Europeans hold on to lead after first day

Mother-to-be Patricia Meunier-Lebouc and Suzann Pettersen, the baby of the team, kept Europe in front after day one of the Solheim Cup match in Sweden today.

Meunier-Lebouc, four months pregnant, and 22-year-old Pettersen stood firm in the face of a United States fightback to leave the Europeans ahead by a point, four and a half to three and a half, at Barseback.

Three points down from the morning foursomes - delayed by an hour and 40 minutes because of early morning fog - holders America came alive in the fourballs.

But the French-Norwegian partnership stopped them achieving a clean sweep, beating Meg Mallon and Angela Stanford when Pettersen, already successful with world number one Annika Sorenstam before lunch, sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the long 16th.

"I was just delighted to be out there," said Meunier-Lebouc, who a few weeks ago was suffering such bad nausea that she did not know whether she would be able to play.

She still cannot manage 36 holes a day and added: "I just tried to have fun and I knew with Suzann I would. She's always into it and wants more and more, so it pushes you to give your best."

Pettersen stated: "I think we're all going to be pumped up tomorrow morning again. Bring it on - more pressure."

Moments later Sorenstam had a chance to be another heroine of the day. But when she missed from 25 feet on the last she and fellow Swede Carin Koch lost to 43-year-old Juli Inkster and 46-year-old Beth Daniel.

The home pair were round in a five under par 67, but Daniel's 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th proved decisive and a closing par for a 66 sent Koch to her first defeat in 10 Solheim Cup games.

Laura Davies was also unable to make a telling contribution as she continued to appear in every session since the event began in 1990.

Able only to half her foursomes with Koch she was then paired with Scot Catriona Matthew and they lost two and one to the much steadier Kelli Kuehne and Cristie Kerr.

It made the final fourball a key affair for momentum going into Saturday's repeat format and Americans Rosie Jones and Michele Redman won it when Iben Tinning and Sophie Gustafson both narrowly failed to birdie the last.

Home captain Catrin Nilsmark - watching from a specially-adapted buggy because of a ruptured disc in her back - knew it could have been better after the start. But the point to hammer home was that they still led by a point.

There were shades of last year's match. Europe went from 3-1 up to 4-4 on the opening day then and ended up losing by three points.

Europe had a real chance for a 4-0 sweep of the opening session, but Davies and Koch three-putted the final green for only a half with Robbins and Daniel in the top game.

Robbins saved her side there with putts of 10 and 12 feet on the last two holes, but the fact that one was for par and the other for bogey told a story. The Americans were round in 77 and their opponents in a four over 76.

The other Europeans produced much better golf to win their games. Matthew and compatriot Janice Moodie, level at the turn with Inkster and Wendy Ward and level par as well, birdied the next three holes and then Matthew, responsible for the first two of those thanks to putts of 20 and 10 feet, made a 14-footer for another birdie and a five and three win on the short 15th.

Sorenstam and Pettersen finished things off on the same green, being one under as they beat Laura Diaz and rookie Heather Bowie four and three, then Gustafson and Elisabeth Esterl - the first German to play in the event - defeated Mallon and Jones with their sixth birdie of the day on the 16th after the Americans had fought back from four down to two down.

While American captain Patty Sheehan gave each of her 12 players a game on the first day Nilsmark benched Scotland's Mairi McKay and Spanish rookie Ana-Belen Sanchez for both sessions.

She also, like Sheehan, decided against keeping any of her successful morning partnerships together and rested Moodie, winner of four of her first five cup games.

Europe take early command 3.5 -.5

Europe made a near-perfect start against the United States in the Solheim Cup at Barseback Golf and Country Club on Friday, surging ahead by 3-1/2 points to a 1/2 after the morning foursomes matches.

World number one Annika Sorenstam of Sweden and Norway's Suzann Pettersen typified a confident display by the Europeans with a convincing 4 & 3 victory over Laura Diaz and Heather Bowie, one of two rookies in the U.S. side.

British pair Catriona Matthew and Janice Moodie scored Europe's first point, beating American number one Juli Inkster and Wendy Ward 5 & 3 after stamping their authority with a run of three birdies in a row from the 10th.

Europe's third point came from Swede Sophie Gustafson and Elisabeth Esterl, the first German to play to earn a Solheim cap.

Helped by a string of birdies, they clinched the final foursomes match of the morning 3 & 2 against the experienced American duo Meg Mallon and Rosie Jones.

America salvaged a half-point from Beth Daniel and Kelly Robbins in the first match out against Carin Koch and Laura Davies.

Robbins holed 10-foot putts for par at the final two holes to prevent a repeat of the 4-0 whitewash when Europe last won the Solheim Cup at Loch Lomond three years ago.

The Europeans three-putted the 18th, but that slip-up could not prevent Koch from extending her unbeaten record in three Solheim appearances.

Despite Europe's impressive start, Sorenstam was quick to point out that the Solheim is a three-day marathon and not just a one-series sprint.

"This is a lovely start, but there's a long, long way to go," she warned.

For Matthew, a controversial omission from the last two teams, the morning provided a memorable return to duty.

A member of the defeated side at Muirfield Village in Ohio on her debut five years ago, the 34-year-old said: "This feels fantastic. It's a great way for us to start."

The U.S. made the better opening to the morning, with Daniel holing a lengthy putt for a winning birdie at the first hole in the top match, and Inkster doing the same in the second tie.

But the Europeans re-grouped after a fog delay of almost two hours and, by the time the sun came out to turn a dull morning into a warm and bright afternoon, the scoreboard had become awash in blue.

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