The anchor match takes to the course. Linn Grant replicates Nelly Korda’s opening drive by sending a wild effort into the trees down the left. Jennifer Kupcho splits the fairway. Up on the green, Leona Maguire, who has been waiting since Friday to get back into action, wastes no time in going one up, having set herself up for birdie with a lovely dart to four feet. And par is enough for Madelene Sagstrom to take the lead against Sarah Schmelzel, who had been the width of a dimple away from winning the opening hole, her putt staying stubbornly on the right-hand edge. The small margins.

3UP Hull v Korda (8)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (7)
4UP Hall v Alison Lee (7)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 1UP (6)
Ciganda v Zhang 3UP (5)
Henseleit A/S Andrea Lee (4)
Boutier v Thompson 2UP (4)
2UP Stark v Coughlin (3)
Valenzuela v Vu 1UP (2)
1UP Sagstrom v Schmelzel (2)
1UP Maguire v Ewing (1)
Grant v Kupcho

Lexi Thompson rakes another birdie putt into the cup! This one from 35 feet at 4. That’s three holes in a row for Lexi, who is about to retire at the age of 29, for goodness sake. Might it be worth rethinking this plan? Don’t go, Lexi. Rose Zhang meanwhile rattles one in at 5, spooking Carlota Ciganda into leaving her shorter effort way shy of the hole. Another hole goes; so much for her Medinah memories. But Alison Lee misses a short one on 7 to gift another hole to Georgia Hal, while Charley Hull does a matchplay number on Nelly Korda at 8, rolling in a ten-footer that rattles Korda into missing a putt from half that distance. A lot happening now!

3UP Hull v Korda (8)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (7)
4UP Hall v Alison Lee (7)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 1UP (6)
Ciganda v Zhang 3UP (5)
Henseleit A/S Andrea Lee (4)
Boutier v Thompson 2UP (4)
2UP Stark v Coughlin (3)
Valenzuela v Vu 1UP (2)
Sagstrom A/S Schmelzel (1)
Maguire v Ewing

Lexi Thompson completes a short-order turnaround against Celine Boutier. She wedges close on 3 to set up a birdie chance she converts. Up on 4, Andrea Lee makes a putt from 20 feet to level up her match with Esther Henseleit. Meanwhile back on the opening tee, the out-of-sorts Leona Maguire sends her drive towards the bunker down the right but the ball stops short in the semi-rough. She’ll be taking on Ally Ewing (0-3-0 this week) in the penultimate match. Both players with a point to prove today.

2UP Hull v Korda (7)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (6)
3UP Hall v Alison Lee (6)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 1UP (6)
Ciganda v Zhang 2UP (4)
Henseleit A/S Andrea Lee (4)
Boutier v Thompson 1UP (3)
1UP Stark v Coughlin (2)
Valenzuela A/S Vu (1)
Sagstrom A/S Schmelzel (1)
Maguire v Ewing

Another hole for Charley Hull! Nelly Korda misses the green at 7 to the right, can’t get up and down, and the world number one ties up the gift with a bow. Rose Zhang meanwhile walks in a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-three 4th, and that hole went by far too quickly for Carlota Ciganda’s liking in more ways than one. Four of the top five matches are beginning to take shape with some daylight between the players.

2UP Hull v Korda (7)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (6)
3UP Hall v Alison Lee (6)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 1UP (5)
Ciganda v Zhang 2UP (4)
1UP Henseleit v Andrea Lee (3)
Boutier A/S Thompson (2)
1UP Stark v Coughlin (2)
Valenzuela v Vu

Anna Nordqvist holes out from 80 yards for eagle on the par-five 5th! Allisen Corpuz does her level best to follow her in, chipping from similar distance to three feet. Under normal circumstances, that would set up a great chance to win the hole. But it’s a loss for the US star. Nordqvist celebrates by raising both arms in triumph, and the caddies keep their shirts on. We don’t have to take our clothes off to have a good time. Cherry wine, anyone?

Alison Lee has a chance to reduce her arrears on Georgia Hall at 5. But she pulls a short putt wide left. No such problem for Lexi Thompson, who rolls in a ten-footer on 2 to level her match with Celine Boutier. And Rose Zhang does indeed make her birdie at 3 to hit the lead against Carlota Ciganda, who has been doing things at her own pace. That game has already dropped more than a hole behind the one in front; at this rate, there’s a fair chance Ciganda will be put on the clock for the second time this week.

1UP Hull v Korda (6)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (6)
3UP Hall v Alison Lee (5)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 2UP (4)
Ciganda v Zhang 1UP (3)
1UP Henseleit v Andrea Lee (2)
Boutier A/S Thompson (2)
1UP Stark v Coughlin (1)
Valenzuela v Vu

Albane Valenzuela, the rookie who sat out Saurday, finds the first cut down the left with her first shot on Sunday. Lilia Vu, the two-time major champion, splits the fairway. Up on the green, Maja Stark is asked to make a very short par putt by Lauren Coughlin. She strokes it home from a couple of feet, and wins the hole in par, but that refusal to concede may set a tone in that match. Or it may not. Let’s keep an eye on it.

Nelly Korda finds a bunker at the front of the 6th green. She can only splash out to 15 feet, and when the par saver doesn’t drop, Charley Hull has the lead again in the opening match. The world number one isn’t quite on top of her game yet. Meanwhile on 3, Carlota Ciganda duffs a chip from the side of the green and looks likely to be falling behind against Rose Zhang very soon.

A chance for Megan Khang to ratchet up the hurt on Emily Pedersen. But she leaves her birdie putt short on 5. Pedersen is doing all she can to hang on here, she could feasibly be four holes adrift already. Meanwhile on the par-three 4th, Allisen Corpuz rattles in a 25-footer for birdie to sicken Anna Nordqvist, who hasn’t done too much wrong but finds herself two down quicksmart.

Hull A/S Korda (5)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (5)
3UP Hall v Alison Lee (4)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 2UP (4)
Ciganda A/S Zhang (2)
1UP Henseleit v Andrea Lee (2)
1UP Boutier v Thompson (1)
Stark v Coughlin

♫ Maja Stark, doo doo doo doo doo doooo, doo doo doo doo doo doooo, doo doo doo doo doo doooo, MA-JA STARK! ♪♫ The European fans do their thing as Maja Stark turns up for work. She dazzles a smile and does the Baby Shark thing back at them, before larruping a fine opening drive down the track. Lauren Coughlin, who has been faultless on debut so far, with a three-from-three record, sends her tee shot into the rough on the left. No big problem there. Meanwhile up on the green, par’s enough for Celine Boutier to win the opening hole against Lexi Thompson, who was always out of position after driving into the fairway bunker.

Hull A/S Korda (5)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (4)
3UP Hall v Alison Lee (4)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 1UP (2)
Ciganda A/S Zhang (2)
1UP Henseleit v Andrea Lee (2)
1UP Boutier v Thompson (1)
Stark v Coughlin

Birdie for Nelly Korda at 5. That levels up the lead match. We’re also level again in match five: Rose Zhang utilises the tilt on the left-hand side of the green at 2 to gather her ball to three feet. Carlota Ciganda can’t match the birdie. But on the par-three 4th, Georgia Hall, wearing a deadpan look of utter determination, fires her tee shot straight at the flag and calmly tidies up from six feet to move three holes ahead of Alison Lee.

Hull A/S Korda (5)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (4)
3UP Hall v Alison Lee (4)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 1UP (2)
Ciganda A/S Zhang (2)
1UP Henseleit v Andrea Lee (1)
Boutier v Thompson

Georgia Hall is on it this morning. She walks in a 20-footer for birdie on 3. Serious pressure on Alison Lee, who has lost the first two holes. But she reacts by slotting home a 12-footer to salvage a half and stop the bleeding. Back to the first tee, meanwhile, where Celine Boutier and Lexi Thompson, the latter on a valedictory tour, get their match underway. Boutier sends a gentle fade around the big bunker and miles down the track; a peach of a drive. Thompson finds that sand. And up on the green, Esther Henseleit walks a 25-footer in for a birdie that gives Europe their fourth splash of blue.

1UP Hull v Korda (4)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (4)
2UP Hall v Alison Lee (3)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 1UP (2)
1UP Ciganda v Zhang (1)
1UP Henseleit v Andrea Lee (1)
Boutier v Thompson

Carlota Ciganda splashes hard out of a deep bunker on 1. That’s a gimme, and the hole too, with Rose Zhang unable to make par. Meanwhile up on 2, Anna Nordqvist and Allisen Corpuz both flirt with the rough to the left of the green. Nordqvist’s ball stays in the thick stuff; Corpuz’s takes a bounce out to the right and rolls to a couple of feet. The small margins that win the hole for the USA. A good break for Corpuz, though nothing like the astonishing luck she benefitted from yesterday, thinning a fairway wood that most times would head for the water, but somehow set up an eagle. Hey, when the golfing gods are on your side, just roll with it. They turn on everyone eventually.

1UP Hull v Korda (4)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (3)
2UP Hall v Alison Lee (2)
Nordqvist v Corpuz 1UP (2)
1UP Ciganda v Zhang (1)
Henseleit v Andrea Lee

Par on 2 is enough for Georgia Hall to double her lead over Alison Lee in the shortest of orders. Charley Hull rams home another confident putt, this time on 4, to keep hold of her advantage over Nelly Korda. Back on the first tee, Esther Henseleit and Andrea Lee peg it up and smash their opening drives down the track.

1UP Hull v Korda (4)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (3)
2UP Hall v Alison Lee (2)
Nordqvist A/S Corpuz (1)
Ciganda v Zhang

Emily Pedersen is this close to going three down to Megan Khang after three holes. Her tee shot finds a divot, her approach misses the green on the left, her chip leaves a five-foot knee-knocker. The putt very nearly doesn’t drop, but takes one-and-a-half laps around the rim before finally deigning to disappear. Phew. She couldn’t afford to ship another hole so soon, and that may be the subtlest of momentum-changers.

Allisen Corpuz can’t get up and down from the bunker at 1. Anna Nordqvist can’t get up and down from the rough at the back. Hole halved in bogey.

1UP Hull v Korda (3)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (2)
1UP Hall v Alison Lee (1)
Nordqvist A/S Corpuz (1)
Ciganta v Zhang

Carlota Ciganda, who has promised to bring some Medinah Fever to the party, tees it up. The European fans serenading her with the riff from Seven Nation Army. As is her wont, she takes her sweet time over the tee shot, and sends it into that popular position in the rough on the left. Nobody fancying that bunker on the right. Rose Zhang doesn’t mess about, though, and smoothly lashes her drive down the middle.

Allisen Corpuz pulls a nervous approach into a bunker to the left of 1. Anna Nordqvist doesn’t take advantage, though, sending a skinny one through the back of the green and into the thick stuff. Big putt meanwhile on 3 for Charley Hull, who rattles a 12-footer into the centre of the cup, flush off the flagstick, down and in. It salvages a half and she retains her one-hole lead over Nelly Korda.

Alison Lee can’t get up and down from 40 yards for her par, and that’s enough to give Georgia Hall first blood in match three. Up on 2, Emily Pedersen pulls a short putt and par is enough for Megan Khang to double her lead in short order.

1UP Hull v Korda (2)
Pedersen v Khang 2UP (2)
1UP Hall v Alison Lee (1)
Nordqvist v Corpuz

If you hole out from the fairway for eagle on one day, it’s an immutable rule of golf that you’re not even going to find the green in regulation the next. It’s just how the golfing gods roll. And so it is for Alison Lee on 1. She comes up well short with her approach. Her caddie will be keeping the pumped pecs covered today. Back on the tee, Anna Nordqvist and Allisen Corpuz begin their battle by both finding the fairway.

Megan Khang is good for her birdie on 1, and it’s enough to win the opening hole for the USA. The first splash of red on the board. But there’s also a first splash of blue, as Charley Hull does a classic matchplay number on Nelly Korda at 2. Korda clips her second to four feet, but Hull, using a combination of backstop and backspin, responds by guiding her approach to three feet. Korda, who must have thought the hole was in the bag, misses her putt. Hull tidies up and it’s not taken long for Singles Sunday to get going. Not long at all.

1UP Hull v Korda (2)
Pedersen v Khang 1UP (1)
Hall v Alison Lee

Here’s Alison Lee! If Lee and her caddie Shota Takada put on a show even half as good as they did yesterday, we’ll be doing well. In case you missed it – and if you didn’t, the images will surely be seared on your retinas – Takada and Megan Khang’s caddie Jack Fulghum promised the players that they’d whip their tops off if either holed out. Sure enough, Lee did exactly that from 86 yards on the opening hole, and the caddies were as good as their word, the two men gambolling around, the old nipples out, hugging in the bromance style. DH Lawrence would surely have approved. Lee and Georgia Hall both find the fairway.

Megan Khang fires a glorious approach at the flag on 1. She’ll have a good look at birdie from six feet or so. Emily Pedersen’s shot is nearly as good, coming in from the rough on the left, using the shoulder of the bunker to the right of the green to kick her ball to 20 feet. That’s pretty darn good from where she was, but it’s advantage USA there.

The second match pits Emily Pedersen against Megan Khang. The Dane sends her tee shot into the first cut down the left. It’s a popular spot, with a big bunker on the other side of the fairway, some players unable to carry it. Khang knocks hers carefully down the track. Up at the green, Charley Hull splashes out from the sand to a couple of feet, and the putt is conceded. Korda, who has caught a good lie in the rough, chips up to three feet. That one’s not conceded, but Korda tidies up without fuss. She walks off with a spring in her step, full in the knowledge that she got away with a couple of loose shots there.

Hull A/S Korda (1)
Pedersen v Khang

Back to Virginia, where Charley Hull doesn’t crank up the pressure on Nelly Korda. She pushes her approach into a greenside bunker. Korda, in the trees, has lucked out with a route through, and once a cherry picker with a camera on it is moved out of the way, she’s able to punch through and up towards the green. But if anything, she hits it too cleanly, and the ball sails through and off the right-hand side. It hits a punter; had it not, it would have sailed into more tree-based trouble. A couple of lucky breaks for Korda there, who is back in the hole.

Not getting too far ahead of ourselves, but the date for the next Solheim Cup was announced earlier today. It’ll take place on 7-13 September 2026 at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, close to Eindhoven and ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.

“Let’s go Charley, let’s go!” The European fans in fine voice, doing their damndest against the U-S-A tumult. And Hull does indeed go, sending the first shot of the day into the rough down the left of the fairway. Good enough. But the world number one Nelly Korda looks anxiously after her tee shot … and my goodness but it’s wild. Miles to the left, into the trees, and ballooning off a cart path. That’s sailed a long way left. No idea if she’s got a route into the green yet. That’s a nervy one.

A reminder of where we are, after two engrossing days at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. The USA needs four-and-a-half points to win the Solheim Cup. Europe require eight points if they’re to retain possession of it, eight-and-a-half if they’re to win it outright.

Here we go, then, buckle up … and here comes the world number one Nelly Korda, skipping and bounding out of the tunnel to rapturous roars rolling down from the grandstands surrounding the first tee. Presumably the shuttle buses are more frequent today because the stands are rammed and the place is jumping. What an atmosphere! Charley Hull – and what a match-up this is, by the way – is much more cool and measured as she walks out with a look of steely determination. This is going to be something else. Or maybe an anti-climactic procession, but right here, right now, all things are possible. Beyond excited? Us too!

Preamble