CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — Angela Stanford will send Nelly Korda and Allisen Corpuz out first when the Solheim Cup begins Friday at Bernardus Golf. The Saginaw native’s first match as U.S. captain tees off at 12:40 a.m. CT against Europe’s Charley Hull and Lottie Woad in foursomes.
Korda, the world’s top-ranked player, and Corpuz have gone 4-0 as a foursomes pair across the last two Solheim Cups. Friday will be their fifth match together in the format, Golf Channel reported.
“I feel like if I didn’t put those two out, I would’ve heard about [it],” Stanford said Thursday.
Stanford, a veteran of nine Solheim Cups as a player or assistant captain, was nearly brought to tears praising her team at Thursday’s opening ceremony, The Associated Press reported.
Angela Stanford Clinched the Last U.S. Solheim Cup Win in Europe
The Americans have not won the Solheim Cup in Europe since 2015, when Stanford beat Suzann Pettersen 2 and 1 in singles to clinch a 14½-13½ victory at St. Leon-Rot in Germany. The win completed the largest comeback in U.S. team history. It was her sixth and final Solheim Cup as a player.
Stanford also played for the U.S. in 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013, winning in 2007 and 2009. She was an assistant captain under Pat Hurst in 2021 and under Stacy Lewis in 2023 and 2024, when the U.S. won 15½-12½ in Virginia.
When she was named captain in March 2025, Stanford noted that she had played on two of the U.S. teams that won overseas.
“Growing up, I played a lot of different team sports, and I loved going to other people’s gyms, going to their fields,” Stanford explained. “It doesn’t bother me to go into a hostile environment and try to play and try to perform.”
Stanford grew up in Saginaw and still lives there. She was a four-time All-American at TCU, graduated in 2000, and is a member of the TCU Athletics Hall of Fame and the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, according to TCU Athletics.
She won seven times on the LPGA Tour, including the 2018 Evian Championship, and her last victory came in 2020 in Texas. From 2002 to 2024, she played in 98 consecutive major championships, second only to Jack Nicklaus in professional golf. She retired from the LPGA Tour in 2024.
Brittany Lang, Anna Nordqvist Share Solheim Cup History With Angela Stanford
Stanford’s assistant captains are Kristy McPherson, Paula Creamer, and Brittany Lang. Lang, a McKinney High School graduate, won the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open and played on five U.S. Solheim Cup teams.
Stanford and Lang were teammates in 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015. In 2009, the two halved a four-ball match against Anna Nordqvist and Pettersen. Nordqvist is now Europe’s captain, and both captains are leading a team for the first time.
Stanford said last month that she loves her team’s grittiness and heart.
“They’re not too high, and they’re not too low. And that’s exactly what you have to be in Europe,” Stanford told Golf Digest.
After Friday’s morning foursomes, the teams play four-ball in the afternoon and repeat the format Saturday. Singles are Sunday. Golf Channel’s coverage begins at 12:30 a.m. CT Friday.
