Leona Maguire Sits & Other Thoughts on Solheim Cup Friday

With the first session of Solheim Cup matches announced, the biggest surprise from the Friday morning foursomes lineup involves a player who won’t be teeing it up.

For the first time in her Solheim Cup career, Leona Maguire will watch a session from the sidelines. Captain Pettersen’s surprise move means the Americans won’t have to deal with the Irishwoman and her 7-2-1 Solheim Cup record until Friday afternoon at the earliest. Both captains opted to get their rookies in on the action early, with all four set to take part in the morning session.

Initial reactions on each matchup below:

Match 1: Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz vs. Charley Hull and Esther Henseleit

Stacy Lewis stressed the importance of sending experience out first and will lean on world No. 1 Korda and Corpuz to give the Americans a positive start. The pair played a big part in Team USA’s success in the alt-shot format last year in Spain, winning both of their matches. Hull won’t have to sit around and wait, something Captain Pettersen knows she doesn’t like to do. She’ll help guide Henseleit through her first Solheim Cup match.

Match 2: Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin vs. Albane Valenzuela and Celine Boutier

We’ll know very early how Team Europe’s rookies are faring when the other first-timer on the team, Valenzuela, heads out with veteran Boutier. The atmosphere won’t take a hit with Virginia resident Coughlin making her debut with Zhang. Rose and Celine will both be looking to improve on their Solheim Cup results from last year when they combined to go 0-5-1.

A week of practice rounds at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club gives way to actual competition starting Friday (Solheim Cup)

Match 3: Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho vs. Maja Stark and Emily Pedersen

Ewing and Kupcho have been teammates for the last two Solheim Cups, but this is the first time they’ll play a match together. Captain Lewis said they, “didn’t fit very good in the puzzle” last year, so she was happy when they tried out the pairing at the DOW Championship earlier this year. A second-place finish all but guaranteed the pairing would come together again this week. Stark and Pedersen halved a fourball match last year in Spain, but this will be the first time Stark has played foursomes with someone not named Linn Grant.

Match 4: Lilia Vu and Sarah Shmelzel vs. Linn Grant and Carlota Ciganda

The Americans begin and end the first session of the day with their two highest-ranked players. Vu shared that she’s enjoyed having rookie Schmelzel on the team and that they’ve “grown really close.” Their opponents, Grant and Ciganda, were part of half of the 14 points the Europeans won last year en route to retaining the Cup.

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