PARKER — Praying for a miracle to win the Solheim Cup, American golfers enlisted Uncle Sam and Captain America to cheer from behind the gallery ropes, but the hero they really needed stood in the front row of the grandstands at the No. 1 tee.

Under a scorching sun, 56-year-old legend Nancy Lopez waved a U.S. flag high over her head on Sunday afternoon and led a crowd of 1,000 true red, white and blue fans during two nonstop hours of singing ("God Bless America") and chanting ("It's not over yet"). In a game where the loudest noise is often a stern order for "Quiet, please," Lopez incited a happy din of chest-puffing patriotism. Know what? Golf looks way more fun with its manners unbuttoned and its hair down.

But, as the last of a dozen U.S. competitors walked away from her down the fairway of Colorado Golf Club and the bleachers near the first tee emptied, the eyes of Lopez filled with the melancholy of a big dog left on the porch. The winner of 48 professional tournaments from 1977-2003 made a little confession.

"I want so badly to be out there on the course," Lopez told me. "It's hard, because sometimes I want to grab a club and start playing again. You never lose that hunger to compete."

Team USA undoubtedly wishes Lopez could have swung a big stick, as well.

The Americans needed a ringer on their team in the worst way.

In a biennial team competition that pits two dozen top players from the United States and Europe, Team USA lost on its home turf for the first time in Solheim Cup history.

The world of female golf was ruled by Americans for decades, with a tradition of winning that stretched from Patty Berg to Betsy King. But those days of hoarding trophies are as long gone as the time when the United States dominated the automobile industry.

"American players need to get mad," Lopez said.

Heading into singles match play with a daunting five-point deficit, maybe the lone way the Americans could have staged a successful rally was by annexing South Korea as the 51st state overnight. When U.S. captain Meg Mallon filled her lineup card, she probably should have issued LPGA Tour money-leader Inbee Park a Morgan Pressel mask and hoped nobody from Europe noticed.

Among the colorful crowd of more than 100,000 spectators who attended the tournament throughout the week, a man dressed from head to toe in a Captain America costume stood bravely at the turn during the singles matches, exhorting every U.S. golfer to fist-bump his shield on the way to the 10th tee to acquire super powers. It was cute. Too bad it didn't work.

When 24-year-old Caroline Hedwall rolled home a birdie putt at No. 18, the powerful Swede who got her golf education at Oklahoma State stuck a dagger in the heart of Michelle Wie, beating the former U.S. teen phenom 1-up. Europe had clinched the Cup.

"It's heartbreaking," said Wie, hiding tears behind sunglasses after the sun had disappeared behind clouds that brought afternoon rain and thunder. The final score: Europe 18, United States 10. Heartbreaking? It was a crying shame.

Although the Solheim Cup is rich with tradition, it has fallen hopelessly behind the times. In the age of Twitter, this tournament is as quaint as a princess phone hanging on the kitchen wall at grandma's house. Although a ticket to pass through the gates of this beautiful course designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore cost $67, the hefty entry fee didn't actually allow Coloradans to get up close and personal with the best female golfers on the planet.

Why? Park casts the same giant shadow that Tiger Woods once did on men's golf. Park and her fellow South Koreans hold down five of the top 10 spots on the Rolex World Golf Rankings.

What's more, when you consider that an emerging Asian country with a population of 50 million produces 20 of the best 50 female golfers in the world, the dominance from tee to green by South Korea seems nearly unfathomable.

"It's almost like they are programmed to play the game. In South Korea, girls play the game from the time they are very young. Almost forced to play it, I think, at a young age," Lopez said.

"I've heard they've taken their kids out of school to play golf. And they don't even let them finish school. They just play golf. I don't know, I have three daughters and I wanted them to enjoy their young lives."

The fact the U.S. is no longer the center of the golf universe threatens to have a negative impact on the importance of the Solheim Cup. Beginning next year, the LPGA will introduce an event called the International Crown, which will feature 32 golfers from eight countries around the world.

Where have you gone, Nancy Lopez?

Team USA is no longer guaranteed honors on the first tee.

Maybe it's time for Americans to stop wasting away the summer at the country-club pool. Better grab a bucket a balls and head to the driving range, girls.

Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053, or