate.
More interestingly, though, this wasn’t even the first time an American player shushed the European crowd in the 20th edition of the event. Notably, Auston Kim had already shushed the crowd just a day earlier. The viral moment unfolded on Day 1 of the event. Competing in Friday afternoon’s fourballs, the Team USA rookie was paired with Allisen Corpuz against Europe’s Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes.
On the 15th hole, with the Americans 2-down and facing a crucial moment, Kim calmly drained a pressure-packed birdie putt to keep the match alive.
“Rookie Auston Kim shushes the home crowd as her and Allisen Corpuz look to mount a come back,” LPGA reported on X with the clip of the moment.
Currently, both teams are tied 8–8. The competition will now head into its decisive final day, with all 24 players taking part in Sunday’s singles matches.
The format will see all 12 players from Team USA go head-to-head with their 12 European counterparts in individual match play, with every point potentially proving crucial in determining the Solheim Cup winner.