Team Europe faces a mountain to climb on Saturday in its bid to retain the Solheim Cup after trailing the US by four points at the end of day one.
In the morning foursomes session, the home team got off to a hot start, winning three of four games at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia.
Esther Henseleit and Charley Hull were out of the first match and lost 3&2 to Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz.
Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin beat Celine Boutier and Albane Valenzuela by the same margin. While the score was repeated in the final match when Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel eliminated Linn Grant and Carlota Ciganda.
Europe’s only point of the morning session came from Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark who combined well in their two wins.
After Europe went 4-up through the first five holes, the American duo of Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho chipped back with birdies on 14 and 15. However, the Europeans advanced in stages 16 and 17 before the best way. The final saw Pedersen two birdie his last hole to finish 2-up.
AFTERNOON FOUR BALLS
In the afternoon four-ball session, it was a similar story for both teams as the US repeated a 3-1 scoreline from the morning session to build a comfortable 6-2 lead over the Europeans at the end of the first day.
Korda teamed with Megan Khang and the duo beat Georgia Hall and Leona Maguire 6&4, while all-rookies Coughlin and Schmelzel beat Pedersen and Stark 3&2.
It was the highlight of the afternoon for Andrea Lee and Zhang who both made eagles on the 14th hole to secure a 5&4 victory over Grant and Hull after the match was square after eight.
The second European point of the day came from the all-Swedish partnership of Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagström. The Swedish duo, who were playing together for the first time at the Solheim Cup, won their match against Lexi Thompson and Alison Lee.
Sagström and Nordqvist won six holes on the trot from the eighth to the 13th to record a 6&5 victory.
Pettersen appeared delighted that his side managed to avoid the 4-0 drubbing they suffered in the opening four games in Spain last year, saying: “Obviously we had it – I wouldn’t say we got off to a bad start – but we got on from our morning. from last year, which was good; one step in the right direction.
“Afternoon, one point out of four. I want to say that we played some great golfing opponents, number one. Sometimes we almost invite them to play better sometimes.
“At the same time, we have to face the facts, and we have a lot of work to do. We proved to ourselves that we can do this last year, so the belief is there. There are still many points to be played. We have to go out tomorrow and we are hungry.
“I think the players need revenge to feel like they can get some momentum. It’s always difficult when you see your opponents make putt after putt, and then we don’t do anything. I think it’s a combination of everything. At the same time, the Americans played well. “
LEGAL chaos
The start of the Solheim Cup started with chaos on the course, with thousands of fans queuing for hours after problems with buses leaving the public car park. The delay in this led to the opening matches being played in front of empty stadiums as many fans who had been queuing since dawn were unable to attend the lessons. There was chaos and some fans gave up and went home before seeing the gun. A refund will definitely be required,
“We recognize and deeply apologize to all fans affected by the challenges of traveling from the parking lot to the golf course,” the LPGA said in a statement. “We have made major changes to our transportation system to mitigate these issues going forward, and we are working on ways to express our regret to those affected.”
SATURDAY FOURSOMES pairings (UK time)
12:05 am: Emily Pedersen/Carlota Ciganda v Allsen Corpuz/Nelly Korda
12:17 am: Esther Henseleit/Charley Hull v Ally Ewing/Jennifer Kupcho
12:29am: Maja Stark/Georgia Hall v Lexi Thompson/Lauren Coughlin
12:41am: Anna Nordqvist/Celine Boutier v Lilia Vu/Sarah Schmelzel
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