Henseleit comes up trumps to keep slim European hopes alive – Irish Golfer Magazine

After losing the opening two sessions by three matches to one, a third successive session loss would spell virtual curtains for Suzann Pettersen’s side and only late heroics from Charley Hull and Esther Henseleit scraped a halved session for team Europe.

US captain Stacy Lewis put her best foot forward once again with world number one Nelly Korda in the lead out match alongside Allisen Corpuz, and this time they faced Carlota Ciganda and Emily Pedersen, with Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho taking on Henseleit and Hull in match number two.

Rookie Lauren Coughlin has been the form player on the LPGA Tour of late, and she’s carried that momentum into the Solheim Cup and now has three victories from three as her and Lexi Thompson took down Maja Stark and Georgia Hall 4&3 in match number three.

It was the opposite story in match number four as Anna Nordqvist and Celine Boutier scored a comprehensive win over Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel, but it was in the opening two matches where all the drama unfolded.

Ciganda and Pedersen took an early 2UP lead and held it until the turn where Korda and Corpuz struck back to halve the deficit and were back on level terms through 13 and hit the front for the first time with an eagle on 14.

The European pair managed to claw their way back to all-square on 15, but a clumsy three-putt on the 17th handed the impetus back to the US pair and they held their nerve down the last to make it three wins from three for the world number one.

Hull and Henseleit had been 3UP through eight, but when the Americans won the 17th, they levelled the match and headed down 18 with European hopes hanging by a thread. It was simply a must-win hole for Hull and Henseleit, as defeat would see the gap grow to six while victory would keep it at four.

Kupcho, up first, found the right rough, leaving Ewing a tough angle to a tucked pin, but Hull’s drive was on the Tiger line, just strong enough to carry the bunker and the corner, and the generous forward kick left Henseleit a short wedge into the green.

When Ewing found the bunker short-right, up stepped the German to fire a dart into gimme range that was good enough for a crucial victory which keeps Europe’s hopes of victory, or retention at least, alive.

The afternoon fourball matches will see Maguire again on the sidelines, and having played all five matches in each of her first two Solheim Cup appearances, she’ll feature in just two this year.

Nordqvist and Sagstrom will reprise their fourball partnership in the leading match against Aliso Lee and Megan Khang, with Linn Grant and Celine Boutier following closely behind and taking on Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang.

Ciganda and Pedersen will team up once again in match number three when they face Ally Ewing and Lexi Thompson, while Charley Hull and Georgia Hall versus Allisen Corpuz and Lilia Vu will be the final paired match of the 2024 Solheim Cup.

FULL SCORING