Hull and Woad face Korda and Corpuz in Solheim Cup opener

What happened

Charley Hull and Lottie Woad have been handed Europe’s opening match at the Solheim Cup, with world number one Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz awaiting them at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands. Friday’s play begins at 06:40 BST as the United States start their defence of the trophy.

For Woad, the assignment is also her introduction to the competition. The English golfer arrives ranked seventh in the world, one place above Hull, giving Europe two top-10 players together at the front of captain Anna Nordqvist’s first selection.

Their opponents bring a perfect record as a foursomes partnership: Korda and Corpuz have taken four wins from four matches over the previous two Solheim Cups. Hull has already experienced that combination’s effectiveness, having lost alongside Esther Henseleit in the opening match of the 2024 contest.

There is a more recent individual contest behind the meeting, too. Korda finished ahead of Hull to win June’s US Women’s Open. They now meet in a format in which each must share responsibility for a single ball with a teammate rather than play independently.

The remaining morning matches draw on players from across Europe. Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen and France’s Céline Boutier have the second slot, opposite Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin. Germany’s Henseleit joins Ireland’s Leona Maguire in the third, against Andrea Lee and Lindy Duncan, another player making her Solheim Cup debut.

Sweden supplies both members of Europe’s final morning partnership, Maja Stark and Linn Grant. Their match against Rose Zhang and Jennifer Kupcho completes the four-match foursomes programme, with one point available in each contest.

The background

This is the 20th Solheim Cup, the women’s team competition between Europe and the United States. The Americans took the trophy in Virginia in 2024 with a 15½–12½ victory, leaving the hosts seeking to recover it on European ground this time.

Recent opening sessions explain the importance of the first morning. At Finca Cortesin in 2023, Europe failed to collect a point from the four opening foursomes. The next edition, at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, brought another early US advantage, this time by 3–1.

The longer record away from home is less favourable to the visitors. Since 2007, the United States have managed only one victory on European soil, in Germany in 2015. Alison Lee is the only player from that American team who is competing for them again this weekend.

Her first European appearance became entangled in a dispute about a short putt. Aged 20, Lee lifted her ball before Europe had conceded the remaining stroke. Suzann Pettersen insisted on the rules being applied, and the hole went to Europe, prompting an emotional confrontation during the contest.

The timing added to the pressure. A delay had pushed the completion of Saturday afternoon’s session into Sunday morning, so the incident came only a few hours before the singles. The United States ultimately won the competition by one point.

Pettersen later supplied a different defining moment in the rivalry. At Gleneagles in 2019, she sank the putt that secured the trophy for Europe and then announced her retirement, bringing her playing career to a close after the winning contribution.

Lee returned to the American side in Virginia in 2024, but making another team for an away contest remained a personal objective. She took time away from golf last year and now has a 16-month-old son. Her qualification for this edition followed the challenge of combining that return with earning her place.

What people are saying

Nordqvist’s explanation for putting Hull and Woad together centred on the time they have spent playing on tour this year. She described Hull as particularly enthusiastic before the competition and said both golfers welcomed the chance to form a partnership. Familiarity, as well as their individual standing, informed the choice.

US captain Angela Stanford placed equal emphasis on the relationship within her leading pair. While acknowledging Korda’s position at the top of the world rankings, she highlighted Corpuz’s toughness and importance to the wider team. In Stanford’s assessment, their different strengths work well together.

Stanford also made clear that selecting them to lead the American challenge was an obvious decision for her. Their performances had justified that responsibility, she said, and she expected that choosing a different opening partnership would have drawn questions.

Reflecting on 2015, Lee credited her teammates with helping her through a difficult first experience. She remembered feeling intimidated by joining golfers she had recently watched on television, then finding that the team protected and supported her during the dispute. Winning together gave that backing particular significance.

Her reaction to making this year’s team was one of personal pride. Lee described the return to Europe as a target that had once seemed difficult to reach, and earning qualification through her own results made the achievement especially important to her.

What happens next

The captains’ preparations included a clarification over player participation. Nordqvist initially said an agreement required everyone to appear on the first day. The requirement is instead that each player takes part in at least one session before Sunday, giving captains scope to spread those appearances across the first two days.

Foursomes uses alternate shots, making partnership decisions central to the format. One player tees off on the odd-numbered holes and the other on the even-numbered holes; after the tee shot, they take turns until the hole is completed. Neither can simply finish a hole using only their own ball.

The competition also includes fourballs, in which both partners play a ball and their better score counts for the team on each hole. Across Friday and Saturday, the two formats provide the paired matches before Sunday’s singles, when golfers compete one against one.

Each contest is match play rather than a comparison of total strokes for the round. Winning a hole puts a side ahead, and a match ends when that lead exceeds the number of holes remaining. A level match after 18 holes gives each team half a point.

There are 28 points available across the competition. Europe need 14½ to win the trophy back, while 14 would be sufficient for the United States, as holders, to retain it. Every player takes part in the 12 singles matches that conclude the event.

The American team will also mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Friday. Players will wear commemorative pin badges during the day.

Why this matters

For UK followers, the published start time puts the opening match before the usual working day. The Netherlands is one hour ahead of Britain, so the 06:40 BST start corresponds to 07:40 at the course, an important distinction when reading local schedules.

The European team also gives British audiences a different national framework from many international sports: England’s players compete alongside teammates from continental Europe and Ireland, rather than for a separate British side. Results from every partnership contribute to the same team score, regardless of the players’ nationalities.