Sept 10 (Reuters) – England’s Lottie Woad will make her eagerly awaited Solheim Cup debut alongside Charley Hull against unbeaten American duo Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz in Friday’s foursomes at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.
Europe are seeking to reclaim the team trophy after the U.S. won in Virginia in 2024.
The 22-year-old Woad faces a tough start against world number one Korda, who has won all four of her foursomes matches alongside Corpuz in the last two editions.
But Woad, one of four rookies in Anna Nordqvist’s team, will be able to count on the experience of Hull, who is making her eighth successive appearance.
Friday’s other foursomes will see Europe’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Celine Boutier take on Alison Lee and Lauren Coughlin, Esther Henseleit and Leona Maguire against Andrea Lee and Lindy Duncan and Maja Stark and Linn Grant playing Rose Zhang and Jennifer Kupcho.
“Charley and Lottie, they’ve got to play (together) quite a bit on tour this year, so I think they were both very excited to be paired with each other,” Nordqvist said after the draw.
“If you are going to be anywhere (on Friday) you want to be on the first tee because it doesn’t get better than that.”
U.S. captain Angela Stanford said pairing Korda and Corpuz was her easiest selection decision.
“If I didn’t put those two out (Korda and Corpuz), I would be questioned. I feel like the whole world knew that they were coming,” she said on Thursday.
“We can talk about Nelly and we can talk about her being the number one player in the world, but don’t sleep on Allisen. I’ve called her the backbone of our team.”
The U.S. are trying to retain the trophy and claim a first victory on European soil since 2015.
The last three editions in Europe have all been titanic tussles with no more than one point separating the sides who are tied on 42 points apiece from those matches.
Three years ago in Andalusia the U.S. team led 4-0 after Friday foursomes, but Europe hit back to clinch a thrilling 14-14 tie after Sunday’s singles to retain the trophy.
“Even if you’re a couple down early, you can get it back and even just getting a half point could be vital,” Woad said as she looked ahead to her debut. “So I think you’ve just got to have that mentality that any half point or point helps.”
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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