The United States took a 6-2 lead after the opening day of play at the Solheim Cup. The only time either team had a lead of 6-2 or better through the first eight matches of a Solheim Cup previously was in 1990, when the Americans led exactly 6-2 after the first eight matches.
That year, the format consisted of four matches on Day 1, four matches on Day 2 and 10 singles matches on Day 3.
“It’s been a really good day,” said US Captain Stacy Lewis. “I saw a ton of good golf, and really things played out the way we were hoping. So just really happy with the pairings I was able to put out, and the players produced some great shots and some great scores and got us a ton of points.”
Europe 2 |
USA 6 |
|||
| Friday Foursomes 1 – 3 | ||||
| Esther Henseleit/Charley Hull | 3&2 | > | Nelly Korda & Allisen Corpuz | |
| Céline Boutier/Albane Valenzuela | 3&2 | > | Rose Zhang/Lauren Coughlin | |
| Emily Pedersen/Maja Stark | < | 2 Up | Ally Ewing/Jennifer Kupcho | |
| Linn Grant/Carlota Ciganda | 3&2 | > | Lilia Vu/Sarah Schmelzel | |
| Friday Fourball 1 – 3 | ||||
| Georgia Hall/Leona Maguire | 6&4 | > | Nelly Korda/Megan Khang | |
| Anna Nordqvist/Madelene Sagström | < | 6&5 | Alison Lee/Lexi Thompson | |
| Emily Pedersen/Maja Stark | 3&2 | > | Lauren Coughlin/Sarah Schmelzel | |
| Lin Grant/Charley Hull | 5&4 | > | Andrea Lee/Rose Zhang | |
Morning Foursomes
MATCH 1 – Nelly Korda/Allisen Corpuz (USA) def. Esther Henseleit/Charley Hull (EUR), 3 & 2
No American tandem had ever won three consecutive Solheim Cup foursomes matches before. Korda and Corpuz became the first to do so with a 3&2 victory over Henseleit and Hull gaining the first point for the US.
The duo trailed Henseleit and Hull after the Europeans birdied No. 2, and as fast as the Americans could even the match the Europeans took the lead right back with another birdie on 4. The Americans finally took the lead on No. 7 and were 2-up through nine holes, until falling into a tie again on 11.
On No. 12, Corpuz sank a 15-foot putt to go 1-up again, which generated huge roars from the crowd, but a short shot into the bunker on 13 put them back in a tie. No. 14 was the difference maker for the Americans. After both balls found water on their approach, Korda bumped it up to just over 10 feet and gave Corpuz another big moment when she sank the putt. On 15, Corpuz’s 25-foot putt skimmed the hole, and after Hull missed a 5-footer, Korda tapped it in.
Finally, on the par-3 16th, Korda stuck her tee shot within 6 feet of the flag, almost assuring an American victory. After the Europeans made par with two putts in a row, Corpuz got the crowd roaring again when she made the birdie putt to end the match.
“We made a really good birdie on 12, and then I hit it in the water for (Nelly) on 14…. But made a really good par putt there,” said Corpuz. “I just think any time you make a longer putt, it kind of gives you a little more momentum. It felt like we were playing really well all day long; just burned a lot of edges in the first few holes and was able to see them going in.”
MATCH 2 – Rose Zhang/Lauren Coughlin (USA) def. Celine Boutier/Albane Valenzuela (EUR), 3 & 2
Local Lauren Coughlin paired with Rose Zhang jumped out to an early 1-up lead over the Europeans after a birdie at the par-4 No. 2. The duo did not trail through the entirety of their match even after Albane Valenzuela and Céline Boutier managed to tie the match up after earning a birdie of their own on No. 9. The Americans retook their lead on No. 12 and added to it with a birdie on No. 13 to take the 2-up lead.
The two never trailed again taking a 3-up lead on No. 14 after Valenzuela went for the green in two shots, and landed the ball just short of the green, in the water, and the US duo made a par. Zhang and Coughlin held that until the end taking home the 3 & 2 victory and the second point for the Americans.
“I think — I don’t know. I think I mentally prepared myself really well,” Coughlin said about her opening tee shot. “I was pretty nervous actually yesterday. I wasn’t too bad today. I think I’d done a really good job of trying to prepare myself mentally for what I might feel. I don’t know, I think I just felt super prepared and was able to hit it right down the middle.”
MATCH 3 – Emily Pedersen/Maja Stark (EUR) def. Ally Ewing/Jennifer Kupcho (USA), 2 up
Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark got off to a hot start jumping into a 4-up lead through the first five holes of their morning match after they rolled in three consecutive birdies from the third hole. On the back nine, American duo Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho began to make climb back up as back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 saw the Europeans lead decrease to just 1-up. However, Europe held on with pars on 16 and 17 before an excellent approach on the last by Pedersen saw the European duo win their final hole to finish 2-up and secure their only point of the morning session.
“It’s been a lot of fun” said Stark. “I was way less nervous this year than it was last. It was a nice feeling. Coming off a hot start, it gives us a good feeling because we know we can play really well coming off the stretch there. The Americans started playing really well as well. Yeah, it was just a nice first round to get a little bit of excitement as well.”
MATCH 4 – Lilia Vu/Sarah Schmelzel (USA) def. Linn Grant/Carlota Ciganda (EUR), 3 & 2
Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel clinched the third point for the Americans of the morning foursomes after defeating Linn Grant and Carlota Ciganda, 3 & 2. The Americans took an early 1-up lead after winning the first hole of the day, meanwhile the Europeans made a birdie of their own on the second hole but it didn’t last long as Vu and Schmelzel went back ahead on the third and didn’t relinquish their lead. The Europeans tried their best taking No. 14 to bring the lead back down to just 2 up but a birdie putt on No. 16 decided the match, taking the third point for the Americans 3 and 2.
“I think we get on great,” Vu said about the chemistry with Schmelzel. “We’re just going to do our things. We trust each other’s games. I trust Sarah. She hits it straight and is always reliable. We have a good time together.”
Afternoon Four-ball
MATCH 5 –Nelly Korda/Megan Khang (USA) def. Georgia Hall/Leona Maguire (EUR), 6 & 4
Korda and Khang brought the same energy to the afternoon match that they displayed in the morning, eventually earning a 6 & 4 victory over Europe’s Hall and Maguire, who were 2-0-0 when paired together in Solheim Cup four-ball prior to Friday’s match.
The US duo, both making their fourth Solheim Cup appearance, started their gradual climb to victory with a birdie on No. 3 from Korda. They tied the 4th hole to maintain that lead before swapping birdies on the next four holes to take a massive lead of 5-up through 8. Korda and Khang briefly wavered, losing the par-3 9th hole, but then the pair won holes 12 and 14 to seal the deal and win the first match of Friday’s four-ball.
“When you have a teammate who’s so pure off the tee, you never have to worry. You just kind of send it,” said Korda. “So that was kind of the motto, is I was going to go first and send it. If I sent it in the wrong direction, I knew had a really good partner that was going to go next.”
MATCH 6 – Anna Nordqvist/Madelene Sagström (EUR) def. Alison Lee/Lexi Thompson (USA), 6 & 5
In their very first partnership – despite playing on three previous European Solheim Cup Teams together – Nordqvist and Sagström dominated their Friday four-ball match, defeating Thompson and Alison Lee 6 & 5. The pair were 1-up from the very start, with Nordqvist making birdie on No. 1, and they held that lead through three more holes.
On No. 5, Thompson sank about a 10-foot putt for birdie to tie the match, and it remained tied for two more holes before Europe started their winning streak. The combination of Sagström and Nordqvist birdied holes 8-13 and won all five.
Nine-time Solheim Cup veteran Nordqvist birdied Nos. 8, 11 and 13 while Sagstrom contributed with a birdie on 9 and an eagle on 13, accomplished with an over 40-foot putt from Sagström. With their win, the Swedes tied the second largest margin of victory in European four-ball history and put the second point on the board for Europe.
“She thought we were a strong team together, and obviously so today. We played really good. Today all we needed to do was go out and try to get a point for Europe. I mean, she believed in us to play together, which was a first for us,” said Sagström on why European Team Captain Suzann Pettersen paired them together. “I said (to Anna) on the range, ‘I’m so excited to play with you. This is going to be so much fun.’ It was just a great day, Anna played super well. In the beginning I was a little bit everywhere, but that works in four ball. Then I scrapped it out on the back nine and helped her out a bit.”
MATCH 7 – Lauren Coughlin/Sarah Schmelzel (USA) def. Emily Pedersen/Maja Stark (EUR), 3 & 2
Paired together for their second match of the day, Solheim Cup rookies Coughlin and Schmelzel battled out a 3 and 2 victory over Europe’s Stark and Pedersen, who together won their morning foursomes match earlier on Friday. The two pairs remained tied through the first six holes on Friday – it’s just the third time that’s happened in Solheim Cup history and the US Team lost each time – until the Americans drew first blood to take a lead that they would not relinquish.
A birdie on 7 from Schmelzel put the US 1-up and Coughlin made it 2-up with a birdie on the very next hole, the par-5 8th. The Europeans made up ground courtesy of a birdie from Pedersen on 9, but Schmelzel took it back with a birdie on 10. The Americans went 3-up on 13 thanks again to Schmelzel, but it was Coughlin who closed the door. After Pedersen made birdie on the par-3 16th, the Virginia native answered with a more than 15-foot putt for birdie to end the day with a roar.
It is the first time a US Solheim Cup rookie has gone 2-0 on Day 1 since Danielle Kang did so in 2017.
“I think it just calmed your nerves,” said Schmelzel on what she learned from playing in the morning foursomes match on Friday. “There’s so much anticipation of what it’s going to feel like, how you’re going to play. Obviously both of us settled in pretty well this morning. We both came out this afternoon just really aggressive and wanting to play well and wanting to get a point after that first one. So I think we just stayed aggressive all day and believed in each other.”
MATCH 8 – Andrea Lee/Rose Zhang (USA) def. Linn Grant/Charley Hull (EUR), 5 & 4
Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang claimed their first match victory in their second pairing together, 5 and 4, over Europeans Linn Grant and Charley Hull. The US duo of Andrea Lee and Zhang were paired together last year in Spain in the second session of four-ball matches on Saturday and lost 2 down to Madelene Sagström and Emily Pedersen.
Grant and Hull won the first hole this afternoon and held their 1-up lead through the first two holes. They briefly lost the lead after No. 3 and picked it up once more on the 5th. The tables switched with the former Stanford players winning the par-5 5th to earn their first lead of the match. They briefly lost the lead for holes 7 and 8 before claiming holes 9-12 to build a 4-up lead. An. Lee and Zhang sealed the deal with a pair of eagles on hole 14 to wrap at 5 and 4.
“Nothing really. I think we — especially in the front nine it takes a lot of grit to really just play out the round,” said Zhang on if anything changed on the back nine for the U.S. duo. “We really fought hard in the beginning, and I knew that towards the end we had it in us to really grind it out. Being kept in the momentum, we just did what we needed to. Both of us ham and egged it and kept each other pumping the whole time.”
US SOLHEIM CUP TEAM
Captain: Stacy Lewis
Vice Captains: Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford
Players: Allisen Corpuz, Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Megan Khang, Nelly Korda, Jennifer Kupcho, Alison Lee, Andrea Lee, Sarah Schmelzel, Lexi Thompson, Lilia Vu, Rose Zhang
EUROPEAN SOLHEIM CUP TEAM
Captain: Suzann Pettersen
Vice Captains: Laura Davies, Caroline Martens, Anna Nordqvist, Mel Reid
Players: Celine Boutier, Carlota Ciganda, Linn Grant, Georgia Hall, Esther Henseleit, Charley Hull, Leona Maguire, Anna Nordqvist, Emily Pedersen, Madelene Sagström, Maja Stark, Albane Valenzuela
For the latest news in the golfing world, follow us on X (Formally Twitter).
