DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) — For Team USA, this Solheim Cup might best be remembered for two extraordinary putts.
Captain Angela Stanford wishes there were more of them.
“I think we just didn’t make enough putts,” Stanford said. “And if you listen to everything I’ve ever said, Europeans always putt better. I don’t know why.”
That strength on the greens led Europe to a 15-13 victory on Sunday after three days at Bernardus Golf.
Jennifer Kupcho stunned
Europe fans with two huge putts — totaling 120 feet — on Nos. 17 and 18 late Saturday to snatch an unlikely point for the Americans from the last match of the day and tie the score at 8-8 after four sessions.
The team broke out a crate of Dutch beer on the bus to celebrate.
“Had to pull out some bottles for Jen,” the team said on its official X account.
But despite that high, Stanford said her team didn't come to terms with the speed — or lack of it — of the greens at Bernardus Golf.
“Even when we showed up in July here, they were faster," she said, adding that she didn't think that recent rain — and heavy downpours on Sunday — were to blame.
“We don’t play on greens as slow usually,” she added.
Stanford shouldered the blame for not preparing her players better for the conditions.
“This is the one thing I am kicking myself is that I just didn’t keep pushing, you know, we got to figure out how to hit our putts a little bit harder, which is really difficult ... to change the way you putt,” she said.
It wasn't just quick greens the Americans missed.
The support in the Netherlands was also a factor, specifically the loud European fans hugely outnumbering and out-singing the Americans who made the trip across the Atlantic.
"Our Americans were there, but they weren’t as rambunctious as ... we’re used to,” said one of Stanford’s assistants, Paula Creamer.
“We are very momentum people and with our fans it’s important that we can feed off and get that energy from them," she added.
They should have that support in two years at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
“The good news is they can show back up in Kentucky in a couple of years and make it right,” Stanford said.
What's not yet clear is whether Stanford will be leading the team there.
On the last green, shortly after the defeat, she wasn't immediately ready to commit to another edition.
“Well, we have a pretty good pipeline. There are a lot of captains in line on the American side, a lot of good ones coming," she said. "So, yeah, I think we have a lot lined up ready to go.”
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