SOLHEIM CUP

September 12, 2026

Leona Maguire

Esther Henseleit

Bernardus

Team Europe

TV Interview

Q. Esther, let's start with that pitch chip shot that you just had here from the left side of the green. Talk us through it.

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Yeah, luckily I had a bit of upslope to work with and kind of bounce it into. I was just trying to make contact, to be honest, and get it up there. Had a little luck and, yeah, it was nice to just pick it up.

Q. It looked like it might go in. Just trying to make contact is going to make a lot of people at home feel better about their short games. But that was a terrific effort. Well done. Let's take you a little further back to No. 12 and that bunker shot that you hit that seemed like it was a key turning point, Leona.

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I mean, fairway bunkers are always tricky. These fairway bunkers are no different. So, yeah, that was a really nice birdie to sort of keep momentum going in our direction. Yeah, I think we did a really good job at sort of balancing each other out today and just tried to keep as much pressure on them as we could the whole way around. A little short game master class from Esther on 16 and 18. So, yeah, really proud of what we did today.

Q. There were a few moments where it wasn't going your way. How were you able to pick each other up?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I think we knew we weren't doing a whole lot wrong. We got off to a really nice start just like we did yesterday, and they came back at us with a birdie on 3. We just had to stay patient and keep giving ourselves chances. And 10, 11, 12 were key turning holes for that.

Q. Very few people in the world of golf, certainly in the world of sports, know what it's like to play in front of a crowd like this. Tell us what it's like.

ESTHER HENSELEIT: Oh, it was great. The crowd was amazing today. They really helped us turn the momentum on the back nine. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was a grind, but I feel like we still enjoyed it and kind of just made the best out of it and, yeah, I mean, it's amazing.