Nelly Korda had a tough time getting out of bed Thursday morning. Any Solheim Cup fatigue had no bearing on her standard of golf.

Nelly Korda had a tough time getting out of bed Thursday morning. Any Solheim Cup fatigue had no bearing on her standard of golf, a bogey-free 67 in the Kroger Queen City Championship that left her two shots behind Ashleigh Buhai.

Korda returns to stroke play with an infinitesimally tiny lead in the LPGA's Vare Trophy race, the award for the lowest scoring average on tour. At 70.04, she is .02 ahead of Amundi Evian Championship winner Ayaka Furue (70.06), who is not in this week's field. The winner of the award earns a valuable LPGA Hall of Fame point.

In the morning session, world No. 1 Korda paired with Allisen Corpuz once again to defeat Esther Henseleit and Charley Hull, 3 and 2, in the first match out. Korda becomes the first American player to win two matches on Day 1 of a Solheim Cup, each by at least three holes.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda improved to 3-0 in this year's Solheim Cup and helped the Americans maintain a four-point advantage over Europe heading into Sunday singles.

Nelly Korda stood alone. The World No. 1 arrived at the driving range at 6 a.m. Friday ahead of her opening Solheim Cup match, with only the bright lights from the back of the European team's house illuminating the range.

The No. 1 player in the world helped win the leadoff match of each session Friday, helping the Americans to a historic four-point lead over Europe after the first day of play.

Last week, World No. 1 Nelly Korda helped lead Team USA to its first Solheim Cup win since 2017. Korda may have cherished that title even more than the half-dozen wins she's logged on the LPGA Tour this year.