Europe rally to pull even with US at 8-8 going into final day of Solheim Cup

CASARES, Spain: Led by home-crowd favorite Carlota Ciganda, Europe picked up the pace at the Solheim Cup to pull even with the US entering the decisive singles matches Sunday.

Ciganda, the only Spaniard in the European team, won both of her matches Saturday to maintain a perfect record as Europe drew level with the US at 8-8 after splitting the morning foursomes and winning the afternoon fourballs.

Captain’s pick Emily Pedersen and rookie Linn Grant also won both of their matches on Saturday to help Europe come from behind at Finca Cortesin.

The contest will be decided by the 12 singles matches on Sunday, when Europe will try to win an unprecedented third straight Solheim Cup. The Europeans arrived as favorites but had to rally after the Americans took a 4-0 lead in Friday’s first session.

“I’m out of words, but we have to remember we are not there yet, there are still 12 points up for grabs tomorrow,” Europe captain Suzann Pettersen said. “We made quite a comeback, now we are tied and we’ll put it in fifth gear and keep going. If you look at how we started after yesterday’s morning, we’ve come a long way.”

The US kept their two-point lead from the first day after the teams split the morning session on Saturday, but Europe were in control during most of the afternoon and ended up winning it 3-1.

“We certainly would have liked to have won a few more points today, but I’m not upset about our position,” US team captain Stacy Lewis said. “I mean, if you look straight at the scoreboard, you would say momentum goes to Europe, but I can tell you the way the girls feel and the way I feel about how we played today, I like our momentum.”

Lewis rested some of her players on Saturday and none will be playing all five matches