CASARES, Spain: The US enjoyed their best-ever start to a Solheim Cup, sweeping the favored European team in all of the foursomes matches in the opening session to take a 4-0 lead in Spain on Friday.

The Americans, who are trying to avoid losing three Solheim Cups in a row to Europe for the first time, got off to a quick start and were ahead in most matches throughout the morning foursomes. The US trailed briefly in only two of the matches at Finca Cortesin in southern Spain.

The previous best start for the US was 3 1/2-1/2 in Wales in 1996.

The first US point came with the final group, as Ally Ewing and Cheyenne Knight easily beat Charley Hull and Emily Pedersen 5 and 4. Ewing and Knight made the turn 6 up and were never really challenged.

The Americans also won with the first group as Lexi Thompson and Megan Khang defeated Swedish rookies Maja Stark and Linn Grant 2 and 1. Thompson and Khang, who together have nine Solheim Cup appearances, took an early 3-up lead through three holes. The two Swedes rallied to even the match through 13 holes, but winning Nos. 15 and 17 secured the point for the US

Andrea Lee and Danielle Kang were 1 down through eight holes but came back to win 1 up against Celine Boutier and Georgia Hall.

US Women’s Open champion Allizen Corpuz made a short putt on the final hole to secure a 1-up victory with Nelly Korda against Leona Maguire and Anna Nordqvist, who is also acting as a vice captain for the Europeans. Maguire had won four matches in her Solheim Cup debut two years ago,

The teams will be back in the afternoon for the fourball matches, when each player will hit their own ball. They alternated shots with one ball per team in the foursomes.

The Europeans, looking for their unprecedented third consecutive title, came in with the label of favorites after bringing an experienced squad to Spain. The Americans arrived with a young team that included five rookies, though many who have won important tournaments recently.

There was a lively crowd on the first hole ahead of the opening tee shots at Finca Cortesin, with the American fans in smaller numbers but being heard just as loud as the Europeans.

Former Spain great Jose María Olazabal brought on the trophy to the first tee and lauded what he called “one of the most important tournaments in women’s golf.”

Spain are hosting the Solheim Cup for the first time, 26 years after they hosted the men’s Ryder Cup at Valderrama.

HANGZHOU, China: In the first Asian Games since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, two teams of athletes are arriving in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, looking very different.
One, sent from Afghanistan where women are now banned by the Taliban from participating in sports, consists of about 130 all-male athletes, who will participate in 17 different sports, including volleyball, judo and wrestling, Atel Mashwani, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Afghanistan’s Olympic Committee, told The Associated Press.
Another, competing under the black, red and green flag of the elected government the Taliban toppled in 2021, is drawn from the diaspora of Afghan athletes around the world, and includes 17 women, according to Hafizullah Wali Rahimi, the president of Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee from before the Taliban took over.
Rahimi, who now works from outside Afghanistan but is still recognized by many countries as its official representative on Olympic matters, told reporters at the team’s official arrival ceremony late Thursday that the athletes are there for the love of sports.
“We want to be keeping the sports completely out of the politics so the athletes can freely, inside and outside their country, do their sports activity and development,” he said.
Rahimi’s contingent at the welcome ceremony was entirely male, but he said the women were on their way, consisting of a volleyball team that have been training in Iran, cyclists from Italy, and a representative for athletics from Australia.
He did not respond to an emailed request on Friday seeking more details.
The games official opening ceremony is on Saturday.
Although the Taliban promised a more moderate rule than during their previous period in power in the 1990s, they have imposed harsh measures since seizing Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were pulling out after two decades of war.
They have barred women from most areas of public life such as parks, gyms and work and cracked down on media freedoms. They have banned girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade, and prohibited Afghan women from working at local and non-governmental organizations. The ban was extended to employees of the United Nations in April.
The measures have triggered a fierce international uproar, increasing the country’s isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed and worsening a humanitarian crisis.
Rahimi said that the previous government had been working hard to increase women’s participation in sport since the previous Taliban regime, and that it had increased to 20 percent.
“We hope it comes back, of course,” he said. “Not only the sport, we hope that they’ll be back allowed to schools and education, because that’s the basic rights of a human.”