The United States moved within sight of recapturing the Solheim Cup from Europe when it retained a four-point advantage, leading 10-6 following Saturday’s matches in Gainesville, Virginia.
After splitting the four morning foursomes matches, the two teams did likewise in the afternoon fourballs at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, a stalemate that no doubt suited the leaders more.
Europe was on the canvas late in the day, but the Americans could not deliver a knockout blow as the visitors rallied to win the final two matches — Carlota Ciganda and Emily Pedersen beating Lexi Thompson and Ally Ewing 2&1, before Charley Hull and Georgia Hall closed out Allisen Corpuz and Lilia Vu 2-up.
Those two results gave Europe a lifeline entering Sunday’s 12 singles matches, when they will need eight points to retain the Cup, a tough but not completely impossible task.
The U.S., which tied last year’s Solheim Cup after narrowly losing the previous two stagings of the event, requires only 4 1/2 points to regain the Cup.
Earlier on Saturday, American world number one Nelly Korda improved to 3-0 for the week when she combined with Corpuz in a come-from-behind 1-up foursomes win over Pedersen and Ciganda.
Korda and Corpuz had an assist from lady luck at the par-five 14th, where the latter hit her second shot thin with a hybrid club but the ball somehow avoided a pond in front of the green and rolled up to 15 feet, from where Korda converted the eagle to win the hole.
It was the fourth straight win by Korda and Corpuz in the alternate-shot format, a Solheim Cup record.
Korda sat out the afternoon fourballs, and would have been delighted at what she saw, at least until late in the day.
Alison Lee and Megan Khang had little trouble dusting off Anna Nordqvist and Madelene Sagstrom 4&3 in the first match, while Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang made short work of Celine Boutier and Linn Grant 6&4.
Perhaps the most intriguing moment of the afternoon occurred at the par-three 11th, where Khang, who faced a 15-foot birdie chance to halve the hole, stroked a putt that hung on the lip of the hole for nine seconds before toppling in for a birdie as the Americans remained 2-up.
