Team USA thrash Europe 4-0 in opening Solheim Cup session: "Boy, oh boy!"
The European team have it all to do after they were thrashed 4-0 by Team USA in the opening session of the 2023 Solheim Cup.
Suzann Pettersen's European side have it all to do after they were battered 4-0 by Team USA in the opening foursomes session of the Solheim Cup.
On the eve of the contest Pettersen's vice-captain Laura Davies claimed this was the strongest European team ever.
But after the first morning there was speculation the 18th edition of the biennial contest in Spain was already over.
In the opening match Swedish rookies Maja Stark and Linn Grant were defeated 2&1 by Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang.
Thompson has endured one of her worst seasons ever on the LPGA Tour but the duo were faultless at Finca Cortesin.
The first pairing to put a point on the board for Stacy Lewis' side was Ally Ewing and Cheyenne Knight.
They thrashed England's Charley Hull and Danish rookie Emily Pederson 5&4.
Hull revealed earlier in the week she was battling a neck injury and looked visibly uncomfortable at times whereas Pederson appeared a bit overawed by the occasion.
That was demonstrated when she fluffed a greenside chip down the stretch.
After Hull and Pederson's match was over Grant missed a putt to extend the contest with Thompson and Khang.
In a back-and-forth tussle, Celine Boutier and Georgia Hall were defeated by Danielle Kang and Andrea Lee.
The final match of the morning session was contested between Ireland's Leona Maguire and veteran Solheim Cup player Anna Nordqvist facing off against World No.1 Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz.
It came down to the wire with the European duo down by one.
A clean sweep for USA who win all of the first four matches pic.twitter.com/Gojz7y3Q6X
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) September 22, 2023
Nordqvist watched Korda's 20ft birdie putt drift by which would have closed out the match.
The fearless Swede had the opportunity to prevent a clean sweep with her putt but her effort never really had a chance.
Corpuz then rolled in the five footer to seal the match.
"Boy oh boy, it's going to be a long way back," said Paul McGinley.
U.S. captain Lewis told Sky Sports: "You could not ask for much more. We knew after seeing the pairings it was going to be tough. Thankfully they [her team] have trusted all my crazy talk in stats and they believed in me."
In full, day one foursomes results:
- M. Stark, L. Grant v L. Thompson, M. Khang 2&1
- C. Boutier, G. Hall v D. Kang, A. Lee 1UP
- L. Maguire, A. Nordqvist v N. Korda, A. Corpuz 2UP
- C. Hull, E. Pederson v A. Ewing, C. Knight 5&4
Afternoon fourball matches:
- G. Dryburgh, M. Sagstrom v R. Zhang, M. Khang
- L. Maguire, G. Hall v L. Thompson, L. Vu
- E. Pederson, M. Stark v J. Kupcho, A. Corpuz
- C. Ciganda, L. Grant v A. Yin, A. Ewing
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