Jessica and Nelly Korda (right) playing for the USA in the Solheim Cup – now they will fight for family pride in the first of seven LPGA eTour Live events. Picture by MATTHEW LEWIS

THE Ladies Professional Golf Association is launching the LPGA e-Tour Live featuring a series of head-to-head matches played onlline over nine holes, this week.

The first event tonight (Wednesday, May 13) will see the Korda sisters – Jessica and Nelly – fight for family honour in the new matchplay event.

The LPGA has team up with World Golf Tour (WGT) by Topgolf to produce the eTour LIve series, which will also see Solheim Cup players Angel Yin and Lizette Salas go head to head later this week.

Eight LPGA and Symetra Tour players will feature in a series of seven matches twice a week.

The first match between Jessica and Nelly Korda will feature Congressional Country Club’s Blue Course – home to the 2022 and 2027 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The Kordas became the first sisters to play in the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles when Europe famously beat the USA with the last putt, in September.

Players can choose from numerous iconic courses in the WGT portfolio, including the Old Course at St Andrews (host of the 2007 and 2013 AIG Women’s British Open), Oakmont Country Club (1992 and 2010 US Women’s Open) and Pinehurst No. 2 (2014 US Women’s Open).

They can also opt for three future US Women’s Open venues – Erin Hills (2025), the Lake Course at The Olympic Club (2021) and Pebble Beach Golf Links (2023).

LPGA e-Tour will be streamed live

The LPGA e-Tour Live series will culminate with a championship match on Wednesday, June 3. All matches will take place at 7pm UK time and will be streamed live on LPGA and Topgolf digital platforms.

LPGA’s senior vice president Brian Carroll said: “This new endeavor is a creative way to showcase our LPGA and Symetra Tour players in an innovative online format – thanks to WGT and its incredibly realistic video game technology.”

“We are excited for this partnership with WGT and Topgolf to present an entertaining and alternative golf experience for all fans alike during a time when many are starved for competition.”

Topgolf vice president Lincoln Silver said: “WGT’s ability to provide the best e-sports golfing platform combined with the LPGA’s unique series of competitions will create a powerful experience for players all over the world, who can truly immerse themselves in the competition.”

Players and times

Wednesday, May 13:
Match 1 – Jessica Korda vs. Nelly Korda
Friday, May 15:
Match 2 – Angel Yin vs. Lizette Salas
Wednesday, May 20:
Match 3 – Tiffany Joh vs. Jenny Shin
Friday, May 22:
Match 4 – Jane Park vs. Lucy Li
Wednesday, May 27:
Match 5 – Semifinal: winners of Matches 1 & 2
Friday, May 29:
Match 6 – Semifinal: winners of Matches 3 & 4
Wednesday, June 3:
Match 7 – Championship: winners of Matches 5 & 6

Kent’s former LET and LPGA star Karen Stupples, who is part of Golf Channel’s commentary team for the LPGA e-Tour

The matches will stream live on the WGT Twitch, YouTube and Facebook accounts, LPGA’s Twitter, Facebook, YouTube accounts and LPGA.com, and Discovery’s GOLFTV Twitter and Facebook accounts.

They will also be available via VOD on Golf Channel’s YouTube and GolfChannel.com.

GOLFTV’s former Girls Amateur Champion Henni Zuel, from Dorset, and Golf Channel’s Tom Abbott will add commentary during the Wednesday matches, while Golf Channel’s Karen Stupples, the former England amateur international and LPGA star from Kent, will commentate on Fridays.

•The LPGA, along with golf tours in the men’s game, was forced to postpone much of the early part of the 2020 season.

In early April, it released a revised schedule with its first event in the resumed season – the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club – scheduled for June 19-21.

But at the end of April it was forced to move that event back to August and now plans to resume its tournaments on July 15 with the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, at Michigan’s Midland Country Club.

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Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (left) and Holland’s Anne Van Dam walk off the seventh green during Friday afternoon foursomes against the USA. Picture by MATTHEW LEWIS

EUROPE will take a narrow one point lead into the second day of the 16^th Solheim Cup at the PGA Centenary course at Gleneagles.

The home team are 4½-3½ in front heading into the second series of foursomes and fourballs.

But it is the American team who have momentum on their side after a dramatic finish to the day in which they came from behind to salvage halves in both of the last two fourball matches.

The home side took a slender 2½-1½ lead into the fourballs. But it disappeared when in the second match on the course Ally McDonald and Angel Yin – both left out of the morning foursomes – took just 13 holes to beat Swedish duo Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall 7&5.

The Americans good off to a fast start with birdies at the first three holes and they also birdied the fifth, ninth, 10th and 11th to increase that advantage to seven.

Nordqvist did get one hole back with a birdie at the 12^th before McDonald, a late replacement for the injured Stacy Lewis, closed out the match with a par on the next.

The 7&5 score tied the record for the biggest margin of victory in a Solheim Cup fourball, set by one of this year’s US vice-captains – Pat Hurst – and her partner Rosie Jones in their match against Lisa Hall and Sophie Gustafson, at Muirfield Village, in 1998.

“That was the year I was born,” laughed a delighted Yin. “I would say we’re ham and eggs.

“We’ve always got each other’s back, no matter what, and we work together as a team, communicate well. We’re just such a good pairing.”

Her partner McDonald added: “When Juli called me in to replace Stacy, I knew it could go either way, so to be able to go into my first match and get a point for the US means a lot.”

The USA won the first fourball series 4-0 two years ago in Iowa.

But any hopes they had of replicating that feat disappeared when the veteran Swede, Suzann Pettersen, and the rookie Dutchwoman, Anne Van Dam, beat Danielle Kang and Lizette Salas 4&2.

It was a significant win for Pettersen because it was her ninth Solheim Cup fourball victory, tying the European record, held by Laura Davies.

“I just want to say I had the best partner in the world,” said the Norwegian.

“I told you we don’t have any rookie on the team. I mean, this girl, I think she’s the best golfer I’ve ever seen on the women’s side. Today, she was an absolute rock star.”

Van Dam added: “Walking through that tunnel, especially to play with Suzann, who has been my idol growing up, for her to say, ‘Let’s enjoy this,’ that is what I was going to do.

“I was just hitting it solid from the beginning. It is not an easy golf course.

“Even from the tee you have to hit it in the fairway. If I hit it in the rough I lose my advantage a little bit from the tee, but it was great.

“I’m happy I played well and I was happy and comfortable around Suzann.”

At that stage, the Europeans were one point clear of the Americans.

And that is how it remained when Lexi Thompson holed a curling 25-foot birdie putt across the last green to secure a halve for her and partner Jessica Korda against Bronte Law and Carlota Ciganda.

Then, in the final match, and with the sun starting to set at the end of a long but riveting day, the Europeans, Charley Hull and Azahara Munoz, also lost the last to a birdie to tie their match with Nelly Korda and Brittany Altomare.

The Europeans had been four up with five to play. This time it was rookie Altomare who did the damage, also holing out from long range to keep her side within one point of their rivals.

“Those two half points at the end of the day were huge,” said US captain Juli Inkster.

European captain, Catriona Matthew at the 10th tee during Friday morning foursomes. Picture by MARK RUNNACLES

“For two rookies (Nelly Korda and Altomare) to be four down with five holes left and come back and tie, you can’t teach that.

“It’s just in your belly. I’m just so impressed with them. It was a great end to the day.”

European captain Catriona Matthew said: “Obviously, we got off to a great start in the foursomes. Our objective was to win every session.

“The finish wasn’t what we were looking for, everyone’s a little disappointed with that, but I think you have to take the positives.

“We’re leading. We’re a point up. If we’re leading at the end of each day, that would be great.”

Matthew sticks with three pairings

CATRIONA MATTHEW has named three unchanged pairs for the second series of Solheim Cup foursomes.

The Scot brings back Georgia Hall and Celine Boutier and Charlie Hull and Azahara Munoz after both pairs won on the first morning.

Carlota Ciganda and Bronte Law also return after halving their first foursomes match. The newcomers are Anna Nordqvist and Anne Van Dam.

The American captain Juli Inkster has rung the changes in an effort to make up the 4½-3½ overnight deficit.

She has given a second foursomes start to sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda who won on the first morning and also Morgan Pressel and Marina Alex who supplied a half point against Ciganda and Law.

The new American pairings are Lizette Salas and Ally McDonald and Danielle Kang and Megan Khang.

The first match on the course at 8.10am will feature Nordqvist and Van Dam against Pressel and Alex.

They are followed by Hall and Boutier against Salas and McDonald at 8.22am, Hull and Munoz against Kang and Khang at 8.34am and Ciganda and Law against the Korda sisters at 8.46am.

For live scoring from day two click here.

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American Jessica and Nelly Korda (right) will become the first sisters to play together in a foursomes match whenthe Solheim Cup gets underway at Gleneagles on Friday morning. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

SISTERS Jessica and Nelly Korda will create a slice of Solheim Cup history when they play together in the Friday Foursomes over the PGA Centenary course at Gleneagles.

Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam were the first sisters to be named together on a Solheim Cup team in 1998 – but they did not play alongside each other in either the foursomes or fourballs.

So the American sister will be breaking new ground at 8.34am when they set off in the third foursomes match against Germany’s Caroline Masson and Yorkshire’s LPGA winner Jodi Ewart-Shadoff.

The honour of hitting the first shot will go to America’s Morgan Pressel, who plays alongside Marina Alex in the first foursome at 8.10am, against Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Yorkshire’s Bronte Law.

Dorset’s Georgia Hall and Celine Boutier make up the second European pairing at 8.22am against Lexi Thompson and Brittany Altomare, while the last match on the course at 8.46am will feature Woburn’s Charley Hull and Spaniard Azahara Munoz against Meghan Kang and Annie Park.

US captain Juli Inkster admitted the Korda sisters had requested to play together.

“You know, they actually asked me,” Inkster said. “I wasn’t too keen on it. I don’t know. But the more I thought about it, I thought it would be stupid not to play them.

“I mean, it is not often you get two sisters on one team. They should have the right to play together.

“And Jessica said, ‘why don’t you see how we play in the Dow together, if we kill each other then maybe not put us together’. So that was our kind of thinking.”

European captain Catriona Matthew decided to put rookie Bronte Law out in the first group because she has been champing at the bit to get started ever since the start of the week.

“That was my kind of reason for putting her out early and Celine Boutier in the second group. I just felt the longer they have to hang around and wait, they more nervous they were going to get.

“It’s obviously important to get off to a good start,” the Scot, who has played in nine Solheim Cups, added.

“Being the home side, I think to get off to a good start would really get the crowd into it. So, I think for us, we’re really going to go out there and try and get the crowd in and get some blue on the board early on.

“We actually didn’t ponder the parings too much,” said Matthew.

“We have a couple of ones out there for the afternoon that just kind of fitted nicely, and those were the ones we wanted, to hopefully try and play everyone the first day.

“So, they were just kind of natural pairings, to be honest.”

To follow all the action online click here.

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Left to right: Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew, AIG Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall and Charley Hull, at Woburn Golf Club, last month. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

THE 2019 AIG Women’s British Open is set to welcome a star-studded field to Woburn next month, with every player from the current top 30 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings confirmed.

The AIG Women’s British Open was founded by the LGU in 1976 and this year will held on Woburn’s magnificent Marquess’ course from August 1-4.

Nine of the past 10 champions are confirmed to compete, including Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, who won when the championship was last at Woburn in 2016, Dorset’s defending champion Georgia Hall, and European Solheim Cup Captain Catriona Matthew, who celebrates the 10^th anniversary of her memorable victory at Royal Lytham and St Annes, this year.

In a truly global field, 129 players from 25 countries are already confirmed, with Pre-Qualifying and Final Qualifying still to take place later this month at Sandy Lodge Golf Club and Ashridge Golf Club, in Hetfordshire, respectively.

They will contest the newly-increased prize fund, announced last week as $4.5 million – some 40 per cent more than last year, which is part of The R&A’s commitment to growing the championship and supporting women’s golf.

Last year, Hall thrilled the home crowds and viewers around the world with her two-stroke victory.

Last year’s runner-up, Pornanong Phatlum, from Thailand, along with England favourites Charley Hull, Bronte Law, Melissa Reid and Charlotte Thomas, will be in the field, which includes an impressive list of past champions, notably In-Kyung Kim (2017), Stacy Lewis (2013), Mo Martin (2014) and Inbee Park (2015).

The Solheim Cup, taking place at Gleneagles in September, will provide an intriguing sub-plot to the event, with Team Europe confirmed a week after the champion is crowned at Woburn – Team USA’s final selections will be announced on August 26.

Four American players have already sealed their qualification with room to spare, and all of them – sisters Nelly and Jessica Korda, Lexi Thompson and Danielle Kang – will be teeing up at Woburn with a little less pressure on their shoulders as they vie to add the final major of 2019 to their CV.

Major-winning prowess will be in strong supply at the Bedfordshire venue, with 48 titles won by 27 different players.

Of those, the most recent are Koreans Jin-young Ko and Jeong-eun Lee6 and Australian Hannah Green – this year’s winners – and all have confirmed their attendance at Woburn.

Forming part of the Duke of Bedford’s estate, Woburn is one of the UK’s premier golf facilities, boasting three world-class championship courses and has held many European Tour and Senior Tour events as well as Final Qualifying for The Open.

•The AIG Women’s British Open is staged in conjunction with IMG, the world’s largest sports marketing company, since 1984.

The event has been co-sanctioned by the LPGA and LET since 1994 and gained Major status in 2001. The championship is now owned by The R&A.

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