The Solheim Cup remains tightly poised after the United States endevour to make a comeback was halted by bad light at Golf Club St Leon-Rot.
Bad light halted play for a second day in a row at the Solheim Cup with three holes left to play. After a dominant performance for Europe this morning the Americans came out all guns blazing, winning the first match and holding a slim advantage in two others.
The American duo of Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr came out this afternoon looking to put an early end to the European party atmosphere which engulfed Golf Club St Leon-Rot at lunch time, largely ignited by Suzann Petterson’s and Charley Hull’s thrilling comeback this morning. Up against the Spanish pairing of Azahara Munoz and Carlota Ciganda, the Americans scored six birdies to win by the comfortable margin of 3 and 2.
In a day characterised by drama it seems fitting that the remaining three matches are all poised for thrilling endings. In the second match Scotland’s Catriona Matthew holed a tricky twelve footer to win the 15th and put Europe one ahead, whilst the US are leading by the same margin in the other two matches which have two and three holes to play respectively.
''It’s a good position to be in but there’s still a lot to do,” said European captain Carin Koch. “Tomorrow every player has to go out there and fight for their point. That’s what they have to. We’re looking forward to it but certainly won’t be easy.”
Today’s drama was not confined to the golf course however as tempers flared between team captains before this morning foursomes. US captain Juli Inkster and European assistant were spotted by TV camaras engaging in a heated discussion over how advice should be given to players during play.
Tensions then mounted again this afternoon after Lizette Salas and Brittany Lang neglected to be informed by Solheim Cup officials that their tee time had been pushed back. Unaware that Catriona Matthew had been granted a 40 minute rest after completing her foursomes match, the American pair arrived to find the tee empty.
“They need sufficient time where they can eat and warm up a little bit again,” Koch said. “There was some confusion.”.
Both teams will hope that the drama remains solely on the golf course tomorrow when play resumes at 8.45am. The captains will decide their singles line-up once the fourballs have been completed with Europe needing 6 points to regain the trophy.
Image: Getty Images