U.S. sweeps opening session for first time at Solheim Cup

ANDALUCIA, Spain — U.S. staff captain Stacy Lewis noticed one thing good in Solheim Cup veteran Lexi Thompson‘s sport in apply rounds at Finca Cortesin earlier this week, even when she hadn’t seen it from Thompson throughout a lot of the LPGA Tour season.

Lewis’ gamble to begin Thompson within the opening session of the 18th Solheim Cup — and go away two-time main championship winner Lilia Vu and rookie Rose Zhang on the bench — paid off in an enormous manner on Friday morning, because the People swept the foursome (alternate shot) matches to take a 4-0 lead over Europe.

It’s the first time the U.S. has began 4-0 within the Solheim Cup. It had by no means swept a foursomes session earlier than Friday.

The groups will head again out on the course later Friday for 4 four-ball (greatest ball) matches. The staff that received the opening session has captured the Solheim Cup in eight of the earlier 11 cases (there have been additionally six ties).

Europe is attempting to win the occasion a 3rd straight time, which it has by no means executed because the occasion’s inception in 1990.

Thompson and Megan Khang gave the U.S. staff loads of early momentum within the opening match. The U.S. duo received every of the primary three holes, because the Swedish staff of Linn Grant and Maja Stark confirmed early nerves. The Europeans carded bogeys on Nos. 1 and three to fall 3 down. The Europeans finally fought their manner again to tie the match with a birdie on the par-3 14th.

Then the People had a birdie on the par-4 fifteenth to go 1 up and closed out the Europeans with a par on the par-3 seventeenth to select up a second level for the U.S.

Thompson, 28, had limped via certainly one of her worst seasons as knowledgeable, lacking the minimize in eight of 11 begins on the LPGA Tour. She was 138th within the circuit’s season-long factors race.

Ally Ewing and Cheyenne Knight made fast work of England’s Charley Hull and Denmark’s Emily Okay. Pedersen in a 5 & 4 victory to select up the People’ first level. The U.S. duo took six holes on the entrance 9 and by no means seemed again.

Ewing and Knight have been regular but additionally took benefit of a number of errors by the Europeans, who had bogeys on Nos. 2, 5 and 6 and double-bogeys on the par-5 eighth and par-4 ninth. The Europeans’ lone victory within the match got here on the par-3 tenth gap, but it surely was too little, too late.

Danielle Kang and Andrea Lee captured the third level by defeating France’s Celine Boutier and England’s Georgia Corridor, 1 up. Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz accomplished the sweep by closing out Eire’s Leona Maguire and Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist on the 18th gap for a 1-up victory.