Maja Stark and Linn Grant broke the flawless run of Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz, giving Team Europe a 7‑5 advantage over Team USA after Saturday's foursomes session, even though Charley Hull and Lottie Woad endured a loss that matched the tournament’s record margin. The opening day at Bernardus Golf had produced a dead‑heat, the first time the two sides were tied after the initial round in Solheim Cup history.
On Saturday morning, however, the European contingent seized the initiative by capturing three of the four points available, putting them ahead for the first time in the competition. Korda and Corpuz entered the day with a perfect 100‑percent record in foursomes, having won five consecutive matches together.
Their streak was halted when Stark and Grant, who opened the European line‑up, secured the first point of the day with a decisive 3&2 victory. Their performance set the tone for the rest of the morning. Anna Nordqvist’s high‑profile pairing of Hull and Woad failed to deliver the expected result. Alison Lee, riding a wave of confidence after winning her first two sessions, teamed up with Lauren Coughlin to post a 6&5 triumph – the joint‑largest margin ever recorded in a Solheim Cup foursomes match.
Their dominance was evident as they swept six consecutive holes, leaving the English duo scrambling for a foothold. In another match, rookie teammates Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud continued their flawless start by beating Andrea Lee and Austom Kim 4&3. Their seamless teamwork and aggressive play underscored the depth of the European bench. Meanwhile, Leona Maguire and Esther Henseleit clinched a dramatic final‑hole win, ensuring that Europe secured the entire session.
Nordqvist’s decision to field an all‑Swedish pair proved prescient. The Swedish duo opened strongly, matching the Americans birdie for birdie and then taking the lead after the third hole. Even when they slipped back on the third, they responded by winning the fourth and never relinquished control thereafter.
They added a birdie on the seventh and extended their lead further when Stark executed a brilliant chip‑in for eagle just off the eighth green. A pars at the ninth gave them a third straight hole and a four‑point cushion at the turn. Korda and Corpuz attempted a comeback, stringing together wins on the 10th and 11th holes to halve the deficit.
Their momentum was halted when Stark holed an eight‑foot birdie putt on the 16th, ending the Americans’ perfect foursomes record and cementing Europe’s lead. "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 earning only half a point from two matches on Friday. The English pair fell behind early as Lee and Coughlin seized four straight holes from the fourth onward.
Woad managed a close‑range birdie on the eighth to level the match, 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 securing her third point of the week.
"All I had to do was sit back and watch Lauren [Coughlin] play. She hit incredible shots into the green and made some amazing putts." Rhodes and Nadaud made history as the first rookie duo to win two matches together in a single Solheim Cup. Their partnership never fell behind, and they posted the largest margin of victory ever for a debutant pair in a foursomes match.
"We didn’t really expect to play this morning," Nadaud admitted. "Yesterday was a great surprise. We played very sensible golf – we hit a lot of fairways and held the greens, giving ourselves plenty of opportunities." In a seesaw battle on the other side of the course, Kupcho and Zhang surged two up after six holes. Henseleit missed three short putts from inside five feet, but the tide turned when she and Maguire captured three of the first four holes on the back nine, pulling Europe back into contention.
Team USA fought back, winning consecutive holes from the 14th onward. Maguire leveled the match on the 16th, but Europe clinched the overall win when Zhang’s approach clipped the lip of the bunker on the final hole and resulted in a closing bogey.
"We knew we weren’t doing anything terribly wrong," Maguire reflected. "We got off to a great 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 pivotal turning points." The Solheim Cup now heads into its final day, with the singles matches set to begin at 10:10 am on Sunday. Fans can catch the action live on Sky Sports Golf from 9 am, or stream the coverage without a contract via NOW. The outcome remains uncertain, but Europe’s recent surge suggests a tightly contested finale.
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