Europe up by three into Sunday singles

A breath-taking finish from Scandinavian duo Annika Sorenstam and Suzann Petersen has taken Europe into the final day of the Solheim Cup in Sweden leading holders America 9 1/2-6 1/2.

First Sorenstam showed why she is the world's number one woman golfer by making a 22-foot putt to halve the 17th as she and Suzann Pettersen battled fading light as well as opponents Laura Diaz and Kelly Robbins in the final fourball game.

Then 22-year-old Norwegian Pettersen holed from 10 feet on the last after Diaz, electing to putt first with Robbins miles away, had failed from less than five.

It gave the home pair a dramatic and unexpected victory in a clash that lasted five and a half hours.

It was Pettersen's fourth win out of four and it ended another marathon day on a real high for Catrin Nilsmark's side.

Instead of losing the fourballs 3-1, as seemed likely when Diaz hit her second shot, Europe shared them 2-2. Now they need only five points from the 12 concluding singles to regain the trophy.

They will remember, however, that they lost from two points ahead both last year and in 1996.

Earlier Scottish pair Janice Moodie and Catriona Matthew, winning Curtis Cup team-mates nine years ago, took Europe nearer victory.

After halving their morning foursomes with Meg Mallon and Kelly Robbins at Baseback near Malmo the two won their fourballs against Wendy Ward and Rosie Jones four and three.

By then Juli Inkster and Beth Daniel had thrashed Mhaira McKay and Ana Belen Sanchez in the top game and soon afterwards Laura Davies, back in action after being rested for the first time in cup history, and Sophie Gustafson lost two and one to Kelli Kuehne and Cristie Kerr.

But the disappointment of that was forgotten when Sorenstam and Pettersen lifted their games when Europe needed them most.

Europe, one point ahead overnight, had stretched that to three points with another impressive display before lunch, but there was still another 16 points at stake.

Matthew, 34, birdied the 416-yard third, then 30-year-old Moodie, only once beaten in six games in the event, had three birdies in four holes starting at the sixth.

They turned in 33 and two up and victory was handed on a plate really when Ward and Jones both bogeyed the 14th and 15th.

Matthew commented: "I've played really well. I think I went to sleep a little bit in the middle of the round, but I holed some key putts which made a difference."

Moodie added: "We've played amateur golf together and know each other well enough that if one is out of the hole the other is strong enough to pick it up. I think that's a big difference."

Daniel and Inkster's win was not in the least bit surprising because McKay and Sanchez had been left out of the first three sessions.

The home pair managed only one birdie between them, but they had to play. Unlike the Ryder Cup, the rules of the competition state that everybody has to appear at least once before the singles.

In a way it was good that they faced 46-year-old Daniel and 43-year-old Inkster. They had beaten Sorenstam and Carin Koch the day before and might have taken some bigger scalps again.

Europe won the pre-lunch foursomes 3-1, for the second morning running denying the Americans a single victory.

Pettersen and Gustafson - the Norwegian's third partner in as many games - beat Kuehne and Kerr three and one after twice being behind early on.

The visitors birdied the 13th and 14th to get back to only one down, but Pettersen made an eight-foot birdie putt on the next and it was all over after Kuehne's chip at the 17th failed to make the green.

Sorenstam and Koch, given the chance to make amends for their fourball loss, then defeated Ward and Heather Bowie three and two after the United States pair had four successive bogeys from the ninth.

The other two games never had more than a hole in them, could have gone either way and ended up being halved.

German Elisabeth Esterl almost holed her approach to the 17th, then partner Iben Tinning made a six-footer on the last to share the honours with Angela Stanford and Michele Redman, while Matthew and Moodie led on three separate occasions and looked set to make that four until Robbins' chip to the 17th hit the flag and stopped dead.

It meant that Europe had won five and halved the other three foursomes in the contest.

Nilsmark thought about giving Matthew a rest, but decided to keep her with Moodie and also to bring back Davies and to sit out Patricia Meunier-Lebouc all day. The Frenchwoman is four months pregnant, but she had won with Pettersen on the first afternoon, is a current major champion and might have been given the chance to try to take Europe closer to their target.

Davies is a former world number one, of course, but despite all her experience it would have been no great surprise following her first day displays if she had been the one to stay on the sidelines until the singles.

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