Solheim Cup: Europe and the US at 4-4 after late heroics from Ciganda on Day 1

Solheim Cup: Europe and the US at 4-4 after late heroics from Ciganda on Day 1

DEN BOSCH, Netherlands — The opening day of the Solheim Cup started with smoke blowers and party music blasting out of a boisterous first tee. It ended in nervy silence on No. 18 as veteran European player Carlota Ciganda stood over a 12-foot putt to tie the match against the Americans.

HT Image

Not for the first time at the biggest team event in women's golf, she delivered.

Ciganda pulled off an unlikely par after world No. 1 Nelly Korda and Lauren Coughlin left birdie putts short to gain a half-point with rookie Julia Lopez Ramirez and leave the teams tied at 4-4 after a Day 1 that had a little bit of everything at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands on Friday.

Including a slice of history.

For the first time in the 36-year history of the Solheim Cup, Europe and the United States split each of the first two sessions. For two teams that have long looked so evenly matched, maybe it was no surprise.

It was a tough end to the day for Korda, who had a 4-and-3 win with Allisen Corpuz over European stars Lottie Woad and Charley Hull in the morning foursomes that earned the U.S. pairing a fifth straight victory together — an unprecedented feat at the Solheim Cup. Then, Korda didn't win a hole with Coughlin in the four-balls.

There were some other memorable performances on a day of changing weather, not least from European rookies Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud, who won 2 and 1 against Corpuz and Auston Kim in the afternoon four-balls.

Then there was Megan Khang, the bubbly American who — with a 5-and-3 win alongside Alison Lee in the four-balls — extended her unbeaten run in the Solheim Cup to nine matches, which is tied for the second-longest undefeated streak in the event. They won five of the last six holes, and six of the last nine from 2 down against Celine Boutier and Nanna Koerstz Madsen.

The day ultimately belonged to the 36-year-old Ciganda, who was never in the right spot down No. 18 — in fact, she was never in the fairway — but ended up getting up-and-down against the odds. It's another chapter of the Spaniard's Solheim Cup story that peaked in 2023 when her late back-to-back birdies secured a singles win over Korda and retained the crystal trophy in a 14-14 tie.

“I love this week,” she said on a post-round interview on the 18th green. “I just love playing for the team, for my teammates.”

Still, it was a solid start for the Americans in their bid to reach either 14 points to regain the Solheim Cup, or more to win on the road for the first time since 2015.

“I expected them to throw the kitchen sink at us right from the bat,” U.S. captain Angela Stanford said, “and I think we held up well."

Woad and Hull, two Englishwomen in the top 10 of the world ranking, were put together by captain Anna Nordqvist for the first match in both the morning and afternoon sessions.

Europe's power pairing failed to spark.

Dominated by Korda and Corpuz in a foursomes, they then wasted a 3-up lead after 11 holes to only tie their match against Yealimi Noh and Angel Yin in the foursomes.

Noh played the key role for the Americans, either winning or halving nine of the last 10 holes. She propped up Yin, who only recently returned after more than two months out with severe stomach issues.

Yin, who was left out of the morning session, was in tears and seen being consoled after the four-balls.

“She’s been through a lot lately," said Stanford, who described Yin's reaction as an “unloading of emotion."

The first tee is always the place to be in these big teams events and it lived up to its billing early Friday as players teed off inside the horseshoe-shaped grandstand containing around 3,000 spectators.

Stanford danced onto the tee after emerging from the tunnel before the matches began soon after dawn. Maja Stark and Linn Grant, a Swedish pairing who beat Rose Zhang and Jennifer Kupcho 3 and 2 in foursomes, swayed their hips to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.” Lindy Duncan, a 35-year-old rookie who never expected to play a Solheim Cup, took video with her cell phone. Leona Maguire teed off after chants of “We’ve got Maguire, USA is terrified!” and cheers for each of her practice swings.

“They’re living the dream,” Europe captain Anna Nordqvist said of the players, “and as a golfer it doesn’t get better than this.”

It was all very jovial, though, with respectful silence for each drive in front of a banner that read: “Dutch Courage. European Glory.”

See ’s full golf coverage here

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.