Saturday 19 August 2017 13:31, UK
Team USA stormed to a clean sweep of the afternoon fourballs to open up a commanding three-point lead after the first day of the 15th Solheim Cup in Iowa.
Europe had got the better of the morning foursomes with two wins and a half giving the visitors the early advantage, but the scoreboards around the Des Moines Golf and Country Club were a sea of red in the second session.
Lizette Salas and debutant Angel Yin set the tone for the afternoon as they romped to a resounding 6&5 drubbing of Carlota Ciganda and Emily Pedersen, and Annika Sorenstam's side suddenly found themselves trailing when the top match was decided on the 17th.
Danielle Kang celebrated her debut with her second win of the day as she and Michelle Wie held off Madelene Sagstrom and Jodi Ewart Shadoff 2&1, and Florentyna Parker endured a miserable first day of competition as Caroline Masson fought practically a lone battle against Brittany Lincicome and Brittany Lang.
The American pair lost only one hole when the rubber was effectively over and completed a 3&2 win at the 16th, leaving Charley Hull and Georgia Hall charged with the task of avoiding a session whitewash against Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller.
The English pair trailed from the sixth onwards, although they dug deep and Hull defied the pain of a wrist injury to extend the contest with a thrilling chip-in for eagle at the 15th.
But Lewis closed it out with her third birdie in five holes at the 17th to wrap up the first day one fourballs whitewash in the history of the Solheim Cup with Europe winning just seven holes in the entire session.
Rookie Danielle Kang made it two wins out of two on the opening day as she partnered Michelle Wie to a hard-fought victory in a tight fourballs battle as the European pair paid the price for a number of missed putts.
Wie got off to a great start as she won the first two holes with a pair of birdies, but Sagstrom and Ewart Shadoff steadied the ship with halves at the next two holes before both teams traded birdies at the fifth, sixth and seventh.
Ewart Shadoff should have pulled one back at the ninth but spurned a birdie chance from three feet, although she atoned at the next to finally get some blue on the board and halve the arrears.
But further opportunities went begging for Europe at the par-fove 11th and 13th holes which were both halved in pars, and Kang holed a good putt for birdie and a win at the 16th to ensure at least half a point. And after both Europeans were unable to birdie the next, Wie and Kang completed victory with a rock-solid par.
Emily Pedersen's Solheim Cup debut lasted only 13 holes as Salas recorded a rare 6&5 fourball drubbing in the competition with a barrage of birdies in match 2.
The game followed the pattern of the opener as the American pair won the first two holes with birdies, and Salas made it three in a row at the third to leave the European pair already facing an uphill battle.
Pedersen did manage to win the fourth and sixth with birdies of her own either side of another home win before Yin's birdie at the eighth followed by a Salas birdie at nine took the rampant USA pair four ahead at the turn.
The match was summed up at the long 11th, where both Ciganda and Pedersen took six and gifted away the hole to par, and Yin won her fifth hole of the round at the next before Salas parred 13 to cap a dominant win for Juli Inkster's team.
The two Brittany's coasted to a comfortable win in the third fourballs match of the afternoon as they restricted Parker and Masson to just one win late in a one-sided affair.
Masson did well to match American birdies at the first and fourth, but the German's four at the long fifth proved futile as Lincicome eagled to give the home pair the lead which they protected with a birdie apiece at each of the next two holes to deny Masson again.
With Parker clearly struggling on her debut, Lincicome doubled the lead with a two at the eighth and Lang's birdie at the next gave the Americans a commanding three-up advantage at the turn.
After the next four holes were shared, Lang effectively put the result beyond doubt with another birdie at the short 14th, although Masson battled on and put a consolation score on the board at the next.
But that merely prolonged the inevitable and, needing a birdie at 16 to extend the match, both Parker and Masson were off target as the home side continued their march towards a clean sweep of the second session.
Charley Hull provided Europe with another injury scare as she and young rookie Georgia Hall were unable to stifle the American charge in the final match of the opening day.
Hull appeared to be affected by a wrist problem in her morning foursomes, and she required treatment midway through the afternoon session although she bravely battled on and produced her second chip-in of the day to win the 15th with an eagle.
Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller had earlier taken control of a tight match with a birdie apiece at six and seven after the first five holes were halved, but Hall gained the first win for Europe with a morale-boosting two at the short eighth.
Hull and Hall were not able to emulate a crucial Lewis birdie at the 12th, and Hull's winning par at 13 was negated at the next when Lewis converted another pin-seeking iron in close.
Hull then gave her side hope with a deft chip from the greenside rough at 15 which found just enough of the cup to drop, but Lewis smote a delightful iron to four feet at the 17th and rolled in the putt to complete a perfect afternoon for Team USA.
