The Americans hold a 3-1 Solheim Cup lead after a strong opening session

One year ago, the Americans dominated four times in the morning on the first day of the Solheim Cup. This year? They did it again.

The US won three of four games in the opening round of the 19th Solheim Cup at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., on Friday, taking a 3-1 lead in the afternoon’s four-ball match.

Last year, the US won all four of the first Solheim Cup matches, although Europe came back to win the afternoon session 3-1 in what was the first ever match.

On Friday morning (hampered by transport problems that delayed fans from getting to the course), the Americans dominated most of the session. Europe’s Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark got up early for Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho in the third match of the day (eventually winning 2), but the US lost the other three matches.

Nelly Korda and Allsen Corpuz beat Esther Henseleit and Charley Hull 3 and 2 to get the US’s first point on the board, while Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin added the next, defeating Celine Boutier and -Albane Valenzuela 3 and 2. The third point came up with another one. an hour later to Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel, who defeated Linn Grant and Carlota Ciganda, also by a margin of 3 and 2.

In the first game, the Americans were up 2 over but European birdies on 10 and 11 tied it. It was still tied at 13 holes, but the US won the last three. The final knife came on the par-3 16th, when Korda stuck from about 8 feet and Corpuz rolled in the putt, making Korda and Corpuz the first US duo to win three straight foursomes ( they were 2-0 together last year) .

“I think we played hard all day,” Corpuz said. “I just made a few mistakes early, but I saw a couple of putts go in. Nelly hit some great shots to set me up, and we were able to turn it around the last few holes.”

Zhang and Coughlin finished soon after. They were 1 up or tied the rest of the game until they birdied the 13th and split the 14th to go up to 3. Coughlin, who lives about an hour away and has a big gallery backing him up this week, has been missing important putts all morning. But it was Zhang who made the final move, rolling in an 8-footer on the 16th to win the hole and end the match.

Vu and Schmelzel never trailed in their match, and on the 16th Schmelzel holed his 4-foot putt, leaving Vu with an easy birdie putt to win the hole and secure the point.

A few minutes later, the last game on the course ended on 18. Pedersen and Stark were 4 through eight and 3 through 13, but the Americans won 14 and 15 to cut the deficit to just 1 under – the closest since the second hole. Ewing just missed a birdie putt from about 7 feet on 17 that would have tied the match, but Pedersen put it away on the 18th, chipping it to within 5 feet from 124 yards out. Finally the putt was allowed to put Europe on the board.

The afternoon four-ball session begins at 12:05 pm ET on Friday. You can follow all the action on the Golf Channel.

Josh Behow

Golf.com Editor

As managing editor of GOLF.com, Berhow manages the day-to-day and long-term programming of one of the most widely read news and service websites in the sport. He spends most of his days writing, planning, organizing and wondering if he will ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and two children. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.