In weather more conducive to curling up by a nice fire than playing golf, the US team overcame a one point deficit heading into the singles matches and retain possession of the Solheim Cup.

Looking like anything but "chokin’ freakin’ dogs" the red clad ladies played a lot of marvelous golf in becoming only the second visiting team to retain the cup.  This event had it all; wind, rain, cold, great shots, poor shots, and Dottie Pepper. Say what you will about Ms. Pepper she will forever be associated with the Solheim cup as much for her mouth as for her play.  Her "chokin’ freakin’ dogs" comment was so much in character I’m surprised anyone took offense.  After all, this is the same woman who blurted "Yeah" when Laura Davies, her opponent during a match, missed a putt.  Her visage adorned a punching bag in the European team room for another set of matches.  She’s intense, outspoken, and very very wrapped up in this event.  If her comment bothered you, get over it.  She’d have said the same thing about herself if it was deserved in her opinion.

The singles started off  with Catriona Matthew defeating Laura Diaz 3 & 2 in the opening match, but the scoreboard was soon awash in red.  "It was the best I’d played all week," said Matthew, who claimed the winning point for Europe in the win at Barseback in Sweden four years ago. "It’s just a pity that the team didn’t win."

Nicole Castrale got the clinching point defeating Bettina Hauert by a similar 3 & 2 score.  "This is just awesome," said Castrale, who has enjoyed a breakthrough season with her first LPGA victory at the Ginn Tribute in Florida in June. "I played really well and this is one of the best years of my life."  The 28-year-old had her husband, Craig, as her caddie, and she added: "This is my first Solheim and it has surpassed all expectations."

Paula Creamer defeated Maria Hjorth 2 & 1 to put the US over the 14 1/2 point total needed to win the Cup outright. Creamer, who was also a star of the 2005 win at Crooked Stick, said: "I’ve always said that winning the Solheim is better than winning a tournament, and I say it again." 

Morgan Pressel defeated Annika Sorenstam 2 & 1 to capture her first full point, benefiting from a couple of short putt misses by Ms Sorenstam.  Pressel summed up her debut. "It was a whole lot of fun. The win over Annika was my first full point and it’s always exciting and special to play against, and beat, one of the world’s best players."

Laura Davies smothered Brittany Lincicome 4 & 3 for the other European victory. “I’ve played really well today and didn’t give Brittany too many chances, which was important to get a point on the board,” said Davies, who scored 2 ½ points for the European Team and has tallied 23 points in her 10 Solheim Cup appearances. “None of us feel like losers. We lost to a better team today. They were a very good team. They had some good team spirit out there and beat us.”

Stacy Prammanasudh defeated Suzann Pettersen 2 up, to give the U.S. Team their fourth point in singles matches, just minutes after two-time Solheim Cup member Angela Stanford posted a 3 and 2 victory over Trish Johnson to push the U.S. Team into a 10 ½ to 9 ½ overall lead for the first time since the end of Saturday’s morning foursome matches.

Sherri Steinhauer earned a halve when Becky Brewerton had to hit a shot left handed from up against a tree on the 18th hole and could only bat the ball into the bleachers. 

Juli Inkster, Pat Hurst, and Natalie Gulbis all won points for the Americans.  It was all summed up rather nicely by Ms. Pressel’s grandfather.  "Without this sounding wrong, the feeling was that our team had the better players," said Pressel’s grandfather, Herb Krickstein, who watched all week from the gallery. "When it comes down to singles, there’s no hiding anybody, and that really shows."

Even though the event was televised at 2AM (with repeats in the evening) it was fun to watch.  My congratulations to both teams for a well played match.  Thank you Dottie Pepper for being Dottie Pepper.  It’s always nice to run across someone who gets wrapped up in the game.  ( Tell me you’ve never said similar things to your TV when your favorite sports team mucks up a game!)