There were a few raised eyebrows when Europe's Swedish captain Anna Nordqvist announced the pairings ahead of this afternoon's best-ball matches at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.
The blue-and-yellow duo Maja Stark and Linn Grant had started the day by winning their foursomes match, but were then rested.
Esther Henseleit and Leona Maguire earned Europe's second point of the morning, but were also left out.
Instead, Nordqvist put renewed faith in the two losing pairs, Charley Hull/Lottie Woad and Céline Boutier/Nanna Koerstz Madsen, in a pre-decided move.
Half a point for the stars
That both Hull and Woad – top 10 in the world and key players for Europe – were allowed to continue playing was expected, although one could question the wisdom of letting the English stars play together again. After leading for almost the entire match, Hull and Woad lost, settling for half a point against Yealimi Noh/Angel Yin.
However, letting Boutier and Koerstz Madsen play again in the afternoon was a clear mistake. The Frenchwoman did what she could, but the Dane was completely off the pace as the duo suffered their second loss of the day without coming close to threatening Megan Khang/Alison Lee.
Successful debutants
Anna Nordqvist also surprised by sending two rookies out together. But the Anglo-French pairing of Mimi Rhodes, 24, and Nastasia Nadaud, 21, celebrated a victory in their Solheim Cup debut against Allisen Corpuz/Auston Kim. After sealing it on the 17th hole, the successful debutants received a teddy bear hug from Nordqvist, who could see that she had made some good, some decent and some bad decisions during her first day as Solheim Cup captain in a tight situation.
The shadows were starting to grow long in the evening sun as the fourth and final best-ball match was decided on the 18th hole. Spanish pair Carlota Ciganda/Julia López Ramírez were under pressure against Lauren Coughlin and world number one Nelly Korda, but veteran Ciganda managed to save par after being in a lot of trouble.
That gave half a point, which was celebrated as a victory.
I love playing for the team, for my teammates and for Anna, who is a good friend of mine, says Ciganda.
The score is tied at 4-4 heading into this weekend's matches.
