The row that ensued after the no-gimme also helped Europe enter Sunday’s singles finale with a seemingly insurmountable 10-6 lead.
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Usually in situations like that – when making an easy putt like that is a formality – opposition players will “give” their opponents the putt so they don’t have to physically go through the motions of knocking it into the hole.
“The girls were awesome. Everybody did their job and I couldn’t be prouder of those girls”.
“But they should be so proud of themselves, they’ve done everything right this week”.
Pettersen said she would do it all over again.
But the idea that the matches produced some controversy can’t be a surprise for anyone.
The Americans, who went on to win the trophy by 14 1/2 points to 13 1/2 after a spectacular display in Sunday’s singles, were enraged when European pair Pettersen and Charley Hull, 19, beat Alison Lee and Brittany Lincicome in the morning fourballs.
The cold, borderline offensive lack of self-awareness shown by Pettersen and her colleagues after the dust had settled in Germany reflected dreadfully on the European Solheim contingent. Inkster, though, could not contain her fury at the time of the incident. “You have to follow the rules”, she said.
“I don’t know if my team needed to be fired up anymore, but they were real fired up”, Inkster said.
“Just to clarify, I was wrongly accused of giving advice”, Sorenstam said.
American Paula Creamer told reporters golf was “about sportsmanship and unfortunately that was not shown there”.
“American Nicklaus picked up Jacklin’s coin to ensure the overall match ended in a tie”.
Europe captain Carin Koch was unrepentant. “We had a rules meeting early in the week where they clearly told us how important it is to make sure that someone has conceded the putt”.
Inkster probably had a role in that, though it’s doubtful she would take credit for it.
Masson missed her birdie putt and Piller sank the biggest putt of her career and was swarmed by her teammates on the 18th green in celebration.
“We came out of that locker room with one goal and that was to dominate and to play strong and we did that because of Juli”, Creamer said.
“It was very clear from Charley and me that we wanted to see the putt (made)”. I read Suzann’s statement and I totally believe that she does feel really bad…. “It’s been a great journey, wonderful how she brought us together”.
“I was walking over to Suzann to discuss whether or not to give the putt and then I turned around and Alison picked up”, said Hull.
“I don’t care what anybody says, it was just wrong”. “How Suzann can justify that I will never know”.
Lee, a Solheim Cup rookie, and Hull broke down in tears at the conclusion of the match, and while Pettersen stuck to her guns at first, she released a statement on Monday saying she “never felt more gutted” and feels she let her team down with her conduct.
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“To the fans of golf who watched the competition on TV, I am sorry for the way I carried myself”, Pettersen wrote on social media.
