DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) — For Team USA, this Solheim Cup might best be remembered for two extraordinary putts.
Captain Angela Stanford wishes there were more of them.
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Angela Stanford, United States captain, attends a press conference after her team lost the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Anna Nordqvist, Europe team captain, holds the trophy aloft after her team won the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Lauren Coughlin of the United States reacts as she misses a putt on the 15th green during the final day of the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Nelly Korda of the United States misses a putt on the 15th green during the final day of the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
“I think we just didn’t make enough putts,” Stanford said. “And if you listen to everything I’ve ever said, Europeans always putt better. I don’t know why.”
That strength on the greens led Europe to a 15-13 victory on Sunday after three days at Bernardus Golf.
Jennifer Kupcho stunned Europe fans with two huge putts — totaling 120 feet — on Nos. 17 and 18 late Saturday to snatch an unlikely point for the Americans from the last match of the day and tie the score at 8-8 after four sessions.
The team broke out a crate of Dutch beer on the bus to celebrate.
“Had to pull out some bottles for Jen,” the team said on its official X account.
But despite that high, Stanford said her team didn't come to terms with the speed — or lack of it — of the greens at Bernardus Golf.
“Even when we showed up in July here, they were faster," she said, adding that she didn't think that recent rain — and heavy downpours on Sunday — were to blame.
“We don’t play on greens as slow usually,” she added.
Stanford shouldered the blame for not preparing her players better for the conditions.
“This is the one thing I am kicking myself is that I just didn’t keep pushing, you know, we got to figure out how to hit our putts a little bit harder, which is really difficult ... to change the way you putt,” she said.
It wasn't just quick greens the Americans missed.
The support in the Netherlands was also a factor, specifically the loud European fans hugely outnumbering and out-singing the Americans who made the trip across the Atlantic.
"Our Americans were there, but they weren’t as rambunctious as ... we’re used to,” said one of Stanford’s assistants, Paula Creamer.
“We are very momentum people and with our fans it’s important that we can feed off and get that energy from them," she added.
They should have that support in two years at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
“The good news is they can show back up in Kentucky in a couple of years and make it right,” Stanford said.
What's not yet clear is whether Stanford will be leading the team there.
On the last green, shortly after the defeat, she wasn't immediately ready to commit to another edition.
“Well, we have a pretty good pipeline. There are a lot of captains in line on the American side, a lot of good ones coming," she said. "So, yeah, I think we have a lot lined up ready to go.”
See AP’s full golf coverage here
Angela Stanford, United States captain, attends a press conference after her team lost the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Anna Nordqvist, Europe team captain, holds the trophy aloft after her team won the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Lauren Coughlin of the United States reacts as she misses a putt on the 15th green during the final day of the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Nelly Korda of the United States misses a putt on the 15th green during the final day of the Solheim Cup in Den Bosch, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
DUBLIN (AP) — It's no secret that President Donald Trump loves the game of golf. He likes to watch, play and even design courses. He also isn't shy about his friendships with the pros.
Trump is spending the weekend at his golf resort in the village of Doonbeg, Ireland, where he is watching the Irish Open being played there. Irish golfer Shane Lowry held a four-shot lead going into Sunday’s final day of competition. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin was expected to join Trump for the match.
Trump's friend, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, said golf is one of the things the president does for fun.
“The president works all day, every day. And there are two things that he does for enjoyment," Lutnick told reporters recently. "He plays golf on the weekend and he builds. He loves to build.”
Trump has built friendships with some of the pros. He name drops and lavishes praise on them whenever he talks about them.
“I have so many friends that are professional, top professional golfers,” Trump told Fox News Channel's “The Five” earlier this year. He then named Rory McIlroy,Tiger Woods,Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler, among them.
He also posts pictures on social media of him with pro golfers after their rounds. Trump has given awards to some and invited them to the White House. Others are helping him redesign Washington-area golf courses.
Here's some of what Trump has had to say about them.
Trump said DeChambeau is among the “great pros.” The two have played together and DeChambeau has appeared at the White House. He celebrated his first U.S. Open title in 2020 at one of Trump’s golf properties in New York. Last year, he was chosen as the chairperson of Trump’s reconstituted version of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, an advisory committee.
The South African pro golfer was in the Oval Office in May 2025 as part of the delegation accompanying Cyril Ramaphosa, his country's president, to a meeting with Trump. Fellow South African golfer Retief Goosen was also part of the group.
“Ernie Els is a great golfer. He's a truly great golfer and Retief Goosen, who's another really — we call him really a great golfer, too, Ernie, right?” Trump said. “These two guys are fantastic, and we could add Gary to the group, Gary Player. What a group of golfers South Africa has had. There must be something in the water, right?”
Trump awarded Player, who is considered one of the sport's greatest golfers, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2021. It is one of the most prestigious honors an American president can give a civilian.
After winning this year's Masters, McIlroy was a guest at Trump's White House state dinner for King Charles III and Queen Camilla in April 2026. Trump recognized the six-time major champion from Northern Ireland as he spoke about the “unconquerable courage” he said is shared by the United States and the United Kingdom.
“And speaking of that, where’s Rory McIlroy? ... Stand up, Rory. Will you please? That was unconquerable courage. That was very good, Rory,” Trump said of the Masters win.
“I had to interrupt my speech because I watched that man win a tournament that was, that was a tough, that was a tough one. Congratulations. Very proud of you,” Trump continued.
Trump has also said McIlroy “loves” the Doonbeg course.
“I love Jack. OK? Jack is great,” Trump told Fox News host Trey Gowdy in August after he asked who the president would have in his “dream foursome.”
Trump has enlisted the retired Nicklaus, who designs golf courses, to help him redesign the golf courses at Joint Base Andrews, the military base in the Maryland suburbs of Washington where Air Force One is parked.
“So great,” Trump told Gowdy about Scheffler, the top-ranked player on the PGA Tour.
Sorenstam, the only LPGA player to shoot 59 and a winner of the career Grand Slam, played golf with Trump, Player and the late Sen. Lindsey Graham at his course in Virginia in 2019.
Trump awarded Sorenstam the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which brought criticism to the Swedish great because the ceremony took place on Jan. 7, 2021, one day after the violent riot at the Capitol.
Sorenstam is now host of an LPGA event called The Annika. Last year, she gave a sponsor invitation to Kai Trump, the president’s granddaughter.
“I happen to love Tiger. Tiger is a great guy,” the president told Gowdy.
Days later, Woods pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge and a judge suspended his driver’s license for five years following a March rollover crash in Florida. He was arrested in March after his SUV clipped a truck on a residential road near his home on Jupiter Island.
Two pain pills were found in Woods’ pocket and he showed signs of impairment. Woods’ career has been derailed by multiple back and knee surgeries, car crashes and dependence on pain medication.
After the court appearance, Trump repeated to reporters that he thinks Woods is a “great guy” and said he is “unique in so many ways, and especially as an athlete, but also as a man.”
He said he thought the case was resolved fairly and that he’d previously suggested to Woods that he get someone to drive him around because of the pain he suffers.
Trump called Woods a “true legend” when he awarded him a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019. Woods is currently dating Vanessa Trump, the ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr.
AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson in Jacksonville, Fla., contributed to this report.
U.S. President Donald Trump presents the trophy to Irish Open golf winner Shane Lowry of Ireland whilst Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin, center rear, looks on, at the Trump International Golf Links course in Doonbeg, Ireland, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
FILE - Donald Trump, left, talks with Annika Sorenstam, of Stockholm, Sweden, during the LPGA Tour Championships ProAm round as they wait to tee off on the 15th tee at the Trump International Gulf Club, Nov. 20, 2002, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with retired golfer Jack Nicklaus during the Club Golf Awards at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla., March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump, right, presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, May 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
FILE - South African golfers Retief Goosen, left, and Ernie Els look on as President Donald Trump meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Golfers Bryson DeChambeau, center, and Gary Player, left, speak with President Donald Trump as children observe on the south lawn of the White House, May 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
U.S. President Donald Trump looks over to golfer Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland during the Irish Open at the Trump International Golf Links course in Doonbeg, Ireland, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
U.S. President Donald Trump applauds to golfer Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland during the Irish Open at the Trump International Golf Links course in Doonbeg, Ireland, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
