CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — Jennifer Kupcho turned a one-down match into a Solheim Cup moment, holing birdies from roughly 90 feet on the 17th and more than 20 feet on the 18th with partner Lindy Duncan to beat Carlota Ciganda and Céline Boutier 1 up — and pull Team USA level with Team Europe at 8–8 after Saturday’s fourballs at Bernardus Golf, Sky Sports reported on Sept. 12, 2026.

The Americans won the afternoon fourballs session 3–1, erasing Europe’s morning foursomes surge that had put Anna Nordqvist’s side ahead 7–5. It is the third straight Solheim Cup on European soil to sit tied after two days, Sky Sports noted.

Kupcho and Duncan reached the par-four 17th one down, with Ciganda and Boutier both inside 12 feet for birdie. Kupcho putted from beyond the back of the green — about 90–91 feet, depending on the account — and drained it, sending the match all square after the Europeans missed. On 18 she poured in another long birdie, from over 20 feet (NBC Sports and Golf Today put it around 25), to close the match and complete the USA’s comeback point.

“That was huge,” Team USA captain Angela Stanford said, per Sky Sports. “That absolutely turned our tide. She [Kupcho] just doesn’t give up and she’s a fighter. Now her team has seen that in person.”

Kupcho was blunt about the 17th putt after the round. “I hardly even read it,” she said, according to NBC Sports. Earlier in the same fourball she had shushed the home crowd after answering a Boutier chip-in with a birdie of her own — a moment that went viral before the closing heroics made the noise look premature.

Fourballs scoreboard: USA 3, Europe 1

Europe’s only fourball point came at the top of the order. Sweden’s Maja Stark and Linn Grant — already perfect as a pairing this week — beat unbeaten duo Megan Khang and Lauren Coughlin 2&1 for their third win in as many sessions. Stark holed out from the first fairway for eagle; Grant said they “really turned it on during the back nine,” Sky Sports reported. The loss was Khang’s first in 10 Solheim Cup matches and ended a six-match winning streak; Coughlin’s first Solheim Cup defeat.

Yealimi Noh and Andrea Lee then edged Charley Hull and Lottie Woad 1 up on the final hole. Hull and Woad became the first pairing ever to play all four opening sessions of a Solheim Cup together without returning a full point (0.5 for the week), Sky Sports said. Rose Zhang and Auston Kim followed with a 3&2 win over Leona Maguire and rookie Nastasia Nadaud, before Kupcho and Duncan finished the job in the anchor match.

Sunday singles: USA need 6, Europe need 6.5

Defending champion Team USA needs six points from Sunday’s 12 singles to retain the Cup (14 overall). Europe needs 6.5 for a first outright win since 2021. Singles start Sunday around 11:10 a.m. local (10:10 BST), with heavy rain in the forecast for much of the day, Sky Sports reported.

Nordqvist is sending Hull out first against Khang despite Hull’s rough opening two days. “Charley started us out in Washington [2024] and we know all that Charley’s been playing great for the last two days,” Nordqvist said, per Sky Sports. “She really hasn’t holed any putts. … I have full confidence in her going out tomorrow.”

Notable later singles include world No. 1 Nelly Korda vs. debutant Mimi Rhodes, Kupcho vs. Ciganda in a rematch of Saturday’s drama, and Zhang vs. Boutier in the anchor. The last three Solheim Cups that were tied heading into the final day all ended in European wins on home soil — a streak Sunday will either extend or snap.

Dated Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026: Kupcho’s two closing birdies turned Bernardus into a dead heat. Twelve singles matches, and likely a lot of Dutch rain, decide who lifts the Cup.

Sources