LEONA MAGUIRE’S DREAM day continued in Inverness this evening as she won her second point for Europe on the opening day of the Solheim Cup.
Paired with Georgia Hall, Maguire defeated Yealimi Noh and Brittany Altomare to help Europe move to a 5 ½ 2 ½ lead after the first day.
She had earlier helped Mel Reid to a win over the Korda sisters. This evening’s win was the icing on the cake.
In a tense match, Hall/Maguire went one up after the 15th when Hall landed a brilliant birdie.
By the 17th, Hall was looking to Maguire to deliver, and the Cavan woman delivered, finding the green with a 128-yard wedge.
Hall too got on the green yet both Europeans were left with tricky putts and both ended with pars.
That left their American opponents with two attempts to get it back to all square.
Altomare putted first, but she failed to be aggressive enough with her attempt and had to settle for a par. Noh also failed to put enough zip in her putt, meaning Maguire/Hall were guaranteed at least a half.
Maguire and Hall were two up early on before the Americans responded with three holes on the trot. Europe levelled and then Hall’s birdie put them in the driving seat.
Come the 18th, Maguire needed a good drive. Instead she found the bunker off the tee. Hall found the light rough on the right; Altomare found the fairway, Noh the bunker.
Maguire played conservatively out of the bunker; Hall, from 155 yards, sent her shot to six feet, putting the pressure back on. Maguire’s third was brave, landing on the edge of the green, 12 feet away.
It meant Noh and Altomare had to land a putt to get a half. Noh went first and missed by a distance.
Next came Altomare, who, from 12 yards had the right line but just left her putt short. Hall then had two putts to give Europe a three-point lead. She needed both of them. Europe won one up.
Maguire said: “I could not have asked for a better start; I’m here to do my part for the team. We hung in there; we stayed in there when the momentum changed during that game.
“I am trying to stay as calm as possible. I really enjoyed the atmosphere this morning; there are a few more European fans here than we thought.”
EARLIER WORLD NUMBER ONE Nelly Korda benefited from a controversial ruling as the United States looked to fight back from an early deficit in the 17th Solheim Cup.
Playing alongside Ally Ewing in the afternoon fourballs, Korda’s eagle putt on the 13th stopped on the edge of the hole, but her ball was swiftly picked up by Europe’s Madelene Sagstrom, conceding a birdie.
However, Sagstrom was deemed to have not waited long enough and Korda was credited with an eagle to win the hole and move one up.
Under Rule 13.3, if any part of the ball is overhanging the lip the player is allowed a “reasonable time” to reach the hole and then 10 seconds to see if the ball would drop.
Sagstrom, playing partner Nanna Koerstz Madsen and European captain Catriona Matthew argued that the ball was not going to drop in, but the ruling of the on-course official was confirmed.
Rules official Annie Giangrosso told Sky Sports: “When the European player picked up that ball, per the rules of golf, it was pretty cut and dried. That shot Nelly hit was actually holed.”
Asked if there was any doubt whether the ball was overhanging the hole, Giangrosso added: “It was pretty clear-cut. We have Joao Pinto, who is an LET official, in the TV booth and he right away was looking at it after the match referee called it in.
“It was a pretty quick, clear-cut decision that the ball was overhanging the hole.”
Korda and Ewing went on to complete a narrow victory on the 18th, by which time Anna Nordqvist and Matilda Castren had already beaten Lexi Thompson and Mina Harigae 4 and 3 to secure a second point of the day following a foursomes win over Danielle Kang and Austin Ernst on the 18th.
Mel Reid and Ireland’s Leona Maguire had also overcome the previously unbeaten star American pairing of Nelly and Jessica Korda as Europe claimed a three-point lead after the opening session.
The Korda sisters won 6 and 4 and 6 and 5 in the same format at Gleneagles in 2019, but looked nervous from the outset and gifted the European pair a two-hole lead with a bogey on the fourth and a double bogey on the sixth.
