On an exciting opening day of the 2026 Solheim Cup, the European and United States teams are tied with four points each at Bernardus Golf in The Netherlands.
Thousands of fans descended on the first tee for the opening session of the competition with U.S. pair Allisen Corpuz and Nelly Korda up against English duo Charley Hull and Lottie Woad.
It was the U.S. who got the first point on the board thanks to a resounding 4&3 victory by Corpuz and Korda and they followed that with a 3&2 victory by Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin over Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen and France’s Celine Boutier.
However, Europe got their first point on the board after Swedish duo Maja Stark and Linn Grant produced a 3&2 victory over Rose Zhang and Jennifer Kupcho.
Grant holed her bunker shot on the ninth to make a crucial par and keep the Swedish pair 4 up before they sealed a 3&2 victory on the 16th green.
The final match of the morning session went down to the wire with Germany’s Esther Henseleit and Ireland’s Leona Maguire up against Andrea Lee and Lindy Duncan.
Throughout the morning, the European duo had the advantage, but the U.S. made a par on the 16th to reduce the lead to 1 up, they then tied the hole on 17 before Europe won the final hole to secure a 2 up victory and end the morning session at two points each.
With her win, Maguire improved her Solheim Cup record to 9-3-1, which is the highest winning percentage for a European player in the history of the competition.
Maguire said: “I’ve been just very fortunate to have great partners as well a lot of those points have come from foursomes matches and four-ball matches. We had incredible support out here. There was a lot of Irish flags and German flags, and they were really spurring us on, especially when that weather got bad and miserable, it was that extra little bit we needed to grind it out.”
The U.S. got their first point of the afternoon four-ball session in a dominant performance by Megan Khang and Alison Lee as they produced a 5&3 victory over France’s Céline Boutier and Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen.
England’s Hull and Woad took to the fairways once again, but this time against Yealimi Noh and Angel Yin.
Noh’s birdie on the first put the U.S. 1 up before Europe found momentum with four birdies in a row to get to 3 up. The Americans reduced the deficit before Europe once again were 3 up through 11 holes.
However, the U.S. battled back once again with birdies for Noh on 12, 13 and 17 to take the match back level with Hull and Noh each making a par on the 18th for the match to finish a tie and add a half point to the scores.
European rookies Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud made their Solheim Cup debuts on home soil and earned Europe a point as they recorded a 2&1 victory over Corpuz and Auston Kim.
“Once I got off the first tee, it was just a lot of fun out there,” said Rhodes. “I was playing golf out there with Nas and our caddies and honestly the chemistry was unreal.
“It just felt really comfortable, especially when we had two balls on the green the whole time and just giving ourselves looks for birdie. We played really solid and it was really fun out there.”
The final match of the day saw Spanish duo Carlota Ciganda and Julia López Ramirez up against world number one Korda and Coughlin. Birdies on the sixth and seventh holes from Ciganda and a birdie on the eighth from López Ramirez saw Europe go 2 up.
However, the U.S. Team turned it around winning holes 11, 12 and 13 to go 1 up with just five holes to play. Ciganda holed an eagle putt on 16 to pull the match level before sinking a clutch 15-foot putt on 18 to keep the match a tie.
Ciganda said: “I love this week. I just love playing for the team and my teammates. Anna is a good friend of mine; I just want to win for her. Playing alongside Julia, my good Spanish friend, it’s been amazing. We had a tough match against Nelly and Lauren, but we fought hard and at least we got half a point, which I think is really important.”
With the scores level at 4-4, it is the second time in Solheim Cup history that day one has ended in a tie and the first time that both sessions on the first day have ended in a tie.
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