Team USA built a dominant lead through the first day of the 2026 PING Junior Solheim Cup and, as it turned out, needed darned near all of it.
Before home crowds at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands, Team Europe mounted a furious rally in Tuesday’s Singles, winning eight of 12 matches and tying another, but came up just short as the U.S. retained the Cup, 13-11.
The U.S. had built a 9-2-1 advantage through Monday’s Foursomes and Fourballs, which proved too much to overcome.
“I told my girls ‘fight for every shot,’ and I think today showed—like, we could have still won today. We had a chance,” European captain Anne van Dam said. “Today, in the end, they lost, but because they fought for every shot, they came back and they can be very happy.”
Europe’s comeback included a victory by England’s Annabel Peaford over U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Asterisk Talley where Peaford won three of the final four holes to win 1 up, but 14-year-old Kelly Zhang saved the day for the U.S. by winning the clinching point in her match against Carolina Perez-Tasso.
“I’m really grateful … and very extremely lucky to have it be the last one,” Zhang said.
The U.S., captained by Morgan Pressel, won for the sixth time in the last eight editions of the Junior Solheim Cup and pushed its record to 9-4-1 all-time.
