Everything that happened on the first day of the 2024 Solheim Cup, plus Saturday match pairings

Saturday's tee times and pairings for the 2024 Solheim Cup

Team USA lead Europe by 6 points to 2 after the first day of the 2024 Solheim Cup. Here’s a recap of day one, plus the tee times and pairings for Saturday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Solheim Cup 2024: Foursomes Recap | Fourballs Recap | Saturday Tee Times

Team Europe are defending the 19th edition of the Solheim Cup in Virginia, with captain Suzann Pettersen and her 12 players looking for at least a 14 point victory over Stacy Lewis and Team USA. Just like with any Ryder Cup match, 14 points will allow Europe to retain the Solheim Cup, and 14.5 for the USA would win it outright. After Team Europe claimed three victories in a row when they won both 2019 and 2021 tournaments, followed by a 14 point tie (the first in Solheim Cup history) at Fina Cortesin in 2023, Pettersen’s team are aiming for number four this weekend.

Everything that happened during Friday’s foursomes matches

Solheim Cup rookie and Olympic silver medalist Esther Henseleit hit the opening tee shot of the 2024 Solheim Cup at 7.05am on Friday morning. She had a strong start alongside partner Charley Hull, but towards the turn they had a few drives head into the rough, costing them a couple of shots. They manage to hold off World No.1 Nelly Korda and her partner Allisen Corpuz, winning the 10th and 11th holes to bring the match back to all-square. Henseleit hit a shot into the water on 14, followed immediately by exactly the same shot from Corpuz, which could have been a costly mistake for the USA, but they won the hole with a par. Europe bogeyed 15, with Hull making her first notable miss of the day, which allowed Korda to sink her putt to win the second hole in a row. Team USA won the opening match 3&2 to get the first red point on the board.

“We made a really good birdie on 12, and then I hit it in the water for (Nelly) on 14…. But made a really good par putt there,” said Corpuz. “I just think any time you make a longer putt, it kind of gives you a little more momentum. It felt like we were playing really well all day long; just burned a lot of edges in the first few holes and was able to see them going in.”

• Everything you need to know about Robert Trent Jones Golf Club

Scores fluctuated a lot in the first few hours of play, with both blue and red dominating the scoreboard, but there were no huge swings in either direction until Europe’s Maja Stark and Emily Pedersen went 4-up on Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho after eight holes. Their good run continued into the back nine, winning the 12th hole and Stark using the undulating greens to her advantage, with shots into the greens rolling close to the hole on multiple occasions. Pedersen pulled a birdie putt on 13 which gave Ewing two putts to halve the hole, and the match remained 3-up to Europe through 13 holes. Europe won their first point of the tournament here, with a 1-up win on the 18th hole.

“It’s been a lot of fun” Stark said about her day. “I was way less nervous this year than it was last. It was a nice feeling. Coming off a hot start, it gives us a good feeling because we know we can play really well coming off the stretch there. The Americans started playing really well as well. Yeah, it was just a nice first round to get a little bit of excitement as well.”

Olympic stars Celine Boutier and Albane Valenzuela held off USA’s Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin with their match all square at the turn. Boutier made a clutch putt on 12 forcing Coughlin to hole out for the USA to remain 1-up. Coughlin played safe on 14, opting not to go for the green on the par-5. Valenzuela decided not to lay up, which proved a costly choice as her shot landed in the water. Boutier hit Europe’s 4th shot into the green, leaving the pair with the same length putt as Zhang left the USA with the American’s winning the hole and going 3-up with four holes to play. Boutier sunk a putt on 15 to force Zhang to tie the hole, which she did and the USA went 3-holes up with three to play. The match ended 3&2 to the USA after Zhang sank the winning putt on 16.

Linn Grant and Carlota Ciganda lost a few holes early on, going 2-down to USA’s Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel after four holes. The group was warned for slow play once before the turn, but Ciganda (who openly admits to being a slow player and once disqualified herself during the Evian Championship as she refused to take a slow play penatly) picked up pace a little as she began to make some putts after the turn. Lilia Vu putted steadily all day, with Schmelzel struggling to get anything to drop. The USA won the match 3&2, their third win of the day.

“I think we get on great,” Vu said about the chemistry with Schmelzel. “We’re just going to do our things. We trust each other’s games. I trust Sarah. She hits it straight and is always reliable. We have a good time together.”

The morning matches finished up with the USA on 3 points and Europe on 1 point, putting the Americans in the lead as we head into the fourball matches on Friday afternoon at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Everything that happened during Friday’s fourball matches

World No.1 Nelly Korda was once again out in the first match of the session, partnered with Megan Khang and up against England’s Georgia Hall and Leona Maguire, who has an incredible Solheim Cup record with seven wins in her two appearances. Europe went 1-down in this match early on, with Korda carding a birdie on the third hole. The run continued with team USA 3-up after six holes, after Korda holing a putt for back-to-back birdies, and they went on to win 6&4 against the Europeans.

Lexi Thompson, who is retiring from full-time professional golf at the end of this year, was out in the second ground alongside Alison Lee. They faced off against Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom, who is treating the Solheim Cup as her honeymoon after getting married last week. Sagstrom narrowly missed a chip-in on the third hole, which would have seen the scoreboard show 2-up to Europe early on, but they remained 1-up as Lee missed a putt to win the hole. Thompson hit an 8-iron right to the pin into the par-3 4th hole, showing just why she was a pick for Captain Stacy Lewis. Nordqvist and Sagstrom won an incredible six holes in a row at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 lto give them a 6&5 win against Thompson and Lee.

Third out in the afternoon were Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark, a pairing that continued from the morning matches and the only pair to post a point for team Europe, against American rookies Lauren Coughlin and Sarah Schmelzel. The sides were tied for the first 6 holes, with the rookies winning the 7th and 8th holes. Europe were 3-down with 4 holes to play when Pedersen missed a birdie putt leaving Schmelzel with a putt to win the match, which she missed, taking USA to dormie-3. The match ended on the 16th hole with team USA winning 3&2.

The final group out in the afternoon were Europe’s Linn Grant and Charley Hull alongside American’s Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang. Hull and Grant won the first hole and fourth holes to put some blue on the scoreboard for Europe, but Lee and Zhang came back with wins on holes 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 to win the match 5&4.

Overall, the score stands at 6-2 to the USA as the Solheim Cup heads into day two in Virginia.

Tee times and pairings for Saturday at the 2024 Solheim Cup

Morning Foursomes

Afternoon Fourballs matches will be announced shortly after Saturday’s foursomes play finishes.

How to watch the 2024 Solheim Cup

If you’re in the UK, Sky Sports Golf will be showing live coverage throughout the tournament, including both opening and closing ceremonies. You can watch Sky Sports via a NowTV subscription, with options ranging from £14.99 per day, to a £35 flexible monthly membership, which you can cancel any time.

Friday 13th September: From 11.30am
Saturday 14th September: From 11.30am
Sunday 15th September: From 1pm

If you’re in the USA, The Golf Channel and NBC will be covering the tournament, including opening and closing ceremonies.

Friday 13th September: 7am – 6pm (Golf Channel); 6 – 6:30pm (Golf Channel)
Saturday 14th September: 7am – 3pm (Golf Channel); 3 – 6pm (NBC/Peacock); 6 – 6:30pm (Golf Channel)
Sunday 15th September: 8:45am – 12pm (Golf Channel); 12 – 3pm (NBC/Peacock); 3 – 4pm (Golf Channel)

How to watch the 2024 Solheim Cup for free

Securing yourself a quality Virtual Private Network (VPN) is your best method for keeping up to speed with the action from Virginia without needing to fork out for a Sky Sports subscription. A VPN acts as an online privacy tool, enabling users to encrypt their internet connection and change the location of their IP address to access regional content. It’s completely legal, provided you are not using the connection to commit other illegal activities, and Today’s Golfer highly recommends ExpressVPN.

Once your VPN is ready for action, you will be able to access your home sports subscription packages from anywhere in the world, but those looking to watch The Solheim Cup for free can do so via NBC/Peacock. The channel offers a 7-day free trial so once you’ve changed your IP address to the relevant country, just register for that free trial and make sure you cancel before the first payment is taken.

ExpressVPN

The recommended VPN of Today's Golfer

Price: £5.39

www.expressvpn.com

View Offer

Price: £5.39

www.expressvpn.com

View Offer

This VPN is top-drawer, it’s as premium as they come and never fails to deliver on performance. Express offers over 3000 servers spanning the globe, meaning you can always expect instant connectivity no matter where you are. Fast and consistent speeds mean streaming is no problem for ExpressVPN.

It’s super secure too, so users can take full confidence in the protection of their online devices. A 30-day money-back guarantee also means you don’t have to fully commit to ExpressVPN if the sole purpose is to watch The Solheim Cup for free.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Three months free (Exclusive deal)
• Super-fast
• Top security
• Seamless streaming
• 30-day money-back guarantee

About the author

Sarah Pyett – Deputy Digital Editor

Sarah Pyett is the Deputy Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com. She plays off a handicap of 4, and specializes in ladies’ equipment reviews, including drivers, irons, and golf balls.

After a career in a golf professional shop, and earning a qualification in golf club management, Sarah joined Bauer in 2014 as a Web Producer for Today’s Golfer. She has since worked across multiple brands in a mixture of digital marketing and paid media roles, before returning to focus on golf full-time as Deputy Digital Editor in 2024.

You can get in touch with her on email or Instagram.