Leona Maguire hailed the fighting spirit of her team-mates as Europe retained the Solheim Cup after a 14-14 draw with the United States at Finca Cortesin in Spain.
Home favourite Carlota Ciganda was the hosts' heroine as she secured her fourth win from four matches in the penultimate singles against Nelly Korda to ensure the trophy would remain in European hands.
That sparked wild celebrations on the 17th green, which then had to be cleared to allow the final match to finish, Lexi Thompson holding her nerve to close out Emily Pedersen and make certain of the first tie in the biennial event's history.
Europe had lost the opening foursomes session 4-0 on Friday morning, but won both fourball sessions 3-1 to head into the final day locked at 8-8, not that Maguire ever panicked.
"I think we've a team of fighters," the Cavan woman told RTÉ Sport. "We weren't worried, obviously it was a big mountain to climb, but we knew we had the games to pull it off.
"Friday afternoon, the fight that we showed was really important, and we got back into it."
What a week, what a team 💙💛@SolheimCupEuro
— Leona Maguire (@leona_maguire) September 24, 2023
Never gave up 💪🏼🇪🇺🦁 pic.twitter.com/fYJ9Daj63y
Maguire couldn't replicate her remarkable debut in the competition, where she won four and halved one of her encounters at the Inverness Club in Ohio, but she again finished with a winning record, prevailing in three of her matches and losing out in two others.
"There were a lot of expectations going in this week to live up to what happened last time," the 28-year-old admitted.
"The support was phenomenal from all the Irish fans out there and it really gave me the energy to go all five matches.
"I felt like I played some really great golf and pulled off some shots when I really needed to and the team needed me to.
"It's hard to get even half a point in these matches, let alone a full point.
"I don't know if I'll ever again do what I did in Inverness, but I'm very proud of the entire team this week and I'm proud to have played a part in it.
"This is a special week. It brings something a little different out in everybody.
"It was really cool on the 15th green when I finished with all the fans and there were nearly more Irish people here than at Dromoland a few weeks ago (Women's Irish Open), so it was really special."
