The Americans simply outplayed their opponents. Kerr made every putt she looked at in winning a point-and-a-half, including a crucial par-saver on No. 18 of her foursomes match with Hurst that salvaged a halve with Gustafson and Pettersen after nearly blowing a 2-up lead. Creamer also picked up a point and a half, and Castrale, a Solheim Cup rookie, made four birdies as she and Kerr defeated Gustafson and Gwladys Nocera 3 and 2 in better-ball play.
The first day maneuvering followed pretty much the pattern of past Solheim Cups. Betsy King, captain of the U.S. team, got all 12 of her players into action while the Europeans hid two of their weak links on the bench, opting not to use Bettina Hauert and Linda Wessberg. The rules of the competition require only that each player compete in at least one of the four sessions before Sunday's singles matches, so we will have to see each of them at least once on Saturday.
Hurst, Creamer, Pressel and Kerr played both Friday sessions for King, while Alfredsson used Sorenstam, Gustafson, Matthew, Davies, Hjorth, who led Europe with a point and a half, and Nocera twice.
The pairings for Saturday morning's alternate-shot play have Sherri Steinhauer and Laura Diaz playing Nocera and Hjorth; Inkster and Creamer taking on Pettersen and Gustafson; Hurst and Stanford going against Tinning and Hauert; and Castrale and Kerr playing Sorenstam and Matthew. That means Creamer, Hurst and Kerr will have played all three matches for the U.S. team while Sorenstam, Matthew, Nocera, Hjorth and Gustafson will have played all the matches for Europe.
The second-guessing will start here tomorrow afternoon. But the way, the weather is supposed to be worse on Saturday. Should be fun.
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