USA Wins 2007 Copa de las Americas
June 23, 2007
By Mary Kate Brennan, USGA
Aurora, Ontario, Canada - The United States of America won the Copa de las Americas, an international team golf competition played every two years for countries in the Western Hemisphere, on Saturday.
With a score of 1,180, the USA defeated second place Mexico by 37 strokes. The Canadian team, which had won the past two Copas, came in third with a score of 1,219. USA captain Loren Singletary said, "Our players played consistently well and that's why we won. The women really put it away on the second day, and if not the third, but the men had to scratch and crawl for every stroke, everyday."
Three competitions of 72 holes - 18 holes for four days - overall (both men's and women's totals) was conducted by The Royal Canadian Golf Association in conjunction with the USGA and The R&A at Beacon Hall Golf Club. This year, 10 countries participated in the competition - 15 in the men's competition and 10 in the women's. The USA not only won the overall competition, but both the men's and women's cups as well. (For complete results, visit www.rcga.org).
Jennie Lee and Stacy Lewis, both of whom built a tremendous lead on the women's side going into the final day of competition, continued their dominance. Lee, a Duke All-American and 2006 Curtis Cupper from , , individually won the women's competition with a total score of 298. She shot her best round on Saturday, a 70. She described their rounds as consistent.
"We just went and played another round of golf today" she said. "I putted a lot better today."
Lewis, an All-American at from The Woodlands, , placed second, two strokes behind Lee. She shot 76 in her final round.
"I played pretty consistently all week," said Lewis. "I finally birdied the 13th hole today, which I had bogeyed on all the other days."
Webb Simpson, a 2007 Palmer Cup and Wake Forest University team member from Raleigh, N.C., and Jonathan Moore of Vancouver, Wash., a 2006 U.S. Open competitor who plays for Oklahoma State, edged out Argentina to win the men's cup for the USA with a total score of 582. Argentina recorded a score of 586 while Mexico came in third, six strokes further behind.
"I played better today than any other day," said Simpson, who shot 292 and ended the Copa tied for third with Andres Felipe Echavarria of Colombia.
Simpson shot 71 Saturday. registered a 70 for a total of 290. He placed second, nine strokes behind Argentina's Alan Wagner.
"I knew the girls would absolutely dominate, so (Simpson and I) wanted to see if we could come back and beat the Argentineans," said . "The wind finally stopped and by the last day, you know the course, and we really took advantage of that."
In general, the players were most excited about being a part of the USA's first victory.
"Standing on the first tee when they call out your name and your country was the most exciting part of the tournament," said Lewis.
"It was fun to see how other countries are developing golf."
Said : "It was a great experience. It was neat to play with people from different countries and see what golf is like there."
Singletary, the USA team captain in 2005, was proud to represent the USA.
"There's nothing like winning," he said. "Not only are (Lee, Lewis, Simpson and Webb) good golfers, they are quality people."
MaryKateBrennan is an intern with the USGA. E-mail her with questions or comments at mbrennan@usga.org.