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Great Escape Helps Europe Stay Close At Solheim Cup

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By EDDIE PELLS, The Associated Press

Published: September 15, 2007

HALMSTAD, Sweden - Par of the century. Best par in history. Unbelievable.

And that's just what the other team was saying about the magic act Laura Davies conjured on the 16th hole at the Solheim Cup on Friday.

Davies called her amazing par from the bushes and bramble behind a sinister creek called Backen a 'hit and hope,' a '500-1 shot,' something that a '36-handicapper might try for.'

Or, quite simply, the best par of her life.

Even with the half point Davies helped salvage with that par, the United States still led the Europeans 4 1/2 -3 1/2 after a windy, wet and frigid day.

After sitting out the morning foursome matches, Seminole's Brittany Lincicome teamed with Pat Hurst in the afternoon best ball portion. The Americans were all square after 11 holes against Catriona Matthew and Iben Tinning, but the Europeans took four of the next five holes to win 4 and 2.

'On the first tee my hands were shaking,' Lincicome said. 'It was an awesome feeling. It was fun to go through. I just tried to get the first match out of the way.'

Following the completion of the wild day, the Europeans walked off the course with all the momentum.

And all because of Davies, who cemented herself in Solheim Cup lore with a hack through the tree roots and a 50-foot chip-in for par, saving her match and turning a rough opening day for the Europeans into something much better.

'Considering the circumstances ... it was beyond belief,' Davies said. 'I would say it was a pretty good moment.'

Playing in the final fourball match of the day, she was the last player to hit on the tricky par-3 16th hole. She didn't learn a lesson by watching Americans Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer and her own teammate, Trish Johnson, all hit to the wrong side of Backen - the creek that runs in front of and down the right side of the green.

In fact, Davies hit the worst shot of the foursome.

So bad, she found herself climbing through the shrubbery simply to get to her ball.

'We're walking by. I'm like, 'Where's your ball?'' Creamer said. 'She's like, 'Oh, I'm just hoping to get through those trees.''

Davies did more than that. Pulling out her wedge - or was that a machete? - she took a wild swing and a huge gash of underbrush. She blasted the ball out to the fringe on the opposite side of the green. Still away, she chipped in her next shot from 50 feet to win the hole and draw even in a match she and Johnson had trailed all day.

'We both kind of looked at each other and just went, 'Wow,' ' Pressel said. 'I think that's the par of the century.'

'Probably the best par you've seen in history,' Cristie Kerr said.

Then Creamer: 'It was unbelievable.'

But what could have been academic - a collapse by the Americans after watching such a spectacle - wasn't anything like that.

Pressel and Creamer played the last two holes to a draw and actually had two decent looks at winning the match on the 18th green. They missed. Still, given the things went down on No. 16, maybe it was really the young Americans who salvaged the half point.

Regardless, it was definitely a moment to remember, and on the 18th green, Pressel and Creamer added another.

After they missed their putts, Davies and Johnson each had testy 3-footers to ensure the tie. The Americans conceded the putts to finish the match, which took nearly six hours to complete, at all-square. It was a classy act of sportsmanship that events like these are designed to bring out in players, but too often don't.

'We both deserved to win that match with the finish we had on the last couple holes,' Creamer said. 'I think that's the way you play the Solheim Cup.'

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