Saturday's fourballs

THE EUROPEANS may have eked out a two-point advantage but in Saturday afternoon’s fourballs the Americans demonstrated their …

THE EUROPEANS may have eked out a two-point advantage but in Saturday afternoon’s fourballs the Americans demonstrated their resilience by claiming three of the four matches. Laura Davies and Melissa Reid dominated the top match with a better-ball score of eight under for the 16 holes in thumping Brittany Lang and Michelle Wie.

The key game is terms of momentum was undoubtedly the second match, a tremendous tussle between world number two Suzann Pettersen, her partner Caroline Hedwall and the American axis of Morgan Pressel and Christie Kerr. The crucial moment arrived on the 17th green, where Pressel managed a birdie to nudge one ahead playing the final hole.

The Europeans could only manage a par, which the Americans matched to take the keenly-fought contest. Stacey Lewis and Ryann O’Toole continued the fightback in a two-and-one win, posting eight under regulation figures in closing out their game against Germany’s Sandra Gal and Christal Boeljon.

Paula Creamer and Brittany Lincicome confirmed the US dominance with a three-and-one victory against Maria Hjorth and Azahara Munoz. The Americans played beautifully, so too Hjorth but Munoz was unable to contribute a birdie; too much of a handicap for her partner to carry.

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Saturday fourballs

Europe 1 USA 3

Overall

Europe 8 USA 8

John O'Sullivan

John O'Sullivan

John O'Sullivan is an Irish Times sports writer