With a deficit of four points to make up on Team USA, Carlota Ciganda has vowed to rise to the occasion and steal the Solheim Cup from the clutches of Team USA, like in the Miracle of Medinah in the 2012 Ryder Cup. Ciganda famously tied the score by beating Nelly Korda in 2023 with a final putt to retain the Cup in 2023 and stop Team USA from taking the Solheim Cup.

Ciganda, defiant in the press conference, said, “You have 12 points. I don’t know the final score what it’s going to be, but 12 points, we can win all of them. That’s what we’re going try to do, everyone focus on their match, and why not? Medinah, the Miracle of Medinah, it’s coming.” She lost a match and won a match on Saturday. In the first, she and Emily Pederson lost to Allisen Corpuz and Nelly Korda. In the second session, the same pairing beat Lexi Thompson and Ally Ewing.

Of course, the Miracle of Medinah is known as a miracle because, typically, a team would not win all of its points to win the Match Play event in one final day. However, with fourteen points needed to win the Solheim Cup and 12 matches to play, Europe could do it.

Team USA is closer to the win, though, with 10 points accumulated in two days of wonderful performances. On Saturday, in the morning session, they won two of their four matches, having won six in total on Friday. They went on to win two of four in the afternoon session as well, taking their lead to four.

Why is the Miracle of Medinah an inspiration to Team Europe?

In the 2012 Ryder Cup, with big names like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on their side, Team USA was the favorite to win. With an ever-expanding lead since the Friday afternoon session, the event would seem to be a washout for Team Europe. However, at the end of Saturday, Team USA was leading 10 to 6, just as Team Europe is now in the Solheim Cup.

It was all poised for Team USA, but Sunday’s Singles went horribly wrong for them. A young Rory McIlroy beat a young Bubba Watson, and Tiger Woods was halved by Francesco Molinari in the final match. They won eight of the final day’s matches and earned a victory, performing a miracle dedicated to Seve Ballesteros, who had passed away of brain cancer in 2011. The victory was especially emotional for Maria Olazabal, who was quite close with Ballesteros and was mentored by him as a young golfer. Ballesteros’ memory was all over the course of the event, with his insignia decorating the uniforms of Team Europe and inspiring them with his never-give-up attitude.

It is an apt memory for Team Europe now in the Solheim Cup as they go into Sunday with 12 matches to win. Indeed, it would have to be something miraculous for them to beat the likes of World No. 1 and No. 2 Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang. But it has been done before.