The USA staged a stirring comeback on the second day of the 41st Curtis Cup at Conwy Golf Club in Wales on Friday. Trailing Great Britain and Ireland by three points after the opening day, the Americans, led by Captain Sarah Ingram, fought back to ensure the match sits level at 6-6 going into the final day singles tomorrow.
The USA made its intentions clear from the off in the morning foursomes with lead pairing Rose Zhang and Rachel Heck notching a convincing 3-and-2 victory over the Scottish pairing of Louise Duncan and Hannah Darling. Rachel Kuehn and Emilia Migliaccio kept up the resurgence defeating Englishwomen Annabell Fuller and Charlotte Heath by the same margin.
The USA didn’t have it all its own way, however, and the English pairing of Emily Toy and Caley McGinty secured an important half point at the last hole against Jensen Castle and Brooke Matthews. Toy holed from 3 feet for a winning par five after McGinty had found the rough to the right of the green with her approach. Just before Toy's putt, Matthews had a chance to win the match, but missed from 9 feet after her partner's long birdie putt was a bit too bold.
That left the score at 5-4 in Great Britain and Ireland’s favour going into the afternoon fourballs.
The USA continued to ramp up the pressure in the fourballs. Kuehn and Castle, the 2021 U.S. Women's Amateur champion, seized the initiative in their match with Duncan and Lauren Walsh to go 3 up after eight and, despite Duncan reducing the deficit to one hole with birdies at the ninth and 11th, the Americans eased to a 3-and-2 win.
Darling and Fuller continued their successful fourball partnership by clinching a hard-fought encounter with Heck and Kim by 4 and 3. Darling, the Girls Amateur and St Rule Trophy champion, maintained her rich vein of form and her excellent driving was complemented by Fuller’s strong approach play as the match swung in GB&I’s favour after the turn.
In the final match of the day the USA’s Allisen Corpuz carded four birdies in five holes from the third to take control of her and Zhang’s match against Toy and McGinty. The GB&I pairing battled to stay in the match but ultimately Corpuz sealed victory with a lengthy putt from off the green on the 16th.
The match continues on Saturday with the final day singles getting underway from 10 a.m. British Summer Time (5 a.m. EDT).
For the final day singles draw, click here.
Notable
- World No. 1 Rose Zhang is the only player to have yet to lose a match. The 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur and 2021 U.S. Girls' Junior champion is 3-0-1 heading into Saturday's singles matches.
- Jensen Castle and Rachel Kuehn played together in Friday's Four-Ball session, winning their match 3 and 2. The duo has paired together in the past to win two Carolinas Golf Association Four-Ball Championships.
- The last time a Curtis Cup Match was deadlock going into the final day of competition was 1964 at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, the same country where this year's competition is taking place. In 1964, the sides were deadocked at 4.5 apiece. The competition went to a three-day format for the 2008 event on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.
Quotable
Allisen Corpuz - USA
“I think today we ham and egged it really well. I think it really gave us the confidence to just take a good run at it and, we made a lot more than we did yesterday, which definitely helped a lot.
On the 16th “I don't know if I've ever made a putt that clutch before, so as soon as I made it like my heart just went crazy. But it was great to get the win with Rose today.”
Sarah Ingram – USA Captain
“They were definitely inspired and fired up to play better today and I really didn't have to do much pep talking. I know that they are all real fighters and that they would follow up a tough day with a really good day.
“I saw a ton of birdies. I saw some creativity, different shot making and I just saw a lot of confidence and just everybody having a good time.
Hannah Darling – GB&I
“We (Darling and Fuller) both played some good golf. Very clutch when we needed to be and didn't hole as many putts as we would have liked but we didn't really need to in the end.
“It's just so great being here and I really think that this whole tournament brings out the best in us, so it's nice.
“We know we need to go out tomorrow and perform well and win. That's, I guess, the only option tomorrow, we need to win. I have full confidence in the team. We're all playing well, we just need to go out there tomorrow and just believe that we can do it.”
Elaine Ratcliffe – GB&I Captain
“We weren't quite here this morning. America came out strong, we didn't push them and they got some really good wins. This afternoon we took our time and then I think those back ten holes we played some really good golf. To be fair to the American team, they did as well.
“Everybody's got their role, everybody knows what they have got to do. Obviously we know we've got to get points on the board but we're looking forward to the challenge. This is what they have dreamt about doing, going out on the final day with an opportunity to win the Cup. They will seal their own fate and I'm looking forward to a really stunning day of really good competitive golf.”