After the first day of the Solheim Cup in Gainesville, Virginia, the defending champions from Europe are trailing the USA 2:6.
Only one game each of the four foursomes and four fourballs went to the guests under the eyes of former US President Barack Obama.
Albane Valenzuela played in one of the twelve Team Europe foursomes in the morning. The 26-year-old from Geneva is the first Swiss woman ever to take part in the Solheim Cup. However, her debut was a disappointment. Teamed up with Frenchwoman Céline Boutier, she lost to the duo Rose Zhang and Lauren Coughlin. The round ended after the 16th hole, as the Europeans would not have been able to make up the deficit they had made up to that point.
Valenzuela did not play in the fourballs, where each player plays her own ball and the better performance per hole is taken into account.
Team Europe is under pressure ahead of the match days on Saturday and Sunday. "Anything is still possible. Last year we also got off to a very bad start," said team captain Suzann Pettersen.
