For second straight day, big comeback by Jennifer Kupcho and partner Ally Ewing falls just short at Solheim Cup; Colorado native will take 0-2 record into Sunday singles
By Gary Baines – 9/14/2024
The story has been comebacks and near misses for Colorado native Jennifer Kupcho so far at her third Solheim Cup.
The impending Colorado Golf Hall of Famer and partner Ally Ewing have fallen into big front-nine holes in each of their foursomes/alternate shot matches, but both days they dug themselves out to force the matches to the 18th hole. However, in the end, the result were two losses.
After falling 2-up to Europeans Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark on Friday, the Americans dropped a 1-up decision to Charley Hall and Esther Henseleit on Saturday morning at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va. After going into the 18th hole tied, Henseleit cozied a wedge from 86 yards to 18 inches from the cup for a conceded birdie. That meant Kupcho needed to hole a long greenside bunker shot to tie the hole, but it came up a little short, securing the victory for the Europeans.
Kupcho has now lost her last four matches at the Solheim Cup and has gone winless in her last seven SC matchups to leave her with a 2-5-2 record all time. The Jefferson Academy graduate was among the four Americans who didn’t play in Saturday afternoon’s four-ball, so next up for her will be Sunday’s event-closing singles matches. There, Kupcho will be in the final matchup, at 8:40 a.m. (MT) against Linn Grant. Golf Channel’s Sunday coverage will start at 6:45 (MT), with NBC taking over at 10 a.m.
Team-wise, the U.S. leads the Europeans 10-6 after Saturday afternoon’s four-ball. The Americans, who need at least 14 1/2 points to earn the Solheim Cup, haven’t won the Cup since 2017, and Kupcho is among those hoping to be on a victorious U.S. Cup team for the first time.
Individually, Kupcho has found herself playing from behind almost the entire time so far this week. After she and Ewing never led on Friday (they were 4 down after five holes), they won No. 1 with a par on Saturday. But the Americans played holes 2-8 in 4 over to fall 3 down at that point.
But starting on No. 9, the Americans kicked their games into gear, eventually playing the final 10 holes of the match in 5 under.
The rally started with a 12-foot birdie by Kupcho on 9. Ewing drained back-to-back long birdie putts on 15 and 16 — one for a win and the second for a tie — to cut the deficit to 1 down. On 17, a nifty approach from Kupcho rolled sideways to within a few feet of the hole, with the birdie conceded after the Europeans bogeyed, leaving the match tied.
On 18, Kupcho’s tee shot finished in the right rough and Ewing’s approach on the par-4 ended up in the front bunker. Hull drew her drive down the left side of the fairway, setting up Henseleit for the wedge shot that turned out to be the difference-maker.
Kupcho, who was born in Littleton and was a longtime Westminster resident, is the first player who grew up in Colorado to compete in the Solheim Cup.
Here are Kupcho’s results so far in this Solheim Cup:
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.
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