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Golf Monthly

Sport

Joel Kulasingham

Solheim Cup Day 1 Pairings And Matches Revealed

Stacy Lewis Suzann Pettersen Solheim Cup Albane Valenzuela Lauren Coughlin Cup Allisen Corpuz Ally Ewing Charley Hull Esther Henseleit

US captain Stacy Lewis and Europe leader Suzann Pettersen have unveiled their opening day pairings for the foursomes matches in Friday's first session.

The 2024 Solheim Cup officially kicked off at the Opening Ceremony on Thursday, with Lewis and Petterson both addressing the crowd before announcing Friday's matchups.

World No.1 Nelly Korda will team up with Allisen Corpuz for the United States in the first match of the event, and will face off against Europe's Esther Henseleit and Charley Hull.

“I wanted to send some experience out first,” said Lewis, “and no better than No.1 in the world and a pairing that was very successful last year and they’re very comfortable together.”

Match 2 will feature Celine Boutier and Albane Valenzuela of Team Europe taking on Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin of Team USA.

Europe's Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark are paired together against Americans Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho in Match 3.

Rounding up the foursome matches on day one will be Linn Grant and Carlota Giganda of Team Europe against Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel of the USA.

All four of the rookies at this year's Cup – Bourtier and Valenzuela for Europe, and Schemzel and Coughlin for USA – have been thrust straight into the action on day one.

“There’s no point for them to sit around and kind of wait and wonder what it’s going to be like,” said Pettersen. “Let’s just send them out and let them kind of experience it.”

The opening match tees off at 7:05am local time on Friday, with each of the four matches starting at 12-minute intervals.

Solheim Cup day 1 pairings:

Match 1: Esther Henseleit and Charley Hull vs Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz
Match 2: Celine Boutier and Albane Valenzuela vs Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin
Match 3: Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark vs Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho
Match 4: Linn Grant and Carlota Giganda vs Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel

Solheim Cup quick links

The Solheim Cup is almost upon us! But who will the first groupings be?

We're set to find out at this afternoon's opening ceremony, where Stacy Lewis and Suzann Pettersen will announce their line-ups for the Friday foursomes match-ups.

OPENING CEREMONY STARTS AT 4.30PM (LOCAL TIME)

The 2024 Solheim Cup Opening Ceremony begins in a few minutes, where we are set to find out the Friday foursomes matchups.

Stay tuned for all the updates from the ceremony.

You can check how to watch the Solheim Cup in your country below:

Watch @TheSolheimCup live on the LET website or find out your local broadcaster 🇪🇺🇺🇸More info & times ⬇️#SolheimCupSeptember 12, 2024

GALA DINNER FITS

The players from Europe put on their best outfits for last night's Solheim Cup Gala Dinner.

Here were some of the best fits from the yesterday evening:

A post shared by Solheim Cup Team Europe (@solheimcupeuro)

A photo posted by on

OPENING CEREMONY GETS UNDERWAY

Fans have packed out the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club as the Solheim Cup officially kicks off.

It's a gorgeous, sunny day in Gainesville, Virginia, and "USA" chants can be heard before MC Cari Champion addresses the crowd.

Shouldn't be too long until we hear from both captains, Stacy Lewis and Suzann Pettersen.

EUROPEAN TEAM WALK ONTO THE STAGE

The European team - dressed in a striking turquoise double-breasted suit - are welcomed onto the stage.

Captain Suzann Pettersen, as well as vice-captains Anna Nordqvist, Dame Laura Davies, Caroline Martens and Mel Reid, are announced on stage before the players.

The 12 players in Team Europe: Céline Boutier, Charley Hull, Maja Stark, Linn Grant, Esther Henseleit, Leona Maguire, Carlota Ciganda, Magdalene Sagstrom, Georgia Hall, Albane Valenzuela, Anna Nordqvist and Emily Kristine Pedersen.

TEAM USA'S TURN

A big ovation from the crowd as Team USA enters the stage.

Captain Stacy Lewis, along with vice-captains Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford, Paula Creamer and Brittany Lincicome, are announced before the players.

The 12 players in Team USA are: Nelly Korda, Lilia Va, Rose Zhang, Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Megan Khang, Alison Lee, Allisen Corpuz, Andrea Lee, Lexi Thompson, Jennifer Kupcho, Sarah Schmelzel.

GLENN YOUNGKIN ADDRESS THE CROWD

Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin speaks to the crowd. He ends his speech with a "go Team USA".

Europe captain Suzann Pettersen is up next.

PETTERSON: 'WE ARE HERE TO CELEBRATE THE FINEST OF WOMEN'S GOLF'

Petterson is the first captain to speak at the Opening Ceremony.

“The Solheim Cup … is an opportunity to elevate women’s golf to same level of respect as any other sport,” she says.

She jokes that she is relieved she won't be playing this weekend: "I’m quite relieved to leave that first tee shot to someone else."

"To captain Stacy and the team ... let's have some fun; play good, play hard. And to my team, let's get to business," she adds.

LEWIS: 'IT'S GREAT TO BE BACK IN THE USA'

Lewis follows Petterson with a big applause from the partisan crowd.

She thanks the organizers, sponsors and fans, and says she hopes to play her part in making this "the best Solheim Cup yet".

"We look forward to the competition," she says to Petterson.

"To my team, I felt like a proud mom at times watching you evolve in the last few years," she adds. "I can't wait to see what you all do this week and thank you for letting me have a front-row seat."