After major transportation problems, fans help the USA to a 6-2 lead at the Solheim Cup

GAINESVILLE, Va. – If you bus them, they will come.

And on Friday they were on the first tee, thousands of them, using the stands – and their lung capacity – to the max. Thousands more lined the fairway and cheered loudly as Nelly Korda teed off and Megan Khang bounced to the blaring sound of the DJ.

Former President Barack Obama joined his supportgives high fives to the people around him and poses for photos, regardless of team affiliation.

It was a lively Friday afternoon outside the country’s capital as the home team took on the 19th.^th Solheim Cup, a positive ending (at least for the USA) after a gloomy beginning (for everyone involved).

Due to bus problems, hordes of fans were unable to arrive for the start of the first day of the LPGA main event at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Finally they got there. And they cheered and chanted – and, rightly so, they raged.

A bright yellow media band proved to be an inviting light.

When the first games started on Friday morning, it was still a bit dark in the stands at the first tee.

“We got to the bus at 6:15 and didn’t get here until 9:30!” shouted one fan unprompted.

“Bad day for the LPGA!” another voice rang out.

A fan storming down the 18^th Hole, knocked over a volunteer’s seat stand. “No more alcohol for you,” she scolded jokingly. “I deserve it!” he replied.

With the opening foursome beginning at 7:05 a.m. ET and gates opening at 6 a.m., fans began arriving at the main viewing area, the Jiffy Lube Live concert venue, early, some more than an hour early.

“The problem was there weren’t enough buses,” said Carolyn Keating, a former area resident who flew in from Bentonville, Arkansas, to attend the games and meet her family.

Keating said she arrived at the parking lot, which is five miles from the course, and asked about the wait time. When she heard the transfer could take up to two hours, she decided on “Plan B.”

“I found a parking spot off Lee Highway and went in,” she said.

“Two miles.”

Keating said this with a smile on her face, adding that she enjoyed the conversations with the many, many other motorists who became pedestrians.

The LPGA issued a statement at 9:21 a.m. that said, in part, “We are working on ways to express our regrets to those affected.”

While Keating and the others wondered what it would be like to leave the course on Friday night, they certainly had enough of it on the RTJ grounds.

GAINESVILLE, Va. – The U.S.

A crowd of seven spectators watched the first two games on 16.^th green. The USA alternate captains gathered under a nearby scoreboard that showed the home team leading 2-0.

Perhaps buoyed by the growing number of spectators, the US teams turned three close games into three 3-and-2 victories.

The Americans led 3-1 after the morning session – a nice advantage, but not a comfortable one, not after the USA squandered a 4-0 lead after the opening set at Finca Cortesin last year.

There was no disappointment this Friday. Quite the opposite.

Amid the high tension, the USA won three games by at least three holes.

“The energy,” said US captain Stacy Lewis of her priority this afternoon. “It felt like we were slacking at times last year in Spain. I just wanted to make sure we had the right people out here with the right energy.”

Mission accomplished.

Korda, playing with various partners, scored two dominant victories on the first day of the Solheim Cup.

Nelly Korda and Megan Khang won with 6 and 4. Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang won with 5 and 4. Lauren Coughlin and Sarah Schmelzel won with 3 and 2.

The only European victory was also a landslide victory: Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom defeated Alison Lee and Lexi Thompson 6 and 5.

It is the first time in the history of the competition that a team has led by such a large margin after Day 1.

“Last year we faced a pretty big challenge. We’ve done it before and we can do it again,” said European captain Suzann Pettersen.

“I don’t think we played badly. … The Americans played great. We have a huge task ahead of us.”

It starts on Saturday morning about 15 minutes after sunrise.

Hopefully the fans will be there to see it.