Europe rally to win the fourball session
The first foursome session was extremely poor for Europe as they lost four nil. The pairings were changed for the fourballs which included Leona Maguire playing with Georgia Hall and Carlota Ciganda playing her first game. The atmosphere was electric again at the first tee for the foursomes with loud music heard all over the course. Europe captain Suzanne Petterson needed a good session to get back into the match. The conditions for the afternoon session were tough due to a strong breeze.
Match one was Gemma Dryburgh & Madelene Sagstrom representing Europe against Rose Zhang & Megan Khang of USA. On paper this was a tough game for Europe with Khang in great form and Zhang a former world number one amateur. The match was tight on the front nine and Europe went 1up by winning the 11th hole with a bogey. Europe lost the 13th hole but Europe won the 14th hole. Europe lost the difficult 15th hole but Europe halved the 16th thanks to an amazing holed chip shot by Dryburgh. The match was extremely close which ended on the 18th hole in a halved match.
Match two in the fourballs was Leona Maguire & Georgia Hall from Europe against Lexi Thompson & Lilla Vu of USA. Europe went ahead after Hall holed a putt for eagle at the par five fourth. This game was extremely tight and Maguire & Thompson halved the par three 12th with birdies. Maguire holed a great putt for par at the 13th hole to maintain a slender lead. USA won the 14th hole as Thompson hit an incredible drive onto the green and held the putt for eagle. It looked like this match was going to end in a half until Maguire won the game on the 18th with a chip in for birdie.
Match three in the fourballs was Emily Pedersen & Maja Stark of Europe against Allisen Curpuz & Jennifer Kupcho. Europe went one down on the 10th but Pedersen played an extraordinary third shot on the 11th hole which ended up six inches from the hole to guarantee a half. The par at 11 gave Pedersen momentum as she got an hole in one at the par three 12th hole. This game was going back and forth until Stark holed a putt at the 18th hole to guarantee a half point for team Europe.
The final game in the fourball was Carlota Ciganda & Linn Grant of Europe against Angel Yin &Ally Ewing. Ciganda got off to an unbelievable start as she achieved a birdie on hole one and two. The home crowd didn’t affect Ciganda as she played the first five holes in three under. Grant also performed well and Europe won this game 4 & 2.
The fourballs went perfect for Europe captain Petterson as they won 3-1. Europe were back in the game as they were only trailing 5-3 at the end of day one. It was set up to be an amazing battle between the two teams over the weekend.