Gainesville (United States) (AFP) – Top-ranked Nelly Korda and United States teammate Allisen Corpuz will face Europe’s Charley Hull and Esther Henseleit in Friday morning foursomes to open the 19th Solheim Cup under pairings revealed Thursday. Korda, a six-time LPGA champion this season, won twice in foursomes with Corpuz last year while Germany’s Henseleit, the Paris Olympic runner-up, goes first as a rookie for holders Europe at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
“I wanted to send some experience out first and no one better than number one in the world and a pairing that was very successful last year,” US captain Stacy Lewis said. “They’re very comfortable together so I have a lot of confidence in them.”
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Europe captain Suzann Pettersen of Norway went with newcomer Henseleit and English eighth-time Cup starter Hull to provide quick spark. “They’re good friends and they get along great,” Pettersen said. “It’s nice to get Charley going. She doesn’t like to sit around and wait. It’s great to get everyone going, especially the rookies. There’s no point for them to sit around and wait and wonder what it’s going to be like. Let’s just send them out and let them experience it.”
Other opening session foursomes matches send France’s Celine Boutier and Swiss rookie Albane Valenzuela against Americans Rose Zhang and rookie Lauren Coughlin; Dane Emily Pedersen and Swede Maja Stark against Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho; and Swede Linn Grant with Spain’s Carlota Ciganda against second-ranked Lilia Vu and rookie Sarah Schmelzel.
The Americans lead the rivalry 10-7 with one drawn, but Europe have taken the trophy three consecutive times, including as defending champions off last year’s 14-14 draw in Spain. The Americans, who haven’t won since 2017, went 4-0 in last year’s opening foursomes session.
“It was a tough start,” Pettersen said. “Sometimes you can play good golf and still lose. You can literally get outplayed.” Pettersen mingled statistics and instinct to pick her duos with minimal player input. “You want their opinion and at the same time you can’t please everyone,” Pettersen said. “We have a lot of stats helping us putting guidelines and you kind of get a blueprint. But at the same time you’ve got to look at the course, look at kind of a gut feel.”
A “tough call” from such feelings was Ireland’s Leona Maguire, with seven wins and a draw in two prior Cups. She will sit out a session for the first time. “She has a great record and she’s a feisty Solheim player,” Pettersen said. “You’ll see her but it’s just how it all pieced together.”
– ‘It’s a puzzle’ –
Lewis sought feedback and sorted issues like different ball brand sponsor deals, but used statistics to unite Zhang and Coughlin, who “came out of the computer but I like the energy,” she said. “It was a two-way street. I got us at a starting point and we rolled on from there…it’s a lot. It’s a puzzle.”
Lewis benched Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang, who won two foursomes matches last year. “It was more we have a lot of good players,” Lewis said. “I don’t think I’ll have anybody playing five. It was just the combinations and the way they worked out.” Lewis said she wanted her rookies out quickly also. “They’ve been ready to play since Monday,” she said. “It has just been trying to calm them down and keep that energy level where it is.”
Kupcho and Ewing are reunited after their runner-up finish in June’s LPGA pairs event. “It was really them more than me,” Lewis said. “I was excited when they came to me and said we’re going to try this pairing. I thought they’d be tremendous for alternate shot.” Kupcho said trust with Ewing is key. “We get along so well. We also really trust each other’s game, maybe moreso than we trust our own,” Kupcho said.
© 2024 AFP
