Solheim Cup: Europe lead USA after foursomes on day one – live!

Incidentally, neither Nelly Korda nor Ally Ewing, nor indeed anyone on the US team, made any sort of complaint about Madelene Sagstrom conceding that birdie putt in seven seconds and picking the ball up before the allotted ten. It was spotted by the referee, who raised the issue herself. Catriona Matthew isn’t happy about it, but once there’s a bit of time and distance applied to the affair, she’ll most likely accept it as one of those things and move on. It’s probably for the best that the next hole is halved.

1UP N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (14)
Kupcho/Salas A/S Ciganda/Popov (12)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 3UP (12)
Noh/Altomare A/S Hall/Maguire (10)
USA ½-3½ Europe

While that fiasco was revealing itself, Georgia Hall sent her second at 10 to six feet, and knocked in the birdie putt. After stemming the bleeding at the previous hole, Europe have clawed themselves level in the final match.

1UP N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (13)
Kupcho/Salas A/S Ciganda/Popov (12)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 3UP (11)
Noh/Altomare A/S Hall/Maguire (10)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Korda’s ball has been deemed to be overhanging, so she’s awarded the eagle three and the USA win the hole. They go one up. That’s harsh in a way on Europe, because there was little chance the ball would topple in – only a very small section of it was over the lip – and having come to a halt, without a freak gust it was never going to move again in the next three seconds. But Sagstrom didn’t wait long enough, and the rules of golf are the rules of golf. When you boil it all down, that’s on Sagstrom and Europe. They can have no complaints.

Madelene Sagstrom only waited seven seconds to pick up Nelly Korda’s ball on 13 and concede the birdie putt. The referee has therefore awarded Korda her eagle three, because technically the USA were robbed of three seconds in which the ball could have toppled in. Sagstrom and captain Catriona Matthew are arguing that the ball wasn’t overhanging and would never have dropped. “It was never going to go in,” insists Sagstrom. “It doesn’t matter, you didn’t wait the ten seconds,” says the referee. But then she asks whether the ball was overhanging, and agrees to look at television footage. Hmm. I suspect Europe may be bang to rights here on a technicality, but we’ll see.

Thompson/Harigae and Nordqvist/Castren share the 11th in four. Castren had a decent opportunity to stretch Europe’s lead to four holes, but her 12-foot tickle from the fringe at the back is always drooping wide left. The USA need something to happen in this match quickly.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (13)
Kupcho/Salas A/S Ciganda/Popov (12)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 3UP (11)
1UP Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire (9)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Nelly Korda looks to have made a sensational eagle putt on 13. Her 30-foot effort has a huge semi-circular right-to-left break, and stops right on the edge. Sagstrom doesn’t hang about in picking it up and conceding the birdie, just in case the ball thinks about a belated topple. That leaves Koerstz Madsen with a much straighter eagle chance, but hers never looks like dropping, staying up on the right. A birdie and a half.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (13)
Kupcho/Salas A/S Ciganda/Popov (12)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 3UP (10)
1UP Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire (9)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Noh is this close to draining her birdie putt on 9. She’s the width of a dimple away from winning a fourth hole in a row. Maguire gets up and down from sand to secure the half and stop the rot. The first group share the spoils at the par-three 12th, nobody having gone close with their tee shots. And after Harigue fails to make her outside birdie chance on 10, Nordqvist rolls in her shorter effort to take another hole. She and Castren are the first team to go three up in any match so far today.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (12)
Kupcho/Salas A/S Ciganda/Popov (10)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 3UP (10)
1UP Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire (9)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Nordqvist clips one heck of a shot out of a fairway bunker on 10, sending her ball pin high from 160 yards. She’ll have a six-foot look at birdie, and resistance will be down to Harigue, who gives herself a chance from 15 feet. Thompson misses the green with her approach, her game having become a little ragged over the past few holes. Meanwhile on 9, Noh is in the box seat on the green, with neither Hall nor Maguire threatening. The final US pairing could be about to win their fourth hole in a row.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (11)
Kupcho/Salas A/S Ciganda/Popov (10)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (9)
1UP Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire (8)
USA ½-3½ Europe

The match referee has put the first fourball on the clock. All four quickly find the dancefloor at 12, but nobody’s particularly close to the flag. It’ll be interesting to see if this disrupts anyone’s rhythm or sang-froid.

Jennifer Kupcho drains a 25-footer on 10, and the USA have clawed their way back to parity in match two. Meanwhile on 11, Ewing, having missed one to the left on the previous hole, sends her latest birdie effort wide right. That opens the door for Sagstrom, but she misreads her putt woefully, missing the five-footer to the right by the width of a couple of balls. A let-off for both teams, as the opening match remains all square.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (11)
Kupcho/Salas A/S Ciganda/Popov (10)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (9)
1UP Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire (8)
USA ½-3½ Europe

More flag peppering at 11, when Ewing and then Sagstrom knock approaches to five feet. Back on 9, Harigae’s birdie putt is indeed conceded, but Nordqvist walks in her own birdie and Europe remain two up as they hit the turn. And on 8, Altomare rolls in her six-footer for a birdie that puts her pairing in the lead for the first time this afternoon.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (10)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (9)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (9)
1UP Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire (8)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Two fine shots into 8 by Noh and Altomare. They’ve both got six-foot looks for birdie, so Europe will be happy that Maguire has stuck her approach to ten feet. A chance to stay competitive. And it’s a similar story on 9, where Harigae wedges a stunner to kick-in distance, only for Nordqvist to follow her to four feet. Harigae’s putt will surely be conceded.

Koerstz Madsen and Sagstrom are both wild off the tee at 10. They’re pleased therefore to escape the hole with a half, Ewing missing a very makeable birdie putt from six feet, pulling it left.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (10)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (9)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (8)
Noh/Altomare A/S Hall/Maguire (7)
USA ½-3½ Europe

They’re presented with a chance at 9, where Carlota Ciganda has a 15-footer for birdie and the hole. It misses on the left. But Sophia Popov has a look as well … however she pulls a miserable effort from eight feet wide left. A brave smile from last year’s British Open champion as she departs the scene; they are still one up, I suppose.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (9)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (9)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (8)
Noh/Altomare A/S Hall/Maguire (7)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Yealimi Noh makes yet another putt, for a birdie this time at 7. Having scrambled a half at 5, she’s now won two holes in a row. The US could have been three down; now they’re level! Stupendous stuff from the 20-year-old rookie. So good. This was looking awful for the hosts an hour ago; now they’ve fought their way right back into it. Now you feel it’s Europe who are in need of a momentum shift.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (9)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (8)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (7)
Noh/Altomare A/S Hall/Maguire (7)
USA ½-3½ Europe

So having said that, Europe hit back immediately. Nanna Koerstz Madsen rolls in a five-footer for birdie at 9, and she high-fives with team-mate Madelene Sagstrom, who breaks into loud, excited laughter. The Scandinavian pair are clearly loving this battle, and it’s also good to see that Sagstrom has got over the attack of the killer bees.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (9)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (8)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (7)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 1UP (6)
USA ½-3½ Europe

A fine lob from thick oomska at the back of 7 by Mina Harigae. She nearly sends it rolling serenely into the cup, but it’s a tap-in to save par and halve the hole. Meanwhile up on 8, Lizette Salas does chip in. She makes a brilliant eagle having been unlucky to see her fairway wood, taking the same line as Ally Ewing’s a few minutes ago, snag in the rough. A deserved reward, and she waves her arms to get the crowd going. The crowd get going, sensing that the USA are working their way back into this tournament.

1UP N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (8)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (8)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (7)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 1UP (6)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Yealimi Noh made a staunch par-saving putt on 5, to scramble a half, and now she’s followed it up with a ten-foot par effort on 6 to win the hole. Great stuff from the young rookie, who came so close at the Evian earlier this year, and looks every inch the part. She’s clearly enjoying her first Solheim Cup adventure.

1UP N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (8)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 2UP (7)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (6)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 1UP (6)
USA ½-3½ Europe

A wee bit of a lull again, at much the same stage of the round as the morning. Maybe there’s something in the ley lines.

1UP N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (8)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 2UP (7)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (6)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 2UP (5)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Par for Anna Nordqvist at 6. She’s the only one in her fourball who found the green in regulation, and a four-foot putt is enough to win the hole. Europe are now two up in three of the matches, but they’re behind in the other, as a two-putt birdie on 8 by Ally Ewing, reward for that outrageously good fairway wood, puts some red on the board at long last.

1UP N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (8)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 2UP (7)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 2UP (6)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 2UP (5)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Jennifer Kupcho knocks her second into 7 pin high. She leaves herself a 12-foot look at birdie, and she’s surely made it, but somehow the ball gives the hole the big swerve, skating around the left-hand side of the cup and sitting stubbornly behind. That’s just not on. Gravity has done a number on the USA there. And it means Sophia Popov has a chance to plunge the knife with a birdie putt of her own. In it goes, from similar distance, and the German’s punching the air with great excitement and feeling once more. What a body blow for the hosts. The small margins, eh?

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (7)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 2UP (7)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 1UP (5)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 2UP (5)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Having crashed a stunning drive way down the track at the par-five 8th, Ally Ewing then sends an exceptional fairway wood into the front of the green, utilising the bank to the side to bring the ball to 15 feet. Pin high, she’ll have a great look at eagle. That puts the pressure on Nanna Koerstz Madsen, who had hit an equally fine drive … but the Dane pulls her second into a bunker guarding the front left. Signs that the US have snatched the momentum in this opening match. We could be seeing a flash of red on the board again very soon.

A wild scene on 4, where Brittany Altomare rakes in a 35-footer for birdie … only for Leona Maguire to trundle in a similarly long putt. Hole halved. The crowd have been quiet for a while, but that trading of blows woke them up a bit … and then there’s a proper full-blooded roar as Nelly tidies up for a fine crash-bang birdie at 7. For the first time in a little while, the USA have put a little something back on the board.

N Korda/Ewing A/S Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom (7)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (6)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 1UP (5)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 2UP (4)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Nelly Korda has been strangely subdued all day – to be fair, her efforts in winning the PGA and the Olympics must have taken plenty out of her – but here’s a small sign of recovery. Having flashed a long drive down 7, she whips her second straight at the flag, and will have a great chance to make birdie. Meanwhile Sagstrom’s approach topples off the false front, completing a painful few minutes for the Swede, who has reportedly been stung by a bee.

Georgia Hall appears almost as serene and unruffled as her partner Georgia Hall. She demonstrates this by creaming a smooth approach over the flag at 4, using the ridge across the green to draw the ball back towards the hole, Lyle-at-Augusta style. That’ll be a good look at birdie.

Now it’s the 2021 British Open champion’s turn to make a wonder putt. Anna Nordqvist guides in a downhill left-to-right birdie slider on 4 to put Europe up in all four matches. She’d got a bit of a read from Lexi Thompson, who had woefully misjudged her own downhill birdie effort, her ball breaking well right, focusing Nordqvist’s mind on giving it enough on the other side.

N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom 1UP (6)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (5)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 1UP (4)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 2UP (2)
USA ½-3½ Europe

The 2020 British Open champion Sophia Popov sinks another monster putt! She races her birdie effort at 5 straight into the cup, and hoists a fist into the sky in celebration. A marked bounce in her step now! Probably not the best time to remind US fans that she was born in Boston, only moved to Germany at the age of four, and has dual nationality. What could have been, huh.

N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom 1UP (5)
Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov 1UP (5)
Thompson/Harigae A/S Nordqvist/Castren (3)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 2UP (2)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Europe have the advantage on the par-three 5th. Ciganda and Popov knock their tee shots pin high, leaving 25-foot looks at birdie, but Kupcho and Salas both fly the green and go over the back.

Europe respond instantly with a one-two of their own! First Leona Maguire makes birdie at 2, wasting no time over a four-footer, then on 4 Carlota Ciganda rattles in a 20-footer to cancel out Lizette Salas’s earlier eagle at 2. Already the fourballs are promising to be as hotly contested as this morning’s foursomes.

N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom 1UP (5)
Kupcho/Salas A/S Ciganda/Popov (4)
Thompson/Harigae A/S Nordqvist/Castren (3)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 2UP (2)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Could this be the momentum-turner the USA need? Ally Ewing rakes in a long birdie putt across 5, and halves Europe’s lead in the opening match at a stroke. And then on the par-three 3rd, Lexi Thompson makes up for her error on 2 by chipping in from the fringe! She flashes a smile and raises a fist in the air. Neither Nordqvist nor Castren can make their birdie efforts, and what a scoreboard one-two for the hosts, and a double whammy for Europe!

N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom 1UP (5)
1UP Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov (3)
Thompson/Harigae A/S Nordqvist/Castren (3)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 1UP (1)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Goodness knows how many majors Lexi Thompson would have on her CV if she was dependable with her flat stick. She’d have won this year’s US Open, for starters, and probably a couple more ANA Inspirations as well. But her capacity for yipping short putts kills her so often. And here we go again, as she hoicks a three-footer wide right of the cup at 2, to hand the hole to Europe in par. The USA are now down in three of this afternoon’s four matches, and while there’s a long, long, long way to go, and plenty of opportunity to turn things around, their fans can be forgiven for starting to worry a little bit. Momentum isn’t with them right now, and they need to share the spoils in this session at the very least.

N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom 2UP (4)
1UP Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov (3)
Thompson/Harigae v Nordqvist/Castren 1UP (2)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 1UP (1)
USA ½-3½ Europe

Another birdie opportunity for the fast-starting Madelene Sagstrom, this time at 4. This one looks like going in too, only to turn gently right over the last couple of feet. Par will have to do. Europe remain two up in this afternoon’s opening match.

N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom 2UP (4)
1UP Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov (3)
Thompson/Harigae A/S Nordqvist/Castren (1)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 1UP (1)
USA ½-3½ Europe

What scenes on the 1st green! The extraordinary debutant Leona Maguire sends her approach to six feet, setting up a magnificent chance for birdie. But she doesn’t get to make the putt and take the applause, because her partner Georgia Hall sends a tramliner straight into the cup from the best part of 70 feet! If there’s a better putt sunk this week, we’ll be lucky to see it. Europe grab a lead in the final match, then, though not in the manner anyone expected.

N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom 2UP (3)
1UP Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov (2)
Thompson/Harigae A/S Nordqvist/Castren (1)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire 1UP (1)
USA ½-3½ Europe

The big news from the early fourball exchanges: Madelene Sagstrom birdies the first two holes to establish an early lead over Nelly Korda and Ally Ewing; Lizette Salas drains a long eagle effort on 2 to snatch the hole off Sophia Popov, who was spooked by the American’s putt and missed a significantly shorter eagle chance; and Lexi Thompson is extremely unfortunate to see a long birdie effort stop on the lip at 1. More drama didn’t take long in coming, huh?

N Korda/Ewing v Koerstz Madsen/Sagstrom 2UP (3)
1UP Kupcho/Salas v Ciganda/Popov (2)
Thompson/Harigae A/S Nordqvist/Castren (1)
Noh/Altomare v Hall/Maguire
USA ½-3½ Europe

One of the stars of this morning’s show, Leona Maguire, batters a monster drive down the 1st fairway. Georgia Hall follows her, as do US debutant Yealimi Noh and Brittany Altomare. All the afternoon fourballs are now underway.