Team USA Leads PING Junior Solheim Cup by Four Points

Sylvania, OH – Team USA leads the 11^th PING Junior Solheim Cup after day one 8 to 4 over Team Europe. The team captained by LPGA legend Renee Powell put up three points during the morning four-ball session and five points during the afternoon foursome session.

The morning began with six four-ball matches. Team Europe jumped out to an early lead across the board. In the first match off of the day Megha Ganne of Holmdel, New Jersey, and Amari Avery of Riverside, California, fell 3-down to Andrea Revuelta and Cayetana Fernandez of Madrid, Spain. The pair rallied as they made the turn where the match become all square by hole No. 12. Avery had a clutch par save on the par 5 No. 16 to keep the match all square with one to play. Ganne followed with a quick birdie on No. 17 to move to 1-up on the Spanish duo. The match moved to 18 where the girls each pared No. 18 for Avery and Ganne to win 1-up.

In the second match of the day the Europeans took a commanding lead from the start over Team USA of Kaitlyn Schroeder of Jacksonville, Florida, and Bailey Shoemaker of West Edmeston, New York. Francesca Fiorellini of Rome, Italy, and Denisa Vodickova of Prague, Czech Republic, were lights out birdieing five holes to hold control of the match. They lost one hole to Team USA and that came on the back nine of the match, No. 14. The match ended on No. 15 with a final score of 4&3.

Match 3 of the day was back and forth throughout the morning. Kelly Xu of Claremont, California, and Anna Davis of Spring Valley, California, took on Vairana Heck and Constance Fouillet of Paris, France. The Americans were first to strike going 1-up on hole No.2, but a birdie on the par 5 No. 4 tied the match back up. Team USA returned the blow going back to 1-up on No. 5. The Europeans again matched the point on hole No. 7 with a long birdie putt. Davis and Xu won the first two holes of the back nine. The match remained at 2-up until No. 17 where Team USA won the hole and the match with a final score of 3&1.

In match 4 Meja Ortengren and Nora Sundberg both of Stockholm, Sweden, took on Alexa Pano of Lake Worth, Florida, and Katie Li of Basking Ridge, New Jersey.  The match was competitive down the front nine, back and forth early in the morning. Sundberg sunk a deep birdie putt on the par 3 No. 6 to move the match to 1-up. Ortengren and Sundberg won hole Nos. 8 and 9 to move the match to 3-up. Li and Pano chipped away at their lead on No. 12 where the European lead moved to 2-up. Sundberg and Ortengren won the match 2&1 on hole No. 17.

The last USA points of the morning came in match 5 where Yana Wilson of Henderson, Nevada, and Catherine Rao of Camarillo, California, won 3&1 over Amalie Leth-Nissen of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Paula Schulz-Hanssen of Frankfurt, Germany. Wilson and Rao never fell to a deficit the entire match. They went 2-up on hole No. 8 and maintained that lead through hole No. 17 where they moved to 3-up and closed out the match.

The final European points of the morning came in match 6 where Helen Briem of Stuttgart, Germany, and Savannah De Bock of Brussels, Belgium, won 5&3 over Avery Zweig of McKinney, Texas, and Duluth, Georgia.

At the end of four-ball matches Team USA and Team Europe were 3-3.

Foursome matches teed off just after 2 p.m. this afternoon. Team USA captain Renee Powell reshuffled her teams’ pairings for the foursome format, while Team Europe captain Annika Sorenstam kept her pairings consistent from four-ball to foursomes.

The Americans swept the first five matches of foursomes winning five additional points for Team USA.

The leadoff match of the afternoon featured Team USA’s Megha Ganne and Alexa Pano against Team Europe’s Andrea Revuelta and Cayetana Fernandez. The Americans Ganne and Pano won 2&1.

In the second match Anna Davis and Catherine Rao, took on Francesca Fiorellini and Denisa Vodickova. Both sides continued to extend the match with Davis and Rao coming out on top winning 1-up on No. 18.

Amari Avery and Avery Zweig went up against Meja Ortengren and Nora Sundberg. The seasoned junior golf vet Avery and rookie Zweig made a great pairing winning 2&1 on hole No. 17.

Kaitlyn Schroeder got her first win of the day alongside Yana Wilson. The US pair took down the French duo Vairana Heck and Constance Fouillet 3&2.

Rounding out the American wins in foursome were Katie Li and Kelly Xu. They beat Helen Briem and Savannah De Bock 2&1.

The Europeans sole afternoon point came at the hands of two PING Junior Solheim Cup Alumnae in Amalie Leth-Nissen and Paula Schulz-Hanssen. Leth-Nissen and Schulz-Hanssen who were on the 2019 Team Europe won 6&5.

At the end of day one Team USA leads Team Europe 8-4 after a strong foursome afternoon where they took five of the six matches.

PING Junior Solheim Cup History
Since 2002, the PING Junior Solheim Cup has brought together the next generation of women's golfers in a Team USA vs. Team Europe match play tournament.

In addition to featuring some of the world's best female junior golfers, the PING Junior Solheim Cup is known for its iconic host venues.

The United States leads the all-time PING Junior Solheim Cup series 7-2-1  and has won six consecutive matches. Team Europe last won, 14-10, when the event was hosted in Sweden in 2007. The 2015 United States Team was the first team to win on foreign soil, 13-11, at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot in St. Leon-Rot, Germany, setting the stage for the 2019 United States’ team’s 13-11 win at Gleneagles.

AJGA alumnae who have graduated from PING Junior Solheim Cup to the Solheim Cup on Team USA include: Paula Creamer, Jessica Korda, Nelly Korda, Brittany Lang, Alison Lee, Yealimi Noh, Angel Yin, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel, and Lexi Thompson.

About Sylvania Country Club
The AJGA and Sylvania Country Club in Toledo, Ohio, share a history in the Buckeye state. Each year since 2019, Sylvania Country Club has hosted one of the most successful events on the AJGA schedule, the AJGA Dana Incorporated Junior Open. In 2021, the AJGA Dana Incorporated Junior Open took place six weeks prior to the PING Junior Solheim Cup. The event has received numerous awards in just its three-year history, including the 2019 Newcomer of the Year and 2020 Open Tournament of the Year titles.

About the PING Junior Solheim Cup
The PING Junior Solheim Cup is owned and hosted by PING and will be operated by the American Junior Golf Association with assistance from the Ladies Professional Golf Association and the Ladies European Tour.

Founded by Karsten and Louise Solheim, the Karsten Manufacturing Corporation is a long-time sponsor of the LPGA and AJGA. As the makers of PING golf equipment, the Solheim family continues to ensure the same superior workmanship today that they built into their original clubs more than 46 years ago. Now under the direction of John Solheim, Karsten and Louise’s youngest son, the company continues in its efforts to manufacture the highest quality golf equipment. The PING name is known world over. Besides its presence in the United States, PING markets custom-fit and custom-built equipment to more than 70 countries.

About PING
The tournament owner and title partner, PING, designs, manufactures, and markets a complete line of golf equipment including metal woods, irons, putters, and golf bags. The family-owned company was founded in 1959 by the late Karsten Solheim. Solheim is the only person to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as a golf club manufacturer. Today, the Phoenix-based company is under the direction of Solheim's youngest son, John A. Solheim. PING game-improvement products can be found in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit ping.com .