09/12/26 05:32:00
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09/12 05:31 CDT Solheim Cup: Europe builds 7-5 lead after US pair Korda and
Corpuz finally lose
Solheim Cup: Europe builds 7-5 lead after US pair Korda and Corpuz finally lose
By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer
DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) --- Team Europe finally took down the
record-setting U.S. partnership of Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz at the
Solheim Cup on Saturday on the way to winning the morning foursomes and
building a 7-5 lead after three sessions.
The top-ranked Korda and Corpuz had won their first five matches as a team
dating to 2023 --- an unprecedented feat in the Solheim Cup --- but were
beaten, 3 and 2, by Swedish pair Maja Stark and Linn Grant in the lead match at
Bernardus Golf early on Day 2.
The Europeans got another point from Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud, who
became the first rookie duo to win two matches at a single Solheim Cup, before
Leona Maguire and Esther Henseleit rallied to beat Jennifer Kupcho and Rose
Zhang, 1 up, in the final match of the session and the only one that went to
No. 18.
The only negative on a big morning for Europe was another setback for its star
English pairing of Charley Hull and Lottie Woad, who were thrashed 6 and 5 by
Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin in a result that tied the record margin of
victory in a Solheim Cup foursomes match.
Hull and Woad, the only European players in the world's top 10, have
contributed just a half-point from three outings together so far this week but
have been retained as a pair by captain Anna Nordqvist for the afternoon
four-balls.
After back-to-back split sessions on Day 1, there was finally separation
between the teams, and history suggests that is significant. Since 1998, the
team that held a lead at the end of the third session has gone on to win 11 of
those 13 occasions.
The United States, which has an 11-7-1 advantage in a series that dates to
1990, is the defending champion and needs 14 points to retain the crystal
trophy.
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