GAINESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz became the first American duo to win three straight alternate-shot matches in the Solheim Cup, taking control on the back nine against Charley Hull and Esther Henseleit to help the United States open an early 3-1 lead on Friday.
Two U.S. rookies also won their opening matches. The summer’s hottest American player, Lauren Coughlin, teamed with Rose Zhang for a 3-and-2 win over Celine Boutier and European rookie Albane Valenzuela. Sarah Schmelzel, picked by U.S. captain Stacy Lewis to play in her first Solheim Cup, chatted amiably with partner Lilia Vu as they beat the deliberately paced duo of Carlota Ciganda and Linn Grant, 3 and 2.
The only European win came from the fist-pumping, high-fiving pair of Maja Stark and Emily Pedersen, who went 3 up through four holes and survived a nervy back nine to close out Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho, 2 up.
The U.S. also dominated the opening foursomes session last year in Spain, 4-0, before Europe rallied for a 14-14 tie that allowed it to capture its third consecutive Solheim Cup. Neither team has taken the cup four times in a row.
Friday’s matches began quietly under overcast skies at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, with transportation problems leading to half-empty grandstands surrounding the first tee when Henseleit struck the opening tee shot at 7:05 a.m. Fans complained they were stuck for hours waiting for shuttle buses to the sprawling property about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C., prompting an apology from the LPGA Tour.
The grandstands were full Friday afternoon when former President Barack Obama, an RTJ member, greeted Korda and a pumped-up Megan Khang ahead of their fourball match.
Korda and Corpuz went 2-0 in foursomes in Spain. Their match on Thursday was tied on the par-5 14th hole when the rookie Henseleit, who won the silver medal for Germany at the Paris Olympics, hesitated before deciding to hit a fairway wood for her second shot. Her ball was tracking toward the flagstick but ballooned in the wind and splashed into the pond in front of the green, leading to bogey.
A poor drive by Henseleit on the par-4 15th led to a three-putt bogey, and the top-ranked Korda hit her approach to 5 feet on the par-3 16th. Corpuz made the putt to close out the match, 3 and 2.
“Both of them were silent assassins,” said Zhang, who heard the roar for the closing putt from the nearby 15th green.
Korda improved her Solheim Cup record to 8-4-1 but has never been part of a winning U.S. team. The Americans last won in 2017 in Iowa.
Playing in her home state, the long-hitting Coughlin — who made four scouting trips to RTJ this year — holed birdie putts on the par-5 eighth hole and again on the par-5 12th after her uphill, fairway-wood second shot found the back of the green.
“I feel like we were playing well all match, and then we just finally started getting some putts to go in,” Coughlin said. “But I feel like we played super solid the whole round.”
Schmelzel hit her tee shot on the 141-yard 16th to 4 feet for another 3-and-2 U.S. victory.
Lexi Thompson, who walked onto the first tee to pump up what fans were there before the matches began, sat out the morning session of her final Solheim Cup before she enters semi-retirement and rode around on a cart alongside assistant captain Paula Creamer to support her teammates. She was set to play an afternoon fourball match alongside Alison Lee.
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