GAINESVILLE, Va. — Nelly Korda danced on the urging of teammate Megan Khang as they walked off the primary tee collectively on the Solheim Cup after a pep speak from former President Barack Obama. Then she let Khang increase her arms to pump up the group as they walked to the twelfth inexperienced following one other sterling shot from the world’s top-ranked participant.
Korda has by no means received a Solheim Cup in three tries, however she put america in a robust place to finish that drought by successful the leadoff match of every session Friday whereas serving to the Individuals to a 6-2 lead over Europe at Robert Trent Jones Golf Membership.
A Solheim Cup that started with an unforced error by organizers, who did not have sufficient shuttle buses to move followers to the course within the early morning hours, concluded its first day with the most important single-day lead by both staff. The U.S. additionally led 6-2 within the inaugural occasion in 1990, when the primary eight matches had been performed over two days.
“We performed opponents which can be enjoying incredible golf, that is No. 1. Typically we virtually invite them to play even higher,” European captain Suzann Pettersen stated. “On the identical time, we’ve got to face actuality, and we’ve got an enormous job to do.”
In her better-ball match with Khang, Korda performed 14 holes in 8 beneath and made two eagles on the again 9, the primary after her 5-iron strategy on the 480-yard, par-5 twelfth settled 2 toes away. Europe’s Georgia Corridor conceded that putt, and Korda holed a 10-footer for eagle on No. 14 to shut out a 6-and-4 victory over Corridor and Leona Maguire.
A six-time winner on the LPGA Tour this yr, together with her second main championship, Korda got here into the Solheim Cup with a 7-4-1 file. However Europe captured the trophy every time, successful in 2019 in Scotland and 2021 in Ohio earlier than retaining the Cup final yr with a attract Spain. Neither facet has captured the Cup 4 instances in a row.
Korda cannot win it on her personal — the U.S. wants 14 1/2 factors over three days — however she’s definitely a key determine for captain Stacy Lewis on a PGA Tour-tested course that favors energy and seems to swimsuit her eye. Korda received 16 holes in her matches, essentially the most by one Solheim Cup participant in a single day since 2015.
She knew she may play aggressively with the correct Khang as her accomplice.
“When you have got a teammate who’s so pure off the tee, you by no means have to fret. You simply type of ship it,” Korda stated. “In order that was type of the motto, is I used to be going to go first and ship it.”
Lewis additionally received sturdy contributions from her two rookies, sending Lauren Coughlin and Sarah Schmelzel out for each periods and watching them win three factors. Coughlin and Rose Zhang beat Celine Boutier and Albane Valenzuela 3 and a pair of in alternate shot, whereas Schmelzel and Lilia Vu topped Linn Grant and Carlota Ciganda by the identical rating. The rookies paired up for higher ball and beat Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark 3 and a pair of.
“I do not assume, at the very least to me, it was a shock that we performed rather well, as a result of we have been doing all of it yr,” stated Coughlin, a two-time winner this summer time.
Zhang, winless in her debut final yr, went 2-0 on Friday. She teamed within the afternoon with Andrea Lee, whose strategy on the 14th grazed the cup – simply lacking an albatross – to shut a 5-and-4 win over Grant and Charley Hull.
“Issues went in accordance with plan in the present day,” Lewis stated.
In the meantime, Pettersen received nothing from her greatest two gamers. Boutier, the top-ranked European at No. 10 on the planet, was rested after her morning loss, and No. 12 Hull went 0-2.
The matches started quietly beneath overcast skies, with half-empty grandstands surrounding the primary tee when Europe’s Esther Henseleit struck the opening tee shot at 7:05 a.m. Followers complained they had been caught for hours with no entry to restrooms whereas ready for bus rides to the sprawling property about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C., prompting an apology from the LPGA Tour.
Teamed with Allisen Corpuz within the opening alternate-shot match, Korda was regular on the again 9 whereas German rookie and Olympic silver medalist Henseleit faltered. The Individuals received the 14th and fifteenth holes with pars after which closed out Henseleit and Hull 3 and a pair of when Korda hit her strategy to five toes on the par-3 sixteenth.
Korda and Corpuz turned the primary American duo to win three straight alternate-shot matches after they went 2-0 within the format final yr.
The grandstands had been full when the afternoon matches started, and the crowds tried in useless to induce on Lexi Thompson in what’s seemingly her closing Solheim Cup as a participant. Thompson and Alison Lee misplaced their better-ball match 6 and 5 to the Swedish duo of Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom, who wore matching bucket hats and had Sagstrom’s new husband, Jack Clarke, carrying Nordqvist’s bag.
Nordqvist, an assistant captain for Europe who’s enjoying in her ninth Solheim Cup, made six birdies by 13 holes because the pair by no means trailed.
“I really feel like I have been the marriage crasher these days. I crashed her wedding ceremony final week, and this week I am crashing her and my caddie Jack’s honeymoon,” Nordqvist stated. “We simply had a variety of enjoyable on the market collectively.”
