Jennifer Kupcho part of a winning U.S. Solheim Cup team for the first time; Colorado native scores her first SC singles victory, ending her win drought in the event
By Gary Baines – 9/15/2024
Jennifer Kupcho, who has won a Curtis Cup, an Arnold Palmer Cup and a World Amateur Team Championship while playing on U.S. squads, now has finally added a Solheim Cup to that list.
After the USA lost to the Europeans in the 2021 Solheim Cup and the teams tied last year, the Colorado native and her fellow Americans prevailed on Sunday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va.
It was the USA’s first victory in the event since 2017, and Kupcho’s first time on the winning team as she wrapped up her third stint playing in the premier women’s golf team competition.
Kupcho, in the anchor match on Sunday, was still on the course as the Americans clinched the title — Lilia Vu did the honors with an 18-inch birdie that secured a tie in her match against Albane Valenzuela. But the impending Colorado Golf Hall of Famer appropriately went on to record an individual victory, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to notch a 2-and-1 win over Europe’s Linn Grant.
At the end of the day, the Americans defeated the Europeans 15 1/2-12 1/2, having needed 14 1/2 to earn the Cup.
The fact that Kupcho was on the winning Solheim Cup squad for the first time wasn’t the only “first” she achieved on Sunday. To wit:
— She won a singles match at the Solheim Cup for the first time after falling in that session in 2021 and ’23.
— She won for the first time this week after losing her two foursomes/alternate shot matches in which she teamed up with Ally Ewing.
Kupcho also snapped a seven-match personal winless streak — and a four-match losing streak — at the Solheim Cup by defeating Grant. The Jefferson Academy graduate, who won her first two Solheim Cup matches in her debut year of 2021, now owns a 3-5-2 career record in the event.
Kupcho on the first tee Sunday in Gainesville, Va.
And, after leading for a grand total of one hole in her first two matches combined this week, Kupcho was up for most of her singles match as she won the first three holes, two of them with birdies. The three-time LPGA Tour winner never trailed, and was tied after only three holes.
Still, Grant made Kupcho earn the victory as the Swede won three straight holes with birdies in the middle of the match (9-11) to tie things. And she could have taken the lead if not for a three-putt bogey on No. 12. But Kupcho won the par-5 14th with a par to regain the lead, then closed things out with the birdie on 17.
Kupcho made only one bogey for the match and played the 17 holes in 2 under par.
Kupcho remains the only golfer who has grown up in Colorado to play in the Solheim Cup matches, which debuted in 1990.
Kupcho hitting her opening tee shot on Sunday.
But Kupcho — the 2020 Inspirato Colorado Women’s Open champion — wasn’t the only CWO winner to be on the victorious Team USA on Sunday. Lauren Coughlin, who claimed the CWO title in 2016, went 3-0-1 this week as a Solheim Cup rookie.
Meanwhile, Kupcho’s husband, Jay Monahan, caddied for American teammate Allisen Corpuz, who posted a 3-1 record this week.
Here are Kupcho’s results in the 2024 Solheim Cup:
SUNDAY SINGLES
Jennifer Kupcho, USA, def. Linn Grant, Europe, 2 and 1
SATURDAY FOURSOMES
Charley Hull and Esther Henseleit, Europe, def. Jennifer Kupcho and Ally Ewing, USA, 1 up
FRIDAY FOURSOMES
Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark, Europe, def. Jennifer Kupcho and Ally Ewing, USA, 2 up
For all the results from the Solheim Cup, CLICK HERE.
Elsewhere in professional golf for players with strong Colorado ties: Monument resident Becca Huffer, who has played in six LPGA Tour events this year, tied for ninth on Sunday at the Epson Tour’s Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Toyota Classic. The Littleton High School graduate went 67-71-69 for a 9-under-par total, leaving her seven strokes behind champion Ingrid Lindblad. It marks Huffer’s second top-10 this season in 13 Epson starts. SCORES … Scott Vincent, a Zimbabwean who resides in Colorado, finished in the “Drop Zone” in LIV Golf for the 2024 season, meaning he’ll likely need to perform well in a Promotions event this fall or in the Asian Tour’s International Series to remain on that tour for 2025. Vincent, after tying for 23rd place Sunday in the final LIV Golf individual event this year — in Chicago, ended up 50th out of 57 players in the tour’s 2024 standings. Vincent needed to finish in the top 48 to avoid the Drop Zone. SCORES from Chicago.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com