A ‘miracle’ required for GB&I cup hopes
21/09/2013
Great Britain & Ireland will have to reproduce their own ‘Miracle of Medinah’ if they are to deny the US retaining the PGA Cup.
After a day of epic battles, four of the day’s matches went to the wire, the US edged within sight of taking the Llandudno Trophy back across the Atlantic requiring just 2.5 points from tomorrow’s 10 singles matches.
The US lead 10.5 to 5.5 at the end of the second day, in which GB&I showed greater resilience but were unable to get enough breaks or the putts needed to put a halt on the cup holders, who have been urged ‘don’t stop’ by captain Allen Wronowski.
“As soon as we get to 13 and then 13 and half to win I’ll relax and feel good,” he said,
“Look at the history of Medinah, we only needed four out of 12 and we didn’t get to that. We’ll keep grinding, keep finding pins, keep playing hard.”
Licking their wounds after being whitewashed in Friday’s fourballs, GB&I, urged to be aggressive by captain Russell Weir, provided a stiffer test once again in the foursomes – sharing the points.
The morning’s only winners, Scott Henderson (above left) and Greig Hutcheon (above right), who triumphed on the last, picked up where they left off in the afternoon fourballs as they steamrollered the previously undefeated American duo of JC Anderson and Kelly Mitchum 6&5.
The Scots, particularly Hutcheon, were untouchable, as they sunk eight birdies without reply in the opening nine holes to be eight up at the turn. The record books were been scoured with the prospects of a victory on the 10th. However, the US pair delayed the celebrations with birdies at 10 and 11 before two shared holes curtailed the match.
Hutcheon, who sank six birdies in the stunning front nine, said: “It was probably one of the best nine holes of the year and it was good.
“The Americans came back and we wanted to finish it off after a commanding position. Once we had it six, seven up we felt we had it in the bag it was just a matter of time.
“Winning on the last in the morning was huge as it gave me a massive spring in my step. It was a little bit like the abyss in the morning, I was tired and played a lot of golf and I needed to get over it mentally.”
As with the morning, Hutcheon and Henderson were GB&Is only winners, with Dan Greenwood (below) and Benn Barham denied victory on the last.
They were two up after just three holes in their match with Matt Dobyns and Ryan Polzin but were back to all square by the turn. Barham birdied the 10th to put GB&I one up once more but the Americans were back level by the 15th. The US had an opportunity to increase the pressure go one up on the 17th but Dobyns missed his short putt.
Down the last, all four players made a mess of their approach shots, Barham being forced to take a drop while the rest all missed the green. Greenwood’s opted to putt rather than chip but his putt fell well short leaving another 20 feet to reach the hole. The Americans, both off the green to the left, upped the ante chipping close to the pin. Dobyns, as on the 17th, had a four foot putt to seal the match, but missed the cup. It left Greenwood a nervy three-footer to tie the match, which he duly sunk.
Nick Brennan and Gareth Wright showed resilience in their battle with Rod Perry and Jeff Sorenson. They recovered from two-down against their US rivals to bring it back to all square by the 11th. But the American duo found their range as three successive birdies from the 14th guided them to a 3&2 win.
It was a similar story for Graham Fox and David Callaway in their battle with the experienced duo of Chip Sullivan and Mark Sheftic. The Americans struck early and eased to two up but by the 12th the match was all square. But the experience of the pair told as they also sunk successive birdies from the 14th to win 3&2.
GB&I vice captain Jon Bevan said: “This afternoon’s play was, for the majority, the standard of golf I know our guys can play – certainly for a dozen holes in all the matches.
“But I know what the Americans bring and they will never go away in a hurry so they were always going to come back but it was holes being won as opposed to holes being lost.
“We just said to the guys, they can look at themselves today and be quite proud of their performance, much more like Russell and I expected them to play but they need to play better again tomorrow.
“I didn’t need to say a lot to them in the team meeting, they don’t like being put upon or bullied in a golfing sense. The Americans have been strong for two days, we have been strong in patches but and tomorrow we need four hours from them where each of them show us how good they are.
“I used Medinah as an incentive for them. They don’t need motivating, the longer this week has gone on the more they have understood, as rookies, what the PGA Cup means.
“I have just been into the room and told them that I have total faith they will win 10-0 because all ten of them are exceptional talents. They are here for a reason, they’ve earned their right, anyone of them could be tomorrow’s hero and we’re looking forward to it.”
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