What is the biggest win in Solheim Cup history? Largest point difference between US and Europe

Team USA have established a commanding position on day one of the 2024 Solheim Cup, as the Americans bid to win the women’s team golf tournament for the first time in seven years.

USA race ahead on Solheim opening day

The USA dominated Friday morning’s foursomes matches in Gainesville, Virginia, winning all but one to take a 3-1 lead into the afternoon’s fourballs clashes.

And Stacy Lewis’s team are set to extend their lead in the fourballs: at the time of writing, they led in three matches. The pairing of Nelly Korda and Megan Khang were four up on Georgia Hall and Leona Maguire, while Andrea Lee and Rose Zhang were one up on Linn Grant and Charley Hull, and Lauren Coughlin and Sarah Schmelzel were one up on Emily Pedersen and Maja Stark.

If things stay the same way, Team USA will finish day one 6-2 ahead - comfortably out in front, and well on their way to securing the 14.5 points needed to win the event.

What is the biggest victory in a Solheim Cup?

In the 18 previous editions of the Solheim Cup, which was first held in 1990, the largest margin of victory came in 2013, when a European team captained by Liselotte Neumann thrashed the USA 18-10 in Parker, Colorado.

Team USA’s biggest Solheim Cup win was in the tournament’s inaugural edition: an 11.5-4.5 triumph under Kathy Whitworth’s captaincy in Orlando, Florida.

Team USA out to end run of Solheim defeats

Although the USA has been the more successful team in the Solheim Cup’s 34-year history, winning 10 out of 18 so far, the Americans are bidding to halt a sequence of three straight tournaments without victory.

After wins for Europe in 2019 and 2021, the trophy remained on the Old Continent in 2023, when a 14-14 draw in Málaga, Spain, saw the Europeans retain the Solheim Cup. The US last won the event in 2017, captain Juli Inkster leading the hosts to a 16.5-11.5 success in Des Moines, Iowa.