GAINESVILLE, Va. — Five months ago, Lilia Vu withdrew from her title defense at The Chevron Championship with a back injury that put her out of commission for a couple of months, unsure of what the future held.
Little did Vu know that five months later, she would be earning the clinching half point that won the U.S. its first Solheim Cup since 2017.
Some would say it couldn’t have been written better in Hollywood. But really, there are just two words to describe Sunday afternoon’s final result at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
Finished. Business.
The U.S. Team had an incredibly tall order this week in Gainesville, Va. Europe had claimed the last three Solheim Cups, and winning on home soil is no easy feat, even more so when you’re not far from the nation’s capital.
Not to mention, the Euros would make Solheim Cup history if they retained, as no team in the history of the biennial team competition has ever captured more than three consecutive Cups.
After the 14-14 tie in Spain last year, one that left the Blue and Yellow once again holding the trophy, Captain Stacy Lewis told her team that they had some unfinished business to tend to this week in Virginia, challenging them to turn the tide.
And the 12 Americans more than rose to the challenge.
It all started on Friday morning, when the U.S. once again dominated the opening foursomes matches, winning three points early in what used to be a difficult format for the Red, White and Blue. The Americans grabbed three more points in the afternoon four-ball session on day one, leaving the Euros trailing 6-2 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
Saturday was much more evenly matched. The foursomes session ended in a 2-2 tie, highlighted by Corpuz and Korda keeping their undefeated alternate shot streak alive and a hard-fought European victory from Esther Henseleit and Charley Hull, who ultimately outlasted a charge from Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho, winning the match 1 up on the 18th green.
The Saturday four-ball saw each side earn two more points, with Alison Lee and Megan Khang’s caddies going viral on social media after taking their shirts off in celebration of Lee’s eagle hole out on the par-4 2nd hole at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, a moment that will forever go down in Solheim Cup history.
The Europeans trailed 10-6 heading into Sunday singles, but it still felt like anyone’s to win – and anyone’s to lose. That’s the beauty of the Solheim Cup: it isn’t over until it’s over.
And Europe tried their hardest to make things interesting.
Lewis chose to send Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda off first after she went undefeated in team play, but Englishwoman Charley Hull took her down quickly, beating Korda 6 and 4 to earn the Europeans their seventh total point and first of Sunday singles.
The ebullient Megan Khang then leveled the score, capturing the Americans’ 11th point with a 6 and 5 win over Emily Pedersen to go 3-0-0 for the week, but Georgia Hall added another tally to the European column when she took down Alison Lee 4 and 3.
Rose Zhang routed European Solheim Cup hero Carlota Ciganda, closing out her match with the Spaniard 6 and 4 to post the 12th U.S. point and join Khang as one of just four Americans to go undefeated in Virginia. Allisen Corpuz followed suit after that, taking down playing vice-captain Anna Nordqvist 4 and 3 to put the U.S. within a point and a half of the victory.
A critical half point from Andrea Lee, who tied with Esther Henseleit, got the Americans to 13.5, now just one point from winning the Cup. But Europe, trailing by five with 8.5 points, started landing some punches late to put the pressure on the final few matches.
Celine Boutier came back from a 3-down deficit and birdied the last to beat Lexi Thompson 1 up on the 18th green, moving the Euros to 9.5 points with five matches still on the course. Leona Maguire then grabbed another point with a 4 and 3 victory over Ally Ewing, bringing the tally to 13.5-10.5.
Virginia resident and home-state hero Lauren Coughlin ultimately had a birdie putt to win the Cup on the 18th hole during her match with Maja Stark, but it didn’t fall, handing each side another half point and at the very least guaranteeing the Americans another tie with the Europeans, which wasn’t exactly what the U.S. had in mind.
With three matches left on the golf course, the U.S. Team desperately needed another half-point from either Vu, Sarah Schmelzel or Jennifer Kupcho to wrap things up, and when Vu bombed her drive on the closing hole at RTJ, the moment playing itself out on 18 seemed to suddenly have a rose-colored hue as things came down to the wire.
One down to Albane Valenzuela, who hit her approach to the front of the 18th green, leaving herself a lengthy birdie putt to win the match outright, Vu stepped up to her second shot, needing to be a hero.
And luckily for the Americans, the two-time major champion is no stranger to that moment.
The 26-year-old stuck her approach inside two feet, and after the Swiss left her birdie try short, Vu tapped in for birdie and for the Cup.
“This week was kind of hard for me,” said Vu. “I felt like I wasn’t physically 100 percent, and I almost felt guilty taking that spot from someone else and felt like I was trying to find something out here on the golf course. Luckily, I have the best team around me and was able to find my game today. I’m pretty grateful to even be playing golf.”
Of course, celebrations are in order for the Americans. It was a difficult battle, hard-fought until the very end, and as they say, to the victors go the spoils.
But this win was about much more than capturing the Solheim Cup. It marks a new beginning for the U.S. Team, a culture shift that started in Spain, but that has now taken full effect on home soil.
“From the moment this team was together, they were together,” said Lewis. “I’m just so proud of them. I’m proud that they get this moment where they get to celebrate tonight and win this Cup.”
No one knows what the 2026 Cup will bring, or who will be on that team. Some stalwarts will have moved on to greener pastures, choosing life over golf and closing their chapters as professional athletes with brighter adventures on the horizon.
The young guns will be more grizzled, more experienced, and will have a new crop of rookies to take under their wings.
No matter what, though, these 12 Americans will always have this week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., to fondly remember, to look back on when things on the golf course get tough or in retirement, knowing that they were part of something incredibly special that will live in history books long after they’re gone.
They’ll always have the 2024 Solheim Cup.
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