TOLEDO, OHIO | Given the closing power of the European Solheim Cup team in the morning foursomes and how tight almost all the matches were throughout the day, great play should be the story on Saturday at Inverness Club.
For some idea of how compelling the drama, of the eight matches on Saturday – four foursomes in the morning and four fourball matches in the afternoon – all but one went to the 18th hole, a hole that organizers switched with the 9th so that the traditional 18th, the hole where Bob Tway holed out from the front bunker and Paul Azinger holed a slippery 8-footer to win the 1986 and 1993 PGA Championships respectively, would fall in the center of the matches.
Every single foursomes match in the morning came down to the last hole. The Europeans were either tied, 1-up or 1-down through 17. And not a single European pairing lost the 18th hole in the morning. Two wins and two ties led to 3½ points. The lone half point for Team USA came when Ally Ewing missed a short par putt to lose the 18th and halve a match the Americans had led since the first.
In the afternoon fourballs, both captains put out the four players that sat in the morning. The result was almost the same. Ann Nordqvist and rookie Matilda Castren defeated Lexi Thompson and Mina Harigae 4 and 3, with the Europeans lost only one hole in that match. The other three were tight all the way, 1-up or 1-down for most of the matches.
Georgia Hall and Leona Maguire were 2-up early to Brittany Altomare and Yealimi Noh. When Noh birdied Nos. 6 and 7 to gain the lead, it was Georgia Hall who made up the difference, notching two birdies on the back nine to give Europe the lead in the match at No. 15, to which it remained all the way through the 18th.
The bright spot for the U.S. came in the second match of the afternoon, another one that went the distance. That’s when Lizette Salas stuck a 9-iron to six feet on the 18th and rolled in the putt for birdie to give the Americans a full point.
But despite Europe leading 5½ to 2½ at dusk, the largest Day One European lead in Solheim Cup history, the only other full point earned by Team USA is the one that garnered most of the attention – the first match of the afternoon pitting Nelly Korda and Ally Ewing of the USA against Madeline Sagstrom and Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Europe.
The match had gone back and forth all day and was tied through 12. Then, on the par-5 13th, Korda had a downhill right-to-left breaking 20-footer for eagle. She hit what appeared to be a perfect putt. Then at the last moment, the ball stopped on the right edge.
According to the Rules of Golf, if any portion of a ball is overhanging the hole, the ball is not deemed to be at rest until the player has had a reasonable amount of time to reach the hole plus an additional 10 seconds. If the ball has not moved in 10 seconds, it is deemed to be at rest.
Sagstrom picked up Korda’s ball and tossed it back to her before the 10-second grace period had elapsed, believing that the ball did not overhang the hole and had no chance of falling in.
Rule 13.3b states that, “If the opponent in match-play deliberately lifts or moves the player’s ball overhanging the hole before the waiting time has ended, the player’s ball is treated as holed with the previous stroke, and there is no penalty to the opponent under Rule 11.2b.”
The match referee, Missy Jones, one of the rare experts to earn a perfect score on the USGA Rules of Golf exam, called the question into the committee immediately. After reviewing the television footage, it was determined that a portion of Korda’s ball did, indeed, overhang the hole. Therefore, under the Rules of Golf as written, Korda’s ball was deemed to have been holed for an eagle. The U.S. went 1-up in the match and stayed there after a brilliant 15-footer from Ewing for par at 17 and two missed birdie chances from Sagstrom and Koerstz Madsen on 18.
“It was definitely awkward,” Korda said afterward. “You don’t want to win a hole like that. But we didn’t have a say (in the ruling).”
Ewing agreed, saying, “It was a little strange. We had to refocus a little bit as I’m sure they did, as well. … That doesn’t take away from the good golf that we played.”
Sagstrom was understandably upset. “Obviously, I wasn't following the rules about leaving the ball for 10 seconds. But I do believe in integrity and honor of the game of golf,” Sagstrom said. “And I would never pick up a putt that had a chance to go in.”
Koerstz Madsen also stood up for her teammate, saying, “I just want to give a shout out to Madelene for handling it to perfection. I know it was so tough. It was not fun for Madelene to be in that position. I think she felt bad, and she really shouldn't.”
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