Major champions Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz have the first tee time for the U.S. at the Solheim Cup on Friday morning, with Rose Zhang slated for the Americans’ second pairing.
The international team event will begin Friday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., with four foursomes (alternate-shot matches) between the U.S. and Team Europe.
The pairings for those four matches were revealed at Thursday afternoon’s opening ceremony. Korda and Corpuz will take on England’s Charley Hull and Germany’s Esther Henseleit in the first match.
Korda, ranked No. 1 in the world, has two major titles to her name and won six LPGA tournaments earlier this season, but she has yet to be part of a victorious Solheim Cup team in three tries. She carries a 7-4-1 Solheim Cup record into this weekend as she tries to help the Americans win the Cup for the first time since 2017.
Following that match, Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin will take on Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland and Celine Boutier of France. Zhang, 21, will play her second Solheim Cup since bursting onto the scene last year by winning her first LPGA tournament as a pro.
Boutier, the 2023 Evian Championship winner in her home country, went a surprising 0-3-0 at last year’s Solheim Cup, as Europe went on to retain the cup by virtue of a 14-14 tie.
The third match of the morning pits Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho against Sweden’s Maja Stark and Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen.
Finally, the session concludes with World No. 2 Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel facing Linn Grant of Sweden and Carlota Ciganda of Spain. Ciganda went 4-0-0 at last year’s Solheim Cup in her native Spain to lead all individuals in points earned.
Notably, Team Europe is not playing Leona Maguire of Ireland in the opening session. Maguire pulled off the rare feat of playing in all five sessions in each of her first two Solheim Cup starts.
The four players the Americans are resting are Lexi Thompson, Megan Khang, Alison Lee and Andrea Lee. Some or all of those players could be deployed for the afternoon session of four-ball (best-ball); those lineups will not be revealed until Friday.
–Field Level Media