Maja Stark and Linn Grant broke the unbeaten run of Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz, propelling Team Europe to a 7‑5 advantage over the United States after Saturday's foursomes session, even as Charley Hull and Lottie Woad endured a record‑tying loss. The opening day at Bernardus Golf saw the two sides locked in a tie for only the second time in Solheim Cup history, but the European contingent seized the initiative on Saturday morning by capturing three of the four points on offer. Korda and Corpuz entered the day with a flawless 100‑percent record in foursomes, having won five consecutive matches together. Their streak was snapped by Stark and Grant, who opened the European lineup and secured the first point of the day with a commanding 3&2 victory.
Anna Nordqvist's much‑talked‑about partnership of Hull and Woad failed to deliver once again. Alison Lee, riding the momentum of two previous wins, teamed up with Lauren Coughlin to post a 6&5 triumph – the joint‑largest margin ever recorded in Solheim Cup foursomes play. The rookie pair of Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud continued their flawless start, dispatching Andrea Lee and Austom Kim 4&3.
Meanwhile, Leona Maguire and Esther Henseleit clinched a dramatic final‑hole win, ensuring Europe took the entire session. Nordqvist’s decision to field an all‑Swedish duo paid immediate dividends. The Swedes opened with a birdie, matched the Americans on the next hole, fell behind briefly on the third, then reclaimed the lead and never looked back.
They secured the seventh hole with another birdie and extended their lead further when Stark chipped in an eagle from just off the eighth green. A pars on the ninth gave them a third straight hole and a four‑shot lead at the turn.
Korda and Corpuz attempted a comeback, winning back‑to‑back holes from the 10th onward to halve the deficit, but Stark answered with an eight‑foot birdie on the 16th, ending the Americans’ perfect foursomes record. "It’s the best feeling ever," Stark said after the win. "We played solid golf both today and yesterday – it’s hard to beat when you’re not making any bogeys." Hull and Woad were kept together despite only earning half a point from two matches on Friday. The English pair fell behind when Lee and Coughlin captured four consecutive holes starting on the fourth.
Woad managed a close‑range birdie on the eighth to level, but Lee and Coughlin responded with back‑to‑back birdies on the back nine, sealing an emphatic victory with a par on the 13th. "I feel like we both just hit it so solid," Lee remarked after claiming her third point of the week.
"All I had to do was watch Lauren [Coughlin] play. She hit incredible shots into the green and made some spectacular putts." Rhodes and Nadaud made history as the first rookie duo to win two matches together in a single Solheim Cup, never trailing on their way to the largest margin of victory ever recorded by a debutant pairing in a foursomes match. "We didn’t really expect to play this morning," Nadaud admitted.
"It was a great surprise yesterday. We played very sensibly – hit lots of fairways and greens and gave ourselves opportunities." In another roller‑coaster match, Kupcho and Zhang surged two up after six holes, while Henseleit missed three short putts before bouncing back as she and Maguire claimed three of the first four holes on the back nine.
The Americans fought back, winning successive holes from the 14th, but Maguire leveled the match on the 16th. Europe ultimately prevailed when Zhang’s approach clipped the lip of the bunker on the final hole, resulting in a closing bogey. "We knew we weren’t doing a whole lot wrong," Maguire reflected. "We got off to a strong start, just like yesterday, and they answered with a birdie on three.
We had to stay patient and keep creating chances. Holes 10, 11 and 12 were key turning points." The Solheim Cup now heads into its final day, with the singles matches set to begin at 10:10 am on Sunday.
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