Valencia High graduate Alison Lee began the 2026 LPGA Tour season as a broadcaster while on maternity leave after giving birth to her son last year in April.
But that didn’t stop the former Viking from making golf history at this year’s Solheim Cup as Lee staged the biggest singles comeback, overcoming a four-down deficit to defeat European Esther Henseleit over the weekend in the Netherlands.
Despite the overall-standout performance, the American team came up short with Lee becoming the first-ever player in Solheim Cup history to go 4-0-0 or better for a losing team.
This year’s tournament marked the third appearance for Lee, and the Valencia grad improved her overall record to 6-5-0 with wins over Europe’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Celine Boutier, and a win over Charley Hull and Lottie Woad before her singles comeback.
In Sunday’s match against Henseleit, Lee played her first 11 holes at 1-over par and stepped onto the 12th tee four-down in her match against Henseleit.
Henseleit played the final seven holes of Sunday’s match at 2-over and Lee played flawlessly as the 31-year-old played the final seven holes at 4-under and secured a half point for the United States.
Earlier in the year, Lee did not make her first start on the LPGA tour until April following her return from maternity leave but still qualified for the 2026 Solheim Cup through the women’s world golf rankings.
“My record coming in this week was 2-5,” Lee told LPGA.com. “That’s something I realized coming in, and I was hoping to do the best I can to flip it around. So, to be able to change that to now be in the positives, it feels really good.”
