The United States team took a 6-2 lead over the European team after day one at the 2024 Solheim Cup.
With the scores at 3-1 after the morning foursomes session, the United States won three of the afternoon four-ball matches, with Europe collecting a point thanks to super Swedes Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom.
Here is a recap of play on Friday afternoon.
MATCH 5 – Nelly Korda/Megan Khang (USA) def. Georgia Hall/Leona Maguire (EUR), 6 and 4
Korda and Khang brought the energy to the first tee this afternoon and continued it into their match, eventually earning a 6 and 4 victory over Europe’s Hall and Maguire, who were 2-0-0 when paired together in Solheim Cup four-ball prior to Friday’s match. The U.S. duo, both making their fourth Solheim Cup appearance, started their gradual climb to victory with a birdie on No. 3 from Korda. They tied the 4th hole to maintain that lead before swapping birdies on the next four holes to take a massive lead of 5-up through 8. Korda and Khang briefly wavered, losing the par-3 9th hole, but then the pair won holes 12 and 14 to seal the deal and win the first match of Friday’s four-ball.
After playing in both sessions today, Korda is now 2-0-0 in the 2024 Solheim Cup.
“When you have a teammate who’s so pure off the tee, you never have to worry. You just kind of send it,” said Korda who is now 2-0-0 in the 2024 Solheim Cup. “So that was kind of the motto, is I was going to go first and send it. If I sent it in the wrong direction, I knew had a really good partner that was going to go next.”
MATCH 6 – Anna Nordqvist/Madelene Sagstrom (EUR) def. Alison Lee/Lexi Thompson (USA), 6 and 5
In their very first partnership – despite playing on three previous European Solheim Cup Teams together – Nordqvist and Sagstrom dominated their Friday four-ball match, defeating Thompson and Al. Lee 6 and 5. The pair were 1-up from the very start, with Nordqvist making birdie on No. 1, and they held that lead through three more holes. On No. 5, Thompson sank about a 10-foot putt for birdie to tie the match, and it remained tied for two more holes before Europe started their winning streak. The combination of Sagstrom and Nordqvist birdied holes 8-13 and won all five. Nine-time Solheim Cup veteran Nordqvist birdied Nos. 8, 11 and 13 while Sagstrom contributed with a birdie on 9 and an eagle on 13, accomplished with an over 40-foot putt from Sagstrom. With their win, the Swedes tied the second largest margin of victory in European four-ball history and put the second point on the board for Europe.
“She thought we were a strong team together, and obviously so today. We played really good. Today all we needed to do was go out and try to get a point for Europe. I mean, she believed in us to play together, which was a first for us,” said Sagstrom on why European Team Captain Suzann Pettersen paired them together. “I said (to Anna) on the range, ‘I’m so excited to play with you. This is going to be so much fun.’ It was just a great day, Anna played super well. In the beginning I was a little bit everywhere, but that works in four ball. Then I scrapped it out on the back nine and helped her out a bit.”
MATCH 7 – Lauren Coughlin/Sarah Schmelzel (USA) def. Emily Pedersen/Maja Stark (EUR), 3 and 2
Paired together for their second match of the day, Solheim Cup rookies Coughlin and Schmelzel battled out a 3 and 2 victory over Europe’s Stark and Pedersen, who together won their morning foursomes match earlier on Friday. The two pairs remained tied through the first six holes on Friday – it’s just the third time that’s happened in Solheim Cup history and the U.S. Team lost each time – until the American’s drew first blood to take a lead that they would not relinquish. A birdie on 7 from Schmelzel put the U.S. 1-up and Coughlin made it 2-up with a birdie on the very next hole, the par-5 8th. The Europeans made up ground courtesy of a birdie from Pedersen on 9, but Schmezel took it back with a birdie on 10. The Americans went 3-up on 13 thanks again to Schmelzel, but it was Coughlin who closed the door. After the Pedersen made birdie on the par-3 16th, the Virginia native answered with a more than 15-foot putt for birdie to end the day with a roar.
Coughlin and Schmelzel are now 2-0 in their Solheim Cup careers, since both won their morning foursomes matches. It is the first time a U.S. Solheim Cup rookie has gone 2-0 on Day 1 since Danielle Kang did so in 2017.
“I think it just calmed your nerves,” said Schmelzel on what she learned from playing in the morning foursomes match on Friday. “There’s so much anticipation of what it’s going to feel like, how you’re going to play. Obviously, both of us settled in pretty well this morning. We both came out this afternoon just really aggressive and wanting to play well and wanting to get a point after that first one. So I think we just stayed aggressive all day and believed in each other.”
MATCH 8 – Andrea Lee/Rose Zhang (USA) def. Linn Grant/Charley Hull (EUR), 5 and 4
Solheim Cup sophomores Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang claimed their first match victory in their second pairing together, 5 and 4, over Europeans Linn Grant and Charley Hull. The U.S. duo of An. Lee and Zhang were paired together last year in Spain in the second session of four-ball matches on Saturday and lost 2 down to Madelene Sagstrom and Emily Pedersen. Grant and Hull won the first hole this afternoon and held their 1-up lead through the first two holes. They briefly lost the lead after No. 3 and picked it up once more on the 5th. The tables switched with the former Stanford players winning the par-5 5th to earn their first lead of the match. They briefly lost the lead for holes 7 and 8 before claiming holes 9-12 to build a 4-up lead. An. Lee and Zhang sealed the deal with a pair of eagles on hole 14 to wrap at 5 and 4.
“Nothing really. I think we — especially in the front nine it takes a lot of grit to really just play out the round,” said Zhang on if anything changed on the back nine for the U.S. duo. “We really fought hard in the beginning, and I knew that towards the end we had it in us to really grind it out. Being kept in the momentum, we just did what we needed to. Both of us ham and egged it and kept each other pumping the whole time.”
Saturday Foursomes Tee Times
7.05 am – Emily Pedersen/Carlota Ciganda (EUR) vs. Allisen Corpuz/Nelly Korda (USA)
7.17 am – Esther Henseleit/Charley Hull (EUR) vs. Ally Ewing/Jennifer Kupcho (USA)
7.29 am – Maja Stark/Georgia Hall (EUR) vs. Lexi Thompson/Lauren Coughlin (USA)
7.41 am – Anna Nordqvist/Celine Boutier (EUR) vs. Lilia Vu/Sarah Schmelzel (USA)
