European Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen knows her team has a lot of ground to make up after the first day of the 2024 Solheim Cup.
The U.S. Team leads by four points at the end of the first day after securing three victories in each session compared to Europe’s one.
It was an historic day as the only other time a team had a lead of 6-2 or better through the first eight matches of the Solheim Cup was in 1990 when the Americans led with the same scoreline.
However, the format was different in 1990 with four matches on day one and four on day two, and 10 singles matches; this is the first time in Solheim Cup history that a team has led 6-2 or better at the end of day one under the current format.
Pettersen is no stranger to comebacks have captained the team at last year’s Solheim Cup where Europe came back from 4-0 down in the opening session to retain the trophy.
“Obviously, we had – I wouldn’t say a poor start – but we made progression in our morning session from last year, which was good; one step in the right direction,” said the Norwegian.
“The afternoon, one point out of the four. I want to say we played opponents that are playing fantastic golf, that’s number one. Sometimes we almost invite them to play even better sometimes.
“At the same time, we have to face reality, and we have a massive job to do. We proved to ourselves we were capable of doing this last year, so the belief is there. There’s a lot of points yet to be played for. We’ve just got to come out tomorrow hungry.
“I think the players need to feel some kind of a revenge to feel like they can get some momentum going. It’s always hard when you see your opponents making putt after putt, and then we don’t make any. I think it’s a combination of everything. At the same time, the Americans played fantastic.”
Europe earned two points on the first day of competition with Denmark’s Emily Pedersen and Sweden’s Maja Stark completing a 2-up victory in the morning.
Meanwhile, in the afternoon Swedish duo Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagström dominated their match winning 6 and 5 to add another point onto the board.
Even though it was a tough day at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Pettersen was looking at the positives from what she saw on the golf course.
She continued: “Even though it was tough day, we had small victories within our team today. It was great to get Albane and Esther getting their first experience out of the way. I’m sure they will feel comfortable on the course moving forward.
“At the same time, you have Anna and Madelene, who kind of got paired together. Madelene finally coming out on the strong side, and then obviously Anna, with what she’s been through over the last year, for her it felt a huge relief for her to come out here today, feel free, played solid, and got a solid win.
“Within all of it, it’s a lot of small victories as well along the way, which means a lot. I think the players are dying to go back out there and prove to themselves that they are capable of bringing more points to the board.
“Hopefully we’ll start with the first match tomorrow, and then we’ll take one match at a time, but we have a job to do clearly, and it ain’t going to be easy.”
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