Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Team USA and Team Europe have announced their opening round pairings for the 2023 Solheim Cup as the competition begins Friday morning.
The first round of the 2023 Solheim Cup begins on Friday, and the opening pairings have finally been set. As the ladies get set to take on the Finca Cortesin golf course in Andalucia, Spain, they revealed on Thursday their opening lineups during the opening ceremony.
There are some interesting notes of these pairings as the Americans are going with experience over young talent.
Two of the sports rising stars will not play in the morning portion. No. 2 in the world, Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang are benched for the foursome portion Friday. Vu won two major championships this season, while Zhang is extremely strong in match play.
However, they could still play in the four-ball afternoon portion in the afternoon. In Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup events, the format is split into a morning and afternoon sessions on the first two days.
Foursomes force teammates to alternate shots. Whereas, the four-ball format allows each player to play and finish each hole, similar to a match play tournament, just in pairs.
Solheim Cup Friday morning foursome pairings
The first match of the day will be Linn Grant and Maja Stark versus Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang. They tee off at 8:10 a.m. local time or 2:10 a.m. EDT.
Leading the team with five previous Solheim Cup appearances, Thompson holds a 3-2-1 Cup record in foursomes. However, Khang has never won in foursomes, posting a 0-2-1 record.
Grant and Stark are both rookies for the European team.
The second match features Danielle Kang and Andrea Lee for the Americans. They will take on Celine Boutier and Georgia Hall for Team Europe. They tee off at 8:22 a.m. local time and 2:22 a.m. EDT.
Kang is a veteran Cup player, and this will mark Lee’s first appearance. It won’t be easy as Hall and Boutier went 2-0-1 in foursomes and 1-0-0 in fourball previously.
The third group will be Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz for the Americans and Leona Maguire and Anna Nordqvist for Team Europe. They tee off at 7:34 a.m. local time and 2:34 a.m. EDT.
It appears that captain Stacy Lewis likes pairing rookies with veterans, as this marks the third straight group she did just that.
Korda normally plays with her sister Jessica, but the latter didn’t make the team. Corpuz captured her first major championship this year at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Maguire makes her second Solheim Cup appearance and is paired with vice captain Nordqvist.
The final pairing for the morning portion is Ally Ewing and Cheyenne Knight for Team USA versus Charley Hull and Emily Pederson for Team Europe.
Hull and Pederson went 1-1-0 in 2021 during the foursomes. Ewing has played with multiple partners in years past, halved a match with Khang in 2021, but hasn’t won one. She has a 0-2-1 in this part of the Cup. Knight is making her debut.
Solheim Cup Foursome omissions
The players that will not take part in this part of the event are a bit of a shock. Spain’s own Carlota Ciganda will sit out despite being a crowd favorite. Rookie Gemma Dryburgh, Madelene Sagstrom and Carolina Hedwall, who is 3-1-0 in foursomes, are also sitting out.
Zhang and Vu are, as we mentioned, out for the Americans. Joining them are Jennifer Kupcho, who is 1-0-1 in foursomes, and Angel Yin.
The Americans look to reclaim the Solheim Cup after falling short to Europe the past two times.
Who do you think will win this year? Let us know in the comments below.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
