Important events
Preamble
“Medinah. The miracle of Medinah. It’s coming!” The words of Carlota Ciganda as she concluded her and Emily Pedersen’s 2-1 victory over Lexi Thompson and Ally Ewing last night. Well, so be it as far as Europe is concerned. What a tall order. But the signs are good at least, as Europe trailed 10-4 in the 2012 Ryder Cup with two matches remaining on the course on Saturday afternoon, and reduced the deficit to 10-6 going into Sunday’s singles, which is exactly what the Europeans did yesterday as things threatened to go seriously wrong at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. So let’s take a look back at what happened after that Ryder Cup comeback 12 years ago…
…but while Ciganda brought it up, it would be a shocking dereliction of duty not to mention that the Solheim Cup also features one of these Sunday top contenders. In 2015, in St Leon-Rot in Germany, Europe started the singles match with a 10-6 lead, but eventually lost 8½-3½ and 14½-13½ on aggregate.
The pain Europe felt that day is of course why Ciganda preferred to refer to Medina, but there are also a few other reasons why St Leon-Rot is not entirely analogous. The USA needed an extra half-point to regain the trophy that year (as holders, Europe now only need eight to retain it), and it all came in the wake of the horrific rules row surrounding Suzann Pettersen the night before. So… OK, I’ll admit it, I’m not entirely sure what I mean by this… but you can look at Medinah and St Leon-Rot from various odd angles through a grubby prism and argue that history gives Europe hope, or simply shows that the USA – this time fuelled by preventing their opponents from becoming the first team to lift the trophy four times in a row, rather than the injustice of a technical shambles – will walk this one home comfortably. QED? No! No! But the USA are clearly the big favourites.
Here are the starting times. It could be a procession. It could be a comeback for the ages. Either way, a fantastic team of world-class talent will hold the Solheim Cup aloft when it counts. Godspeed, everyone, and may the best women win. It’s on!
13:50 BST: Charley Hull v Nelly Korda
2pm BST: Emily Pedersen vs Megan Khang
2.10pm BST: Georgia Hall v Alison Lee
2.20pm BST: Anna Nordqvist vs Allisen Corpuz
2.30pm BST: Carlota Ciganta vs Rose Zhang
2.40pm BST: Esther Henseleit vs Andrea Lee
2.50pm BST: Celine Boutier vs Lexi Thompson
3pm BST: Maja Stark vs Lauren Coughlin
15:10 BST: Albane Valenzuela vs Lilia Vu
3.20pm BST: Madelene Sagstrom vs Sarah Schmelzel
3.30pm BST: Leona Maguire vs Ally Ewing
3.40pm BST: Linn Grant vs Jennifer Kupcho