Solheim Cup captains Suzann Pettersen and Stacy Lewis have announced their pairings for the first morning of Solheim Cup, which gets under way at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia today.
Having the honour of kicking off Team Europe at 12.05pm (UK time) is rookie Esther Henseleit of Germany alongside England’s Charley Hull and they will play against Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz.
There will be another European debut at 12.17pm with Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela playing alongside France’s Celine Boutier as they face off against Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin.
Match number three at 12.29pm sees Denmark’s Emily Pedersen and Sweden’s Maja Stark team up for European as they go up against Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho.
The final match of the morning will tee it up at 12.41pm and that will be Sweden’s Linn Grant and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda as they go toe-to-toe with Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel.
PETTERSEN WANTS FAST START
European Solheim Cup Captain Suzann Pettersen explained how she is taking a more direct approach with the players than last year.
At Finca Cortesín in Spain 12 months ago, where Europe retained the cup after the first tie in the event’s history, Europe lost the first four foursomes matches and the captain wants to improve on that this time as Europe seek to hold the trophy for the fourth time in succession.
“I think it would be nice to have maybe a little bit better start, but that being said, I think last year’s Friday morning was a good wakeup call as well for all of us. I don’t necessarily think that everything is just going to roll our way just because we’ve been successful over the last previous ones,” said Pettersen. “I think that’s still kind of quite fresh in all the players’ minds. So, we’re trying to be consistent in each session.
“We drew a lot of great experiences from last year. I think what we learned the most is being precise. Giving quite clear messages goes a long way. Being transparent is great. But at the same time, they kind of look for somebody who can make decisions, the players. So, there’s a combination.”
Swedes Linn Grant and Maja Stark, who went out in the first foursomes match as rookies last time, described how Pettersen is approaching the task more authoritatively.
Stark explained that the captain listened carefully to the individual player feedback and has implemented more direct communication strategies.
Grant said: “She’s always very straightforward. Like you know what you get with her. You don’t ever have to wonder if what she says is actually what she means, which is great in a coach, I think.
“I think that she was maybe a bit easier last year in the way that she kind of went in and wanted to be buddies with everyone. She still is, but in a very different way this year. I think she’s taking the role as a captain like more now. She’s putting herself, in a good way, above the players, like she really wants to guide us and show the way.”
LIVE COVERAGE
Sky Sports Golf has live coverage of the first two days between 11am–10pm GMT and the final day from 12.45pm–7pm GMT.
You can also find interviews and highlights from the tournament on the LET YouTube channel.