Europe, U.S. tied 4-4 at Solheim Cup after Ciganda's late heroics

DEN BOSCH, Netherlands -- The opening day of the Solheim Cup started with smoke blowers and party music blasting out of a boisterous first tee. It ended in nervy silence on No. 18 as veteran European player Carlota Ciganda stood over a 12-foot putt to tie the match against the Americans.

Not for the first time at the biggest team event in women's golf, she delivered.

Ciganda pulled off an unlikely par after world No. 1 Nelly Korda and Lauren Coughlin left birdie putts short to gain a half-point with rookie Julia Lopez Ramirez and leave the teams tied at 4-4 after a Day 1 that had a little bit of everything at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands on Friday.

Including a slice of history.

For the first time in the 36-year history of the Solheim Cup, Europe and the United States split each of the first two sessions. For two teams that have long looked so evenly matched, maybe it was no surprise.

It was a tough end to the day for Korda, who had a 4-and-3 win with Allisen Corpuz in the morning singles that earned the U.S. pairing a fifth straight victory together - an unprecedented feat at the Solheim Cup. Then, Korda didn't win a hole with Coughlin in the four-balls.

There were some other memorable performances, not least from European rookies Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud, who won 2 and 1 against Corpuz and Auston Kim in the afternoon four-balls.

Then there was Megan Khang, the bubbly American who - with a 5-and-3 win alongside Alison Lee in the four-balls - extended her unbeaten run in the Solheim Cup to nine matches, which is tied for the second-longest undefeated streak in the event. They won five of the last six holes, and six of the last nine from 2 down against Celine Boutier and Nanna Koerstz Madsen.

The day ultimately belonged to the 36-year-old Ciganda, who was never in the right spot down No. 18 - in fact, she was never in the fairway - but ended up getting up-and-down against the odds. It's another chapter of the Spaniard's Solheim Cup story that peaked in 2023 when her late back-to-back birdies secured a singles win over Korda and retained the crystal trophy in a 14-14 tie.

"I love this week," she said on a post-round interview on the 18th green. "I just love playing for the team, for my teammates."

Still, it was a solid start for the Americans in their bid to reach either 14 points to regain the Solheim Cup, or more to win on the road for the first time since 2015.

"I expected them to throw the kitchen sink at us right from the bat," U.S. captain Angela Stanford said, "and I think we held up well."