Pettersen thinks big

BLUE was the colour for Europe at Killeen Castle yesterday — and pacesetter Suzann Pettersen saw more than enough to fuel her belief that the home team can win the Solheim Cup for the first time in four attempts.

Pettersen scored two valuable points, one each in the foursomes and the fourballs, as the Eurostars built up a slender one-point lead at the end of day one of this three-day test.

Scotland’s Catriona Matthew was the ‘woman of the match’ with a run of five straight birdies as she partnered rookie Sandra Gal to a half against Christina Kim and Ryann O’Toole in the fourballs.