Europe stay in control despite US fightback

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 yesterday.

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.

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."

Pettersen said last night: "I think we're all going to be pumped up again tomorrow morning."

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.

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. 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 today'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.

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.

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.