GAINESVILLE, Va. — Much like last year, the United States stormed to an early first-day Solheim Cup lead. But in Spain, the U.S. couldn’t buttress their lead in the afternoon four-ball sessions, giving back three points.
This year, led by the No. 1 player in the world, the Americans made sure that didn’t happen again.
Behind Nelly Korda’s superb leadoff play in the morning foursome and afternoon four-ball sessions, the U.S. stormed to a 6-2 lead over Europe after day one of the Solheim Cup Friday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, the biggest first-day lead in tournament history.
“Yeah, things went according to plan today,” captain Stacy Lewis said with a smile. “It was a really good day. The energy was awesome out there amongst our team and amongst the players.”
The Floridian won 16 holes across both matches, including all eight par 5s that she played, the most by any Solheim Cup player in a single day since 2015.
“Nelly gained a total of 7 1/2 strokes this afternoon on the field, and they said — the stats guys we work with, they’ve worked Ryder Cups now and Solheim Cups. It’s the highest they’ve ever seen a single session that they have worked,” Lewis said. “Pretty impressive this afternoon.”
Korda started the early session with Allisen Corpuz, and the duo used pin-seeking accuracy to win the opening match of the tournament, 3-and-2, over England’s Charley Hull and Paris Olympics silver medalist Esther Henseleit of Germany, becoming the first American team to win three straight Solheim Cup matches.
“We played opponents that are playing fantastic golf, that’s number one. Sometimes we almost invite them to play even better sometimes,” said European captain Suzann Pettersen. “At the same time, we have to face reality, and we have a massive job to do. We proved to ourselves we were capable of doing this last year, so the belief is there. There’s a lot of points yet to be played for.”
With less than 90 minutes of rest, U.S. captain Stacy Lewis sent Korda out first again in the afternoon. She and Megan Khang made it look effortless, tying the first two vs. Georgia Hall and Leona Maguire, then taking the lead on No. 3 and never looking back in a 6-and-4 rout.
“I just — if you spend any time around Megan Khang you know how much energy she has, and I kind of had a feeling she would pull [Korda] along,” Lewis said. “It was more the energy aspect.’
To wit, where Korda came out for her first match very calm and collected, her second tee time had her skipping out of the tunnel with Khang onto the tee box - an energy that continued throughout her second match.
“Allisen and I have similar demeanors on the golf course. We’re very calm, cool, and collected. Megan just brings out something different in me,” Korda said. “I’m very comfortable with her. And we played Junior Solheim Cup together, and that’s where we really grew close.”
Korda’s signature moment came at hole No. 12. Her tee shot off the 475-yard par 5 just stayed on the right side of the fairway, and on her second shot, she unleashed a precise strike with a 5-iron, getting the ball to roll across the green and up to within a foot of the hole.
“I had a 5-iron in, and I just - I hit a baby draw in, and those are the types of shots that you’ll back at forever, but I was just really loose and aggressive today in the afternoon,” Korda said.
Their tandem ball striking was the difference, both players consistently finding fairways while the Europeans sprayed some wayward shots, especially holes along Lake Manassas after non-existent morning winds picked up considerably in the afternoon.
“I think Megan is so solid that I was just so free out there,” Korda said. “Even with my drives, I was actually hitting it really well. I knew that having a partner that’s so solid, I can just kind of go after the pin. So I was very aggressive.”
Matches got off to a quiet start after a promised frenzied scene at the first tee just after dawn didn’t materialize. Thousands of spectators were left waiting in offsite parking lots at Jiffy Lube Live for nearly two hours because of a lack of buses to move fans to the course.
What should have been a packed crowd of 2,000-plus in the stands as the first foursomes teed off was barely half of that. The LPGA issued a statement apologizing to fans, saying that “significant changes” have been made to mitigate those issues for the rest of the weekend.
“I was told there were some issues with the transportation coming in. I’m pretty sure that’s all sorted now,” Pettersen said. “I think the crowds this afternoon was really, really good. I’m sure it’s going to be super crowded over the next couple of days, especially with the way the Americans have kind of got the energy in the crowds as well.”
Spectator galleries eventually grew, and the grounds felt more like a major tournament by the afternoon. The No. 1 grandstand was packed by then, including by former President Barack Obama, an RTJ member who cheered on the U.S. from the tee box.
“When you have big leads like that, for me as a captain it’s nice because I can just kind of let them go and go do their thing,” Lewis said. “I just think it was even better just for the crowds and for the energy. That afternoon was just rocking when they teed off, and that’s what we needed.”
The other two American victories in the morning foursomes came in the same manner: 3-and-2 wins ending on the par-3 16th hole. Rose Zhang and Solheim Cup rookie and Charlottesville, Virginia, native Lauren Coughlin followed up Korda and Corpuz in the second pairing, beating France’s Celine Boutier and Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela.
“I was pretty jacked up on the 1st tee,” Coughlin said, “but not as much as I thought I was, and I hit it right down the middle and that kind of made it easier for the rest of the day.”
Sarah Schmelzel, the other American rookie, also helped earn a point alongside World No. 2 Lilia Vu in their win over Sweden’s Linn Grant and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda.
“I was probably more nervous or had so much anticipation yesterday,” Schmelzel said. “So once I could get it started today, settled in pretty quickly. And then this afternoon I felt like the both of us were pretty settled in ready to just fire away.”
Lewis was confident enough with their performance in those matches that she sent the first-timers back out as their own pairing in the afternoon. Schmelzel played loose and relaxed, and University of Virginia alum Coughlin had some of the loudest backing of the day from her home state fans as they earned another point together, 3-and-2 over Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark.
“We’re obviously rookies on the Solheim team, but we’ve both been on Tour for six years now,” Schmelzel said. “You don’t necessarily feel like a rookie in that sense. We’re 30 and 31 years old. We’re borderline oldest on the team.”
“It was just really validating, I think, for both of us to go out there and play like we did today.”
Stanford duo Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang wrapped up the American afternoon scoring with a 5-and-4 win over Hull and Linn Grant. Finishing on No. 14, the duo recorded five birdies and an eagle across the final six holes of the match.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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