Nelly Korda leads the Americans to a record-breaking 6-2 lead on the first day of the Solheim Cup

GAINESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Nelly Korda danced at the urging of her teammate Megan Khang as they walked off the first tee together at the Solheim Cup, following a pep talk from former President Barack Obama. She then had Khang raise her arms to cheer the crowd as they walked to the 12th green after another superb shot from the world’s top player.

Korda has never won a Solheim Cup in three attempts, but she put the United States in a strong position to end that drought by winning the opening match of each session on Friday and helping the Americans to a 6-2 lead over Europe at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

A Solheim Cup that began with an unforced error by the organizers, who did not have enough shuttle buses to get fans to the court in the early hours of the morning, ended its first day with the largest daily lead of any team. The USA also led 6-2 in the inaugural event in 1990, when the first eight games were played over two days.

“We have played against opponents who play fantastic golf, that’s the most important thing. Sometimes we challenge them to play better,” said European captain Suzann Pettersen. “At the same time, we have to face reality and we have a huge task ahead of us.”

In her better ball match with Khang, Korda played 14 holes at 8 under par and made two eagles on the back nine, the first after her 5-iron approach on the 480 yard par 5 hole 12 landed 2 feet away. European Georgia Hall pocketed that putt and Korda holed a 10-foot putt for an eagle on hole 14, securing a 6-and-4 victory over Hall and Leona Maguire.

Korda, who has won six LPGA Tour titles this year, including her second major title, came into the Solheim Cup with a 7-4-1 record. But Europe took the trophy each time, in Scotland in 2019 and Ohio in 2021, before defending the Cup with a tie in Spain last year. Neither team has won the Cup four times in a row.

Korda can’t win it alone – the American needs 14 1/2 points over three days – but she is certainly a key figure for captain Stacy Lewis on a PGA Tour-tested course that favors power and seems to suit her. Korda won 16 holes in her matches, the most by a Solheim Cup player in a single day since 2015.

She knew she could play aggressively with the accurate Khang as her partner.

“When you have a teammate who hits that cleanly, you never have to worry. You just hit,” Korda said. “So that was kind of the motto: I’ll go first and hit.”

Lewis also received strong support from her two rookies and sent Lauren Coughlin and Sarah Schmelzel were out for both sessions and won three points. Coughlin and Rose Zhang beat Celine Boutier and Albane Valenzuela 3 and 2 in alternating throws, while Schmelzel and Lilia Vu Linn defeated Grant and Carlota Ciganda by the same score. The freshmen teamed up for the better ball, beating Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark 3 and 2.

“I don’t think it was a surprise – at least to me – that we played really well, because that’s what we’ve done all year,” said Coughlin, who won twice this summer.

Zhang, winless in her debut last year, went 2-0 on Friday. In the afternoon, she teamed up with Andrea Lee, whose approach on the 14th hole grazed the trophy – just missing an albatross – to complete a 5-and-4 victory over Grant and Charley Hull.

“Today everything went according to plan,” said Lewis.

Pettersen, meanwhile, was unable to get any results from her two best players. Boutier, the best European at number 10 in the world rankings, was rested after her morning loss, and number 12 Hull lost 0-2.

Play began quietly under overcast skies, and by the time European Esther Henseleit made her first tee shot at 7:05 a.m., the stands surrounding the first tee were half empty. Fans complained that they were stuck for hours without access to restrooms while waiting for a bus to the sprawling grounds about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C., prompting an apology from the LPGA Tour.

Together with Allisen Corpuz in the opening match in the alternate shot, Korda showed a solid performance on the back nine, while the German rookie and Olympic silver medalist Henseleit was weak. The Americans won the 14th and 15th holes with pars and then Henseleit and Hull finished 3 and 2 when Korda met her approach at 5 feet on the par 3 hole 16.

Korda and Corpuz became the first American duo to win three consecutive alternate shot matches after winning 2-0 in the format last year.

The stands were full when the afternoon games began, and spectators tried in vain to cheer on Lexi Thompson. which is probably her last Solheim Cup as players. Thompson and Alison Lee lost their better ball match 6 and 5 to the Swedish duo Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom, who wore matching bucket hats and Sagstrom’s new husbandJack Clarke, carrying Nordqvist’s bag.

Nordqvist, an alternate captain for Europe playing in her ninth Solheim Cup, made six birdies in 13 holes and the pair never trailed.

“I feel like I’m the wedding crasher lately. Last week I crashed her wedding, and this week I’m crashing her and my caddy Jack on their honeymoon,” Nordqvist said. “We just had a lot of fun out there together.”

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