"I've never experienced anything like this in my life and I don't know whether I ever will again"
Sunday 15 September 2019 20:41, UK
Bronte Law was only a few seconds away from holing the winning putt in the Solheim Cup and she said it had been the experience of a lifetime in the closing stages at Gleneagles.
The 24-year-old Englishwoman closed out her 2&1 victory over Ally McDonald at the 17th hole moments before Suzann Pettersen wrapped up a 14.5-13.5 win for Europe over the USA with the final putt of the competition on the 18th.
"Watching Suzann on 18, I could hear the crowd cheer before the putt went in. So I actually reacted before she even made it on the TV," said Law.
"So it's a good job it went in because I was already celebrating. But just amazing. I've never experienced anything like this in my life and I don't know whether I ever will again.
"It's just the best feeling in the world. I love being part of a team. This is exactly what I play this game for.
"I'm not a selfish person. I don't do it for myself. To be able to do it for others and for Beany (Catriona Matthew), in our home, it's really incredible."
Law also paid tribute to the home support and admitted they had helped her fight back after she was one down to McDonald for four holes from the 10th to the 13th.
"The home support has been phenomenal, honestly," she said. "This is nothing I've ever experienced in my whole life. Everyone came out and they've just been phenomenal and they are honestly the 13th member of the team. And they've been screaming all day today. And that makes a massive difference.
"When you can hear them really rooting for you and being loud - and that's exactly why you play this game. And it just gives you that pep in your step and just keeps you going. And when things go wrong, obviously it wasn't all smooth sailing today, I played some really good golf, but I made some mistakes.
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"And when I made those mistakes I just really listened to the crowd; they were cheering me all the way around. And to be able to do it in front of my family and lots of friends is something really special."
Carlota Ciganda led Europe off in the singles and had a hard-fought match with Danielle Kang before sealing a 1 up victory with a birdie at the 18th.
"I was obviously very happy to help the team," said the 29-year-old Spaniard. "For me, it's not about me; it's the team. I prefer to lose my point but the team to win. I think it was really important to get that blue point on the board.
"I fought hard. I wasn't comfortable out there playing against Danielle, but I played my best. I won the two holes out of the last three. So very happy to win that point for the European team."
Georgia Hall and Celine Boutier won all three of their matches together over the opening two days and they both ended with a perfect 4-0 record after winning their singles matches 2&1, the former beating Lexi Thompson and the latter overcoming Annie Park.
"Pretty special. Four out of four. I had a great partner in Celine, and I was happy that I played really good today to get my singles win," said Hall.
Frenchwoman Boutier added: "It's pretty unbelievable. I'm so happy to be able to bring another point to the team and very excited about the round today. When you play for something bigger than yourself, it's something very special and very hard to describe."
