Solheim Cup chaos as 1st tee announcer introduces wrong player – then gets it wrong again

Nanna Koerstz Madsen was left wondering whether she had somehow been dropped from Europe’s afternoon fourballs line-up after a hilarious 1st tee mix-up left everyone at Bernardus Golf in stitches.

The 31-year-old Dane was standing on the tee and preparing to hit her opening drive against the USA when the announcer introduced not one, but two completely different European players.

After Megan Khang and Alison Lee had hit their opening tee shots, Madsen and Celine Boutier were next up for Europe.

Madsen was warming up and ready to go when the 1st-tee announcer confidently declared: “On the tee for Team Europe... Celine Boutier.”

So far, so wrong.

The announcer quickly realised her mistake.

“Oh no, sorry, on the tee for Europe... Maja Stark.”

Cue absolute confusion.

Stark had played in the morning foursomes but was not part of Europe’s Friday afternoon fourballs team, having been rested ahead of Saturday’s action.

Madsen, meanwhile, was very much supposed to be playing.

The Danish star immediately went bright red as she and her caddie looked towards the announcer, seemingly thinking: Is this actually a joke?!

For a split second, Madsen appeared to question whether she had somehow been told the wrong thing herself, before bursting into laughter at the bizarre situation unfolding in front of her.

The spectators, players and captains were equally amused as the 1st tee announcer prepared for a third attempt at getting the introduction right.

European captain Anna Nordqvist eventually stepped in, walking over to the announcer.

“Right okay, let’s try that again...” the announcer said.

Nordqvist then took matters into her own hands.

“Nanna Koerstz Madsen...” Nordqvist said into the microphone. 

This time, the crowd responded with a huge cheer.

The announcer was left visibly embarrassed by the mix-up, laughing as she attempted to recover from one of the more memorable 1st-tee introductions you are likely to see at a Solheim Cup.

Exactly how the confusion happened remains unclear, but Madsen thankfully let her golf do the talking, promptly splitting the opening fairway before Boutier was correctly announced before hitting her own tee shot. 

Sky Sports Golf commentator Dame Laura Davies perhaps summed up the entire episode best.

“She had one job, she had one job!” joked Davies, who added: “No, she’s a lovely lady, she will hate the fact she did that.”

The morning foursomes finished 2-2.