After one day of action at Bernardus, the Solheim Cup picks right back up in about 10 hours with Saturday foursomes. The matchups are out, so let’s take a look at who will win each match:
Match 1 – EUR Maja Stark and Linn Grant vs USA Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz
For the second day in a row, the best match on paper is also the first out on the course. Stark and Grant looked fantastic in their match against Rose Zhang and Jennifer Kupcho, jumping out to a big lead and fending off a strong rally. Unfortunately for them, they have a matchup with the most successful pairing in Solheim Cup history, Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz. Korda and Corpuz won their foursomes match Friday to move to 5-0-0 as a duo, and their match wasn’t even close. The only small concern is fatigue, but I still think this is a steady red point.
Prediction: USA 4&3
Match 2 – EUR Leona Maguire and Esther Henseleit vs USA Jennifer Kupcho and Rose Zhang
Probably the biggest letdown pairing of day one was Zhang and Kupcho, who I saw as having strong upside. They ran into a buzzsaw in Linn Grant and Maja Stark in session one, but still they didn’t do much to help their own causes early. By the time they started stringing together good holes, it was too late. Now they go up against Maguire and Henseleit, who looked very strong and steady in the first session. I think this is a super tight match, but edge goes to Europe.
Prediction: Europe 1UP
Match 3 – EUR Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud vs USA Andrea Lee and Auston Kim
It was a risk for Anna Nordqvist to put her two, relatively less heralded, rookies out together in the second session, but it paid off in spades. Not only did they have a fantastic back nine where they built up a big lead, they also survived that match getting closer late. Nadaud and Rhodes looked like a natural pairing. Nobody out there was having more fun on Friday than this duo. It will be interesting to see how they respond to facing Auston Kim once again, this time with Andrea Lee. Lee looked fantastic in her first session loss, and I don’t see a repeat of that. Her and Kim should be a good duo.
Prediction: Tie
Match 4 – EUR Charley Hull and Lottie Woad vs USA Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin
No pairing had a more demoralizing day than Hull and Woad, and it was fairly obvious in their post-match interview. First, they got crushed by Korda and Corpuz, then they gave up a three-hole advantage to tie a match against a team that really only had one player in Yealimi Noh. It is hard to fathom a pairing of Europe’s two best not getting a full point, but it feels like a possibility. They face Coughlin and Lee, who won their first match, albeit against the dreadful pairing of Celine Boutier and Nanna Koerstz Madsen, but still put a point on the board. Coughlin is living up to her previous hype and Lee had a really encouraging day going 2-0.
Prediction: USA 2&1
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