Halmstad, Sweden (September 17, 2007) - Only once in The Solheim Cup history has a team retained the Cup on foreign soil. Following in the footsteps of their 1996 predecessors, the women of the 2007 U.S. Solheim Cup Team overcame an 8 ½ to 7 ½ deficit to the European Team entering Sunday singles matches to win the 10th staging of The Solheim Cup 16 to 12.

“We really played our hearts out.  I thought we had a lot of talent on the team.  I thought it would be tough to do it over here,” said U.S. Team Captain Betsy King, whose own Solheim Cup career record stands at 7-6-2 in the first five stagings of the event. “Even though we had four rookies, they're not really rookies.

“It was just a great week.  Obviously, it was a tough week condition-wise, and there were a lot of close matches, so it could have gone either way, but I think today particularly in the singles, we played very well,” King said.

Coming into the week, the U.S. Team was stronger statistically on paper, as all players are ranked higher than 40th in the Rolex Rankings. However, the European Team had the advantage of a combined 40 Solheim Cup appearances by team members to the United States’ 22; and a 71-61-22 overall advantage over the U.S. record of 42-33-9. The European Team also had the home-crowd advantage and the history of a 3-1 record.

“It comes down to the golf and the players,” said European Team Captain Helen Alfredsson who, like King, played in the first Solheim Cup in 1990. “I can just judge from the team spirit that we had in the room. When we are in a team, everybody sits together. Everybody makes room for one another around, and it's not like people are in groups and not sitting together. We are sharing every moment, and that was very special to me.

“We all know the Americans are very tough,” Alfredsson continued. “They're very tough on their own, and we do enjoy a lot of strength when we are a team because we like to be a team. They are a lot more individual, and I don't have the answer to them, but, in a way I'm happy that we are the strongest team because that makes us be very fun.”

The venue, Halmstad Golf Club, hosted more than 100,000 fans throughout the week in weather that was windy and cool at best between rain showers. Despite resuming Saturday’s afternoon four-ball matches on Sunday morning, Europe held the 8 ½ to 7 ½ advantage going into the singles matches.

“I'm very proud of the Swedish people that came out and cheered us on as much as they could,” Alfredsson said. “We didn't do good enough for them. I hope they got something out of it. I'm just proud of how Sweden handled this.”

On Sunday, the U.S. squad stepped up to capture 8 ½ of a possible 12 points in the singles matches. A day-three surge by three U.S. Team rookies secured the itinerary for the Cup’s return trip to the United States. During Sunday’s play, Stacy Prammanasudh defeated Suzann Pettersen 2 up to give the U.S. Team their fourth point in singles matches, just minutes after two-time Solheim Cup member Angela Stanford posted a 3 and 2 victory over Trish Johnson to push the U.S. Team into a 10 ½ to 9 ½ overall lead for the first time since the end of Saturday’s morning foursome matches. The next singles match was a Solheim Cup fixture Laura Davies defeating American rookie Brittany Lincicome 4 and 3.

“I've played really well today and didn't give Brittany too many chances, which was important to get a point on the board,” said Davies, who scored 2 ½ points for the European Team and has tallied 23 points in her 10 Solheim Cup appearances. “None of us feel like losers. We lost to a better team today. They were a very good team. They had some good team spirit out there and beat us.”

U.S. Team rookie Morgan Pressel was on the course and paired against Europe’s Annika Sorenstam who, in her eighth Solheim Cup appearance, is the top points’ earner in event history. Pressel entered the singles matches with a 0-2-1 record, but defeated Sorenstam 2 and 1 for the U.S. point. It was a tightly contested match as six of their 17 holes were played all square, and holes three and four saw a 1 up advantage for Sorenstam. Not until a birdie on 16 did Pressel gain her 2 up advantage and closed out the match on 17.

“I got off to a little bit of a rough start. I missed a short little putt on four. But I was back there well on five,” said Pressel, who played with Creamer and Lincicome as juniors in the PING Junior Solheim Cup prior to turning professional. “I came out this afternoon, played a lot better and made birdies when I needed to. I expected her to win the last hole. My caddie was saying that's why she's number one in the world for a very long time.”

The final rookie performance of the day was Nicole Castrale defeating European Team rookie Bettina Hauert 3 and 2 to give the U.S. Team their 14th point—enough to retain the Cup. Paula Creamer sealed the win with her 2 and 1 win over Maria Hjorth.

“Coming over here as the underdog, it's different. It's rainy. That's for sure. It was cold, but it was such a good week. I'm really proud of the team,” said Creamer, a two-time U.S. Solheim Cup Team member and second-youngest member of the team, who led the U.S. charge with 3 ½ points. “It feels good to win on foreign soil for the second time ever. That's pretty good, and it's exciting.”