By: Max Bechtoldt
The Situation:
No blood was drawn in session three, as Europe and the United States each won two of the matches. The United States enters session four with a 7-5 advantage.
Foursomes Takeaways:
- Megan Khang has been so valuable to the United States in this Solheim Cup. She’s performed well and has been such a great, energetic partner to the sometimes more reserved Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang.
- Danielle Kang is showing why she is one of the best putters in the world. She hit some absolute bombs this morning and was getting Andrea Lee fired up in the process.
- Europe’s team uniforms this year look fantastic. Just a really sharp, cool look.
- Allisen Corpuz and Nelly Korda have now created a new, elite Solheim Cup duo in foursomes. Should be a pairing future captains take advantage of for years.
- Leona Maguire showed some hints of humanity today, felt like a little fatigue was setting in.
- This isn’t anything against Caroline Hedwall, more so how Europe is using her, or more accurately, not using her. Hard to say she isn’t a completely wasted pick.
- Celine Boutier, Georgia Hall and Charley Hull, kind of the core of the European team, have just really disappointed here. Hall was in a real rut today especially.
- With the exception of the first five holes of the event, Maja Stark and Linn Grant have been really fun to watch, a bit inconsistent but they have some really exciting flashes. Stark in particular hits some amazing putts.
- The home-country hero Carlota Ciganda has been awesome, she hasn’t trailed for a single hole in a match so far.
- Emily Pedersen had a really rough start to this event, but she has recovered and proven herself to be a solid pick for the Europeans.
- A bit surprising to see Cheyenne Knight and Ally Ewing not get another go in foursomes after their dominate win yesterday. Obviously a reason for the domination was the poor play from Charley Hull and Emily Pedersen, but I think giving that team another go would have benefited the United States.
- Jennifer Kupcho, after putting terrifically yesterday, really struggled on the greens. Right away on the first hole she was missing short putts.
- Stark and Grant vs Kang and Lee was the match of the tournament so far and what the Solheim Cup is all about. Excitement, drama, long putts, big celebrations and a down to the wire finish.
- Stacy Lewis has put on a masterclass. Strategically her pairings have worked well, the chemistry seems strong and she managed her players so that none of them had to play all four sessions. While the U.S. still has to finish well, Lewis has really done a much better job than Suzann Pettersen when it comes to managing the players.
