- U.S. leads Europe 9½-2½ going into the singles matches on Tuesday
The U.S. Team will take a commanding 9½-2½ lead into the second and final day of the 2026 PING Junior Solheim Cup (PJSC) after dominating the day-one foursomes and fourballs.
Led by Captain Morgan Pressel, a two-time PJSC player and four-time Solheim Cup player, and spearheaded by rising superstar Asterisk Talley, the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion, the Americans won the morning foursomes 5-1 and the afternoon fourballs 4½-1½ at Bernardus Golf in The Netherlands.
“It’s easy to coach a team this insanely talented,” said Pressel. “They are also so clutch in the biggest moments. We won 18 three times this morning which was huge.
“It was so fun to watch both sides and they all showed so much heart. We have a healthy lead, but it’s not done and we’re not taking anything for granted.”
European Captain Anne van Dam, also a former PJSC and Solheim Cup player (2013 & 2019 respectively), praised her team’s fighting spirit.
“I’m so proud and I could not have asked them for any more today,” she said.
“It’s tough. The U.S. Team are incredible, but the girls know they gave their all and that’s why they are still smiling tonight.”
It is the first time the PJSC and the Solheim Cup have been played on the same course, and the 24 young players were inspirational for the hundreds of schoolchildren who came to watch.
Talley and Amelie Zalsman beat French pair Alice Kong and Axelle Guillemard 6&4 in the opening foursomes match, setting the tone for the morning session.
Czech player Anna Ludvová and Switzerland’s Lana Guyot contributed the only foursomes point for Europe, beating Anna Fang and Lily Peng 2&1, with Eliana Saga and Kelly Zhang winning three of the last four holes to beat English pair Annabel Peaford and Lauren Crump one up, and Grace Carter and Iris Lee beating Spanish duo Adriana García Terol and Carolina Perez-Tasso by two holes
Madeleine Conser and Aubrey Hilgers downed another Spanish pair, Carlota Lopez Minguela Marta Muñoz, 4&3, and Honorine Ferry and Amber Lee won the 18th to claim another point against Germans Sofia Maier-Borst and Lene Geier.
In the afternoon, Peaford and Crump produced some last-ditch heroics, finishing eagle-birdie-par, to grab half a point against Talley and Fang, but then Lee and Zhang saw off Kong and Guillemard 3&2 before Saga and Carter beat Lopez Minguela and Munoz 2&1.
Perez-Tasso and García Terol enjoyed a 4&3 win over Peng and Zalsman, but the U.S. completed a fine day by winning the final two matches.
The 12 singles matches begin at 7.20am local time on Tuesday.
