WEST DES MOINES, Iowa

Thousands of fans from all over the world came to West Des Moines Friday to watch some of the best female golfers.

Fans said the amount of support for these golfers was inspiring. They were proud that West Des Moines was hosting the tournament.

Among the sea of American fans wearing red, white and blue, it can be hard to spot the European fans wearing blue and yellow.

You feel a little bit outnumbered but at the same time youve just got to make your voice heard and like I said, people are very friendly and when they hear you shouting for Europe then its a case of where are you from, who are you following? said Julie Ballantyne, of Scotland.

Friday afternoon, there was a huge following for American golfer Michelle Wie.

I mean, shes been killing it since she was 16 years old on the tour, so tons of respect for her, Des Moines resident Will McDonald said. I mean, its unbelievable to watch what she does and what she does for the game of womens golf.

I love coming out and watching the women playing as well because it tends to be dominated by the guys quite a lot, especially in the UK, theres not so much womens golf on TV, Ballantyne said. And something like this, an event thats effectively the equivalent of the Ryder Cup, its really, really encouraging to see so many people out supporting the women as well, which is great.

It proved encouraging for some of the golfers biggest supporters.

I golf a couple times a week, follow all the LPGA players on Twitter and social media and Facebook and all that, so its kind of neat to see them in person, said Krissy Halbur of Cedar Falls.

The support is inspiring for future players of the game.

It means a lot, said Esther Henseleit, a junior golfer from Germany. Its my dream to somebody also play in the Solheim cup for Europe, and so its really inspiring to see them play and to see them compete.

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Solheim Cup serves as motivation for aspiring young golfers - KCCI Des Moines