‘I Would’ve Heard About It’: Angela Stanford Sends Nelly Korda, Allisen Corpuz Out First At Solheim Cup

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.

Korda won the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open this season for her third and fourth major titles. Corpuz won the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach for her first LPGA Tour title.

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, won nine collegiate tournaments, and graduated in 2000. She is a member of the TCU Athletics Hall of Fame and the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, according to TCU Athletics.

Her first major came at the 2018 Evian Championship in her 18th LPGA Tour season, when she rallied from five shots behind in the final round. Two years later, she won the 2020 Volunteers of America Classic at Old American Golf Club in The Colony. She closed with a 4-under 67 for a two-stroke win, and her parents watched her win in person for the first time.

Yealimi Noh, now on Stanford’s Solheim Cup team, tied for second that week with Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu. Anna Nordqvist and Hull tied for sixth.

The win in The Colony was the seventh and last of Stanford’s LPGA Tour career. 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 and won the Senior LPGA Championship in 2023 and 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 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.