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Maja Stark has looked jittery on her Solheim Cup debut, but this will settle her nerves. A lovely approach into the par-four 5th, pin high to ten feet. Her partner Linn Grant then races an aggressive birdie putt five feet past, but Stark nails the one coming back to save the half. Meanwhile a chance goes by for Europe in the second match, as Celine Boutier creams a hybrid into the heart of the par-five green, only for Georgia Hall to whistle the eagle putt six feet past. Boutier can’t salvage the situation and that’s a careless three-putt. Another half, though that one won’t feel so good.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 3UP (5)
Boutier/Hall v Kang/Lee 1UP (4)
Maguire/Nordqvist A/S Korda/Corpuz (3)
Hull/Pedersen v Ewing/Knight 1UP (2)
Having missed a short putt to win the 1st, Cheyenne Knight repeats the trick on 2, pulling a straight one wide left from six feet. She cocks her head back with a mixture of irritation and disgust. But it doesn’t matter, because Charley Hull’s short par putt horseshoes out. A careless mistake by the British Open runner-up.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 3UP (4)
Boutier/Hall v Kang/Lee 1UP (3)
Maguire/Nordqvist A/S Korda/Corpuz (3)
Hull/Pedersen v Ewing/Knight 1UP (2)
Small mercies for Europe on the par-five 4th. Lexi Thompson lets a seven-foot birdie putt slide by to the right, and the chance for the USA to go four up through four holes is gone. But trouble for Leona Maguire on 3. Europe’s star of 2021 looks nervous this time round, and flubs a chip from the thick Bermuda grass to effectively hand the hole to the USA. Match three is tied again.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 3UP (4)
Boutier/Hall v Kang/Lee 1UP (3)
Maguire/Nordqvist A/S Korda/Corpuz (3)
Hull/Pedersen A/S Ewing/Knight (1)
Hole-winning chances from very makeable range go by for Cheyenne Knight at 1, Anna Nordqvist at 2, and Georgia Hall at 3. Pressure’s on already, folks. Pressure’s on.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 3UP (3)
Boutier/Hall v Kang/Lee 1UP (3)
1UP Maguire/Nordqvist v Korda/Corpuz (2)
Hull/Pedersen A/S Ewing/Knight (1)
A reminder of the formatFor the benefit of folk who fancy getting up on the downswing this weekend but don’t always follow the greatest sport in the world, we usually cut and paste the following explainer. Hey, if it’s worth reading once, it’s worth reading a dozen times. Here we go …
The Solheim Cup is a matchplay event. Each match is worth a point. There are 28 points available over the three days, so the first team to get to 14.5 points will win the Cup. Should the scores be tied at 14 points apiece, Europe will retain the trophy as current holders.
Match-play explained for those dipping their toe into the murky world of golf for the first time: In common-or-garden championship golf, such as the ANA Inspiration or the British Open, tournaments are scored using the stroke-play system. Whoever takes the fewest shots over all four rounds in a championship wins. All shots count and are added up for a cumulative total. So if, say, in next year’s Dinah Shore (Chevron Championship-speak for hipsters), Lexi Thompson shoots 63-63-63-63 and Georgia Hall shoots 87-87-87-87, Lexi will have taken 252 strokes, and beaten Georgia by 96 shots. (Good luck if you bet large on this exact outcome.)
Anyway, in match play, each player or team wins a hole for every hole they better their opponents. So if Lexi takes five shots at the 1st, but Georgia needs only three, Georgia goes 1up. If Georgia wins the next hole too, she’s 2up. If the pair share the same number of shots on the 3rd, the hole is halved, and Georgia remains 2up. It doesn’t matter if Lexi took 13 shots on her way to losing the 2nd, by the way; a bit like the unwritten rule of visits to wallet-sewer-interface-venue Las Vegas, what happens on each hole stays on each hole. There is no knock-on effect.
So let’s say Hall wins the first nine holes of our make-believe match. With nine played, and nine remaining, she is 9up. Lexi can only tie at best; Hall can’t lose. This is known as dormie. (And more specifically, in this slightly ludicrous example, as dormie nine.) If Lexi wins the next nine, the game will end all square, and each team will get half a point to their overall total. But if Georgia wins the 10th, she’s 10up with eight holes to play. She has won 10&8. If the 10th hole is halved, Georgia would be 9up with eight to play. She’s won 9&8. Similarly Lexi can be said to have lost 9&8. Europe would add a point to their overall total. I’ve probably made this sound way more complicated than it needs to be, but there it is anyway.
There will be three types of match: foursomes (teams of two players use one ball, taking alternate shots); fourballs (teams of two players play a ball each and take the best score, known as the better ball); and singles (this is when it gets quite wild and everyone across two continents starts with the shallow breathing and chest clutching). And these matches are arranged in a schedule like this:
Today: four matches of morning foursomes; four matches of afternoon fourballs.
Tomorrow: four matches of morning foursomes; four matches of afternoon fourballs.
Sunday: 12 singles matches.
The final game in the morning foursomes takes to the tee. Cheyenne Knight and Emily Pedersen both stay dry, leaving their partners Ally Ewing and Charley Hull the task of wedging close. Meanwhile the Swedish pairing of Linn Grant and Maja Stark continue to struggle; Stark misses the green at the par-three 3rd while Lexi Thompson sends her tee shot to eight feet, and the US have flown out of the traps in this opening match! And there’s people questioning the selection of the out-of-form Lexi. Class is permanent, huh.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 3UP (3)
Boutier/Hall v Kang/Lee 1UP (2)
1UP Maguire/Nordqvist v Korda/Corpuz (1)
Hull/Pedersen v Ewing/Knight
Back on 1, Allisen Corpuz, taking her first stroke of the week from the dropzone, knocks the ball pin high to 12 feet. Leona Maguire pulls Europe’s approach miles to the left of the flag, leaving Anna Nordqvist with a monster birdie putt. The Swede lags up wonderfully from downtown, enough for par. Nelly Korda can’t atone for her tee-box error, her par putt staying up on the right, and Europe hit the front in match three.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 2UP (2)
Boutier/Hall v Kang/Lee 1UP (1)
1UP Maguire/Nordqvist v Korda/Corpuz (1)
Some good fortune for USA off the tee at the par-five 2nd. Megan Khang’s drive threatens to disappear into shrubbery down the right of the fairway, but it clacks into some poor member of the gallery en route. But once Lexi Thompson advances the ball down the hole, Khang makes up for it, easing a wedge to four feet. Thompson tidies up for birdie, and the States are off to a flier in match one.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 2UP (2)
Boutier/Hall v Kang/Lee 1UP (1)
Maguire/Nordqvist v Korda/Corpuz
Danielle Kang rolls the straight birdie putt towards the hole, then wanders after it with her putter in the air. It’s there! A fast start for the USA as they take the lead in the opening two matches. But there’s better news for Europe back on the opening tee, as Nelly Korda, partnering Allisen Corpuz, pulls her tee shot into the pond. Anna Nordqvist, out with Leona Maguire this morning, reacts with the conservative play down the right. Big chance for a first splash of blue on the board here.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 1UP (1)
Boutier/Hall v Kang/Lee 1UP (1)
Back on the 1st tee, the competitors of the second match arrive on the scene. It’s Celine Boutier and Georgia Hall, who take on Danielle Kang and Andrea Lee. Compared to what went before, Kang and Boutier play conservative opening shots, to the right of the water rather than over it. Boutier’s briefly threatens to draw a bit too much, but it stays dry. However from a downhill lie, Hall knifes the approach through the green and down a swale at the back, while Lee sends the American ball over the flag to 18 feet. Advantage USA in this one too.
Lexi Thompson’s birdie putt shaves the right-hand edge of the cup but stubbornly refuses to drop. She chews her gum in frustration … but no matter, because Maja Stark can’t take advantage by making her six footer, which is always missing on the high side, and that’s the opening hole to the USA. A slightly uncertain start by Europe, and specifically by Stark.
Grant/Stark v Thompson/Khang 1UP (1)
Linn Grant’s tee shot had in fact snagged on the bank by the side of the bunker. That’s a bad break; the sand would have been more inviting. Maja Stark’s club decelerates through the thick Bermuda grass and Europe’s ball topples apologetically into the bunker. Megan Khang demonstrates the advantage of having a good lie in the trap by splashing out to 15 feet, after which Grant pings Europe’s third shot to six feet. Advantage USA here.
Europe captain Suzann Pettersen has selected an all-Swedish pairing of Linn Grant and Maja Stark for the first match of the Friday foursomes. The two debutants bounce excitedly over the bridge to the first tee and receive a tumultuous welcome. Stacy Lewis’s opening team of Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang are no less pumped. What an atmosphere! And what a nerve-shredding opening tee shot, downhill at a short dogleg-left par-four over water. Thompson has the honour of taking the first shot of these Matches, and bravely sends her shot over the drink – there is an option to bale out on the right, but what you gonna do? – and into sand back-right of the green. Linn Grant calmly follows her. We’re off, then. Three days of drama about to unfold in front of our startled eyes. May the best team win.
PreambleGood morning and welcome to our live hole-by-hole text coverage of the 18th edition of the Solheim Cup. After dramatic victories at Gleneagles in 2019 and Inverness Club, Ohio in 2021, the cream of European golf attempt to make it three consecutive victories for the first time in tournament history at Finca Cortesin in Spain. It’s already hopping at the first tee with the sun only just peeking up into view, and here are the pairings for the morning foursomes (Europe first, all times BST) … not long now. It’s on!
7.10 am: Linn Grant and Maja Stark v Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang
7.22 am: Celine Boutier and Georgia Hall v Danielle Kang and Andrea Lee
7.33 am: Leona Maguire and Anna Nordqvist v Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz
7.44 am: Charley Hull and Emily Kristine Pedersen v Ally Ewing and Cheyenne Knight