Solheim Cup: Europe win two and halve one match to take early lead
Saturday 19 August 2017 07:28, UK
Europe made an encouraging start to the 15th Solheim Cup in Iowa as they opened up a one-point lead after the opening foursomes session.
Georgia Hall enjoyed a winning debut alongside Anna Nordqvist as they beat the wildcard pairing of Paula Creamer and Austin Ernst, while Catriona Matthew, a late replacement for the injured Suzann Pettersen, partnered Karine Icher to a tense win in the bottom match as three of the four encounters were settled on the 18th.
Mel Reid and Charley Hull looked poised to put the first blue on the board in the opening clash when Hull chipped in for birdie to take them two up with two to play, but Lexi Thompson bravely saved par at the 17th for a win and Cristie Kerr holed from 12 feet for birdie on the final green to deny the English pair.
Danielle Kang and Lizette Salas edged another scrappy battle in match two, with last month's KPMG Women's PGA champion Kang sealing a 1up win over Caroline Masson and Carlota Ciganda with a cool par-saving putt at the last, but Europe ensured a one-point advantage for the afternoon fourballs with wins in the bottom two matches.
Matthew and Icher were two down with six holes remaining, but they turned the clash on its head by winning three of the next four holes before Matthew's stunning bunker escape salvaged par at 17 and the Americans three-putted the last to gift a morale-boosting victory to Annika Sorenstam's side.
Reid/Hull A/S with Kerr Thompson
The home pair got off to the perfect start when Thompson smote a superb fairway-wood off the tee which bounded onto the green and settled 10 feet from the pin, and Kerr converted for eagle to get the crowds in good voice early on.
But the Americans made a mess of the long fourth and allowed Europe to level with a par before Hull and Reid birdied the next to take the lead for the first time, although a poor tee shot from Hull at the sixth ended up in an awkward position at the bottom of a bank from where they took two to get out and gifted a hole back.
A par at the eighth was enough for Europe to go ahead again, and the ninth was halved in bogey-sixes after Reid missed from three feet and the American pair three-putted.
Hull and Reid again got into trouble at 11 and lost the hole to a five, but they won the next two holes with pars and remained two up with four to play when more scrappy play at a par-five enabled the home duo to halve the deficit.
But Hull restored the two-hole buffer with a sublime chip-in for a winning birdie at the 16th and, after a confident putt from Thompson extended the contest, Kerr held her nerve to roll in a 12-foot putt for birdie at the last to snatch a dramatic half.
Ciganda/Masson lost to Kang/Salas 1 down
Like the top match, the Americans made a winning start at the first and the next three were halved before a good birdie at the fifth took Kang and Salas two up, but they bogeyed the next only for debutant Kang to respond by sinking a 10-footer for a winning birdie at the next.
Ciganda and Masson did well to keep the arrears down over the next three holes and then pulled one back with a birdie at the 11th and, after 13 was halved in bogeys, the European pair levelled the match with a solid par at the 14th.
But they handed the initiative back to the Americans with a bogey-six at the 15th, and the erratic Europeans could not avoid another bogey at the next before Ciganda did well to take the match down the last when she rattled in from 10 feet for a winning par at 17.
The American duo made hard work of it at the 18th, but the in-form Kang drilled in the match-winning par-putt from eight feet after Masson's chip for birdie missed the target.
Nordqvist/Hall bt Creamer/Ernst 3&1
Inkster's decision to pair her captain's picks together backfired as Nordqvist and Hall birdied the second to take a lead they would never reliqnquish, although ...
Match 3 was arguably the pick of the session in terms of quality, with the third and the fifth both being halved in birdies before Europe went two-up with another birdie at the sixth, although the home pair won their first hole at the next thanks to a well-judged 15-foot putt from Creamer.
Europe went back to 2up with a par at the eighth, but the gap was down to one at the turn when Nordqvist and Hall failed to save par at the ninth. The Swede, who has been troubled by a bout of glandular fever in the build-up, sank a nerveless birdie putt at the long 11th before an American par at the next won the hole and the next three were halved in pars.
But Nordqvist, the highest-ranked player in Sorenstam's team, ensured at least half a point with another classy putt for birdie at the 16th, and the Americans conceded when in trouble at the penultimate hole.
Matthew/Icher bt Lewis/Piller 1up
Matthew may have been regretting her promotion to playing duties when the Americans took a commanding early advantage with birdies at the third and fourth which the European pair could not emulate.
A par on the sixth was enough to pull a hole back, but the home pair replied with their fourth birdie in five holes at the next, although Icher and Matthew reduced the arrears again with a birdie of their own at the long ninth.
Matthew and Icher bogeyed the next to fall two behind one again, but the French star sparked the fightback with a long putt for birdie at the 13th, and she converted a nice tee shot from her partner at the next to level the anchor match.
The visitors suddenly led for the first time on the day with a par at 16, and Matthew almost closed it out at the 17th when her brilliance from the sand almost resulted in a hole-out and forced the Americans to scramble a par to keep the contest alive.
Both teams were in bother down the last, with Matthew chipping 30 feet past the pin from a tough lie in the rough that led to a bogey, but Lewis had already raced her birdie putt eight feet beyond the cup and Piller's return curled across the front of the hole.
