Solheim Cup: Nelly Korda’s spectacular eagle gave Team USA boost at the right time

Solheim Cup, Nelly Korda
Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

With plenty of big moments during Saturday’s morning session, one eagle was exactly what Team USA needed.

Nelly Korda is quite the force for Team USA at the Solheim Cup this week. She is 3-0-0 so far this week. Korda and her foursome playing partner, Alisen Corpuz, fought from two back on Saturday morning to win 1 UP.

Team USA won two matches in the Saturday session, and it happened because Korda had the guts to make this epic eagle on the 14th hole, which started their two-stroke comeback.

The morning matches were in alternate shot. Corpuz had the approach shot, and she thinned it, but it miraculously found its way onto the green, giving Korda an eagle look.

“I told her that could be the top 3 best shots I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Korda said about Corpuz’s shot on 14.

She and Corpuz are quite the dynamic duo. They are 2-0 this week in foursomes, proving to be a great team.

“It’s great playing with Allisen,” the No. 1 overall player said. “I have so much fun with her, and she’s so solid. She said that I played great today, but she did, as well, and we make an excellent team, and it’s so much fun playing out here with her this week.

After the ball dropped into the hole on 14, Korda gave a fist pump that even Tiger Woods would find impressive.

That celebration was so out of character for the usually laid-back golfer. Seeing her excited showed how much it meant to Korda and Team USA. After they won their match, she explained what got into her when she gave that fist pump.

“[That was] my alter ego, Norry,” Korda said with a grin and chuckle. “ I got announced on the opening ceremony as Norry, so we went with it as a joke. It’s been such a fun week.”

This putt gave Team USA the momentum they needed to make a comeback and get the second point of the morning.

Rookie Lauren Coughlin and veteran Lexi Thompson earned the first one. They did not trail the entire match and won 4 & 3. The first-timer and local Virginian golfer is 3-0-0 in her first Solheim Cup, as no one seems to rattle her.

“We saw a few leaderboards out there but we tried to control as much as we can with our game and our emotions out there and free swing and just tried to make each other comfortable,” Thompson said.

Solheim Cup, Lauren Coughlin, Lexi Thompson, Nelly Korda Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Once they got the point, Korda and Corpuz quickly added theirs. The morning session looked all European at one point in the day, but once that eagle putt dropped, things went into overdrive, and the Americans found a way to split the four matches.

Korda sat out for the Saturday afternoon round, but at that point, she and Corpuz carried over into the four-ball format.

Allison Lee and Megan Khang opened the session with a 4 & 3 victory. Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang demolished Linn Grant and Celine Boutier 6 & 4. It gave the Americans two more points though, and a 10-4 lead wiht two matches to play.

The Europeans pressed but it has not been enough to minimize the lead. Will the final two matches go their way or will the two American teams left find ways to increase Team USA lead’s even more?

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.



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