Curtis Cup - Day Two - Fourball

Great Britain and Ireland have given themselves an outstanding chance of winning the Curtis Cup for the first time since Killarney in 1996. Team captain Tegwen Matthews' squad of eight players took this afternoon four-balls programme by 2 1/2 to 1/2pt after losing the morning foursomes 2-1. That means that the United States' lead has been cut to a single point - 6 1/2-5 1/2 -with only Sunday's eight singles to come.

The Americans have won the biennial contest for the last seven times and they had looked to be well on their way to yet another victory until the tide started to turn on Day 2 - miserably wet in the morning but perfect golf conditions in the afternoon. All the GB and I players were starts in the afternoon heroics but a special mention to the two winning partnerships. Holly Clyburn and Kelly Tidy won the lead-off four-ball bty one hole with three-under-par figures against Amy Anderson - her first defeat in four matches - and Emily Tubert. And Stephanie Meadow and Pamela Pretswell finished strongly to beat Erica Popson and Tiffany Lua by 2 and 1l. Both winning GB and I partnerships had better-ball figures of three under par. And lets not forget teenagers Leona Maguire and Bronte Law who halved with Brooke Pancake and Austini Ernst, two of America's top college players. The attendance for the second day was 2,900, surprising in view of the bad weather in the morning which kept the early crowds down. But as the weather improved so the spectators made their way to the Nairn links. Sunday's attendance for the singles showdown, starting at 10am, is likely to be well over 3,000. Come early!

DAY 2 FOUR-BALLS Holly Clyburn and Kelly Tidy (GBandI) bt Emily Tubert and Amy Anderson (US)1 hole Clyburn and Tidy had the edge over the first six holes, tahnks to a birdie-birdie start which put them one up, the Americans being able to halve the first in 3s. Anderson, with three wins out of three under her belt, and Tubert birdied the short sixth as the drizzle began to start again. All square on the seventh tee. Halves at the eighth and ninth followed. Both teams out in a better-ball 35.

Wind has dropped a bit and it's not raining! Stand by for a birdie fest. Clyburn and Tidy went one up with a birdie 4 at the 10th but Tubert and Anderson levelled it with a birdie 3 at the 12th. After a half in 4 at the 13th, neither Clyburn nor Tidy was able to par the short 14th and the Americans' 3 put them one up for the first time in the match. Clyburn birdied the 15th to square an absorbing match. Clyburn and Tidy conjured up a second birdie in a row to win the 16th and go one up with two to play. The last two holes were halved in mounting excitement among the home crowd - and players - leaving Clyburn and Tidy the winners by one hole with three under par better-ball figures. A magnficent effort by the GB and I pair. Leona Maguire and Bronte Law (GB and I) halved with Brooke Pancake and Austin Ernst (US). A birdie 3 at the fifth put Maguire and Law back in front.

They had won the opening hole with a par 4 but bogeyed the third to be pulled back to square by Pancake and Ernst. Maguire and Law between them birdied 5 and 6 to go two up but Pancake and Ernst conjured up an eagle 3 at the long seventh to get back to one down. The Americans bogeyed the eighth to go back to two down, which was the position at the turn. GB and I had better-ball 35 for the first nine to the Americans' 36. Pancake and Ernst won the 10th with a birdie to be one down again. The 11th and 12th were halved in pars before the Americans won the 13th with a 4 to square the contest for the first time since the fourth. The short 14th was halved in 3s and the 15th in 4s. All square with three to play. All three were halved to make it a square match. The GB and I pair were round in a better ball of level par Stephanie Meadow and Pamela Pretswell (GB and I) bt Erica Popson and Tiffany Lua (US) 2 holes. First two holes halved in par-birdie before Popson and Lua won the third wiMth a par 4. Meadow and Pretswell actually birdied three of the first six holes - the second (halved), the fifth (won) and the short sixth (won) to go one up as the standard of scoring rose appreciably as the conditions improved considerably.

Popson and Lua birdied the long seventh to square the match again but the Americans could do no better than a bogey 5 at the ninth, which Meadow and Pretswell won with a 4 to be one up at the turn which they reached in a better-ball 34 to the Americans' 35. Meadow and Pretswell had a 6 at the 10th - their first better-ball bogey since the third and it cost them the lead - all square with eight to play. The short 11th was halved in birdie 2s, Meadow holing from off the green after Lua looked favourite to win the hole after a very good tee shot. The 12th was halved in par 4s. Meadow and Pretswell regained the lead with a par 4 at the 13th .. One up with five to play. Popson won the short 14th for the US with a par 3 after the GB and I players three-putted. After the 15th and 16th were halved, Pretswell played a brilliant threequarters nine-iron to within 2 1/2ft of the stick for a birdie 3 that put the GB and I pair dormie one. They finished the winners by two holes after the Americans couldn't hole their vital putts on the last green. Meadow and Pretswell were three under par for the five-hour rounds.

Curtis Cup - Day Two

The United States extended their overnight lead to 6-3 by winning the Day 2 morning foursomes 2-1 in miserable wet conditions. 

Not so many spectators at The Nairn GC for the start of Day 2 in the 37th Curtis Cup but the weather is a lot worse than it was on Friday when 2,690 turned up. It's wet and it's miserably gloomy but at least the GB and I team tails are up after the late successes on Friday. 

However, the Americans increased their overnight 4-2 lead to 6-3 by winning the first two foursomes this morning when the standard of scoring suffered in the very wet conditions.

Amy Anderson - winning for the third time - and Tiffany Lua beat Pamela Pretswell and Charley Hull by 3 and 2 with roughly level par figures, which is very good scoring in the very wet conditions. Austin Ernst and Brooke Pancake were round in an approximate six over par to beat Holly Clyburn and Amy Boulden - 43 shots for the second nine - by two holes.

Again, the weather was responsible for the deterioration in the standard of scoring. 

The United States captain, Pat Cornett, is back to lead the team after yesterday's broken right ankle accident while the passenger in a buggy passing the grandstand at the first tee. Not surprisingly, Dr Cornett kept well away from the first tee on her return to the course, being quietly driven out on to the course up the 18th fairway by Carol Semple Thompson who was the acting US team captain yesterday while the team leader was taken to Raigmore Hospital, Inverness. 

DAY 2 FOURSOMES 

Amy Anderson and Tiffany Lua (US) bt Pamela Pretswell and Charley Hull 3 and 2.

The Americans were quickly into their stride, winning the first two holes with birdies 3 and 4. But Pretswell and Hull came back into the picture to square the match with birdies of their own at holes 5 and 7. Anderson and Lua pulled clear again but they needed only pars to win the eighth and ninth to be two up at the turn in roughly two-under-par figures to the GB and I's 37. Pretswell and Hull cut their deficit to one by winning the 10th with a par and halved the 11th and 12th in par-bogey figures. 

A bogey 5 in the awful wet weather was good enough for the Americans to go two up at the 13th After a half in bogey 4s at the short 13th, Anderson and Lua produced a birdie - a rare 2species in this weather - to win the par-4 15 and go dormie three. A half in par 4s at the 16th ended the match - a 3 and 2 win for Anderson and Lua who were roughly level or one par for the holes played, despite three bogeys in the unrelenting rain after the turn. 

Their back-to-back opening birdies were the difference between the teams in the final analysis 

Austin Ernst and Brooke Pancake (US) bt Holly Clyburn and Amy Boulden (GBandI) by 2 holes. Clyburn and Boulden went one up with a birdie at the first but lost the second to a birdie and then fell two down after a double bogey at the third and a bogey at the fourth. Ernst and Pancake went three up with a par at the short sixth before Clyburn and Boulden finished the outward half with a flourish, winning the seventh, eighth and ninth with a birdie-par-birdie run. Both sides out in an approximate 37. 

Clyburn and Boulden went one up with a par 3 at the short 11th. But the GB and I pair ran up a double bogey 6 at the 12th to be pulled back to square by a bogey from Ernst and Pancake. The 13th and 14th were halved in bogeys as the nonstop drizzle began to get to the players. The Americans were able to halve the short 14th despite losing a ball off the tee. They did not bother looking for it after their provisional came to rest pretty close to the stick. 

A par 4 at the 15th put Ernst and Pancake in front at a vital time - one up with three to play. But Clyburn and Boulden were hanging on in there and parred the 16th to square the match. The Americans edged ahead again with a par 4 at the 17th and after both teams drove into the wet, clingy rough at the 18th, Ernst and Pancake won by two holes with a closing par 5. 

Clyburn and Boulden had taken an approximate 43 shots for the inward half in the dreadful conditions. Ernst and Pancak, the winners, were round in an approximate six over par. 

GB and I avoided a repeat of the whitewash foursomes defeat of the first day, thanks to the all-Ireland pairing of Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire beating Lindy Duncan and Lisa McCloskey by 3 and 1, having been two up at the turn. 

Clyburn and Boulden finished the outward half with a flourish, winning the seventh, eighth and ninth with a birdie-par-birdie run. Both sides out in an approximate 37.

Mac is Back at the Top

Rory McIlroy snapped his string of three straight missed cuts in style Friday, shooting a 5-under 65 to take the lead into the weekend at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

McIlroy came to Memphis looking to tune up his game before heading to San Francisco for his U.S. Open title defense at The Olympic Club. He birdied three of his final four holes, and had an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys to match his lowest PGA TOUR round this year.

With a birdie on No. 18, McIlroy reached 7 under to break out of a four-way tie for the lead.

"It's nice to see my name on that part of the leaderboard," McIlroy said. "It's not nice when you're struggling to make the cut on a Friday afternoon. It was great. It's nice to be through to the weekend obviously. It's obviously even nicer to be leading and have a great chance."

Jeff Maggert, tied for the first-round lead with John Merrick, shot a 68 to match J.B. Holmes (64) and Kevin Stadler (65) at 6 under. Merrick had a 69 to join Chad Campbell(67) and Kevin Kisner (66) at 5 under.

Davis Love III, the Americans' Ryder Cup captain, had a 68 and was tied with Padraig Harrington (68) at 4 under. John Daly birdied his first three holes on his back nine to get to 5 under but finished with a 69 and was at tied at 3 under -- making his fourth cut in five events.

No one has ever won a PGA TOUR event, then followed up the next week by winning the U.S. Open. After playing only two rounds each at THE PLAYERS Championship, the BMW PGA Championship in England and then the Memorial last week, McIlroy isn't thinking about history. His goal in Memphis is playing as much competitive golf as possible while honing his game.

"I saw a lot of positive signs with my ball striking. Hit a lot of good iron shots and drivers. So that was something that I was really working on the last couple of weeks and feels like it's coming together for me. So excited to be in this position for the weekend. This is really what I wanted heading into next week," McIlroy said.

"For the time being, my mind is focused on trying to win this golf tournament."

McIlroy certainly has his driver working very well. Even when his caddie suggested a 3-wood off the tee at No. 18, McIlroy stuck with his driver and drove the ball 329 yards. That left him 115 yards to the pin, and he hit his approach to 5 feet for the final birdie and the lead.

He started four strokes back of Holmes, who took advantage of a morning tee time to take the clubhouse lead at 6 under. McIlroy was happy with his play Thursday with the exception of a bogey on the par-5 third. He made up for that with an eagle Friday, sticking an 8-iron to 9 feet.

Then he parred his way around the rest of the front nine, making the turn at 5 under and a stroke off the lead. McIlroy moved into a three-way tie atop the leaderboard with his second birdie of the round on the par-3 11th. He stuck his tee shot 5 feet from the hole and rolled the putt in for birdie to reach 6 under.

He bogeyed Nos. 12 and 13 to fall back. McIlroy said he wasn't happy that he had a wedge in his hand in the fairway on No. 13 from 127 yards only to hit into the rough turning a birdie chance into a bogey.

McIlroy turned it around on the par-5 16th, hitting his second shot to 4 feet. The ball hit the left edge and curled right, leaving McIlroy to tap in for birdie and a share of the lead. He had a nice par save on No. 17 after hitting his drive behind a tree and his second into a greenside bunker before getting up and down with a 4-footer for par and the final birdie.

"To finish strong the way I did was great, and it gives me momentum going into tomorrow," McIlroy said.

Holmes had his low round of the year as he works his way back from brain surgery last September. He had seven birdies and a bogey, putting himself into strong position.

"I wasn't knocking pins down, but I hit them in there pretty close," Holmes said. "Made a couple 6-footers, but I putted well. I was hitting it 15, 20 feet and making some putts."

Maggert was the first to get to 7 under when he birdied No. 16, but he gave back the stroke with his lone bogey on No. 17 that left him pretty happy with only one with the TPC Southwind course playing tough.

"There's probably 30, 40 guys still in the tournament," said Maggert, who won the 2006 title. "I need the play well on the weekend, especially tomorrow, and stick to my game plan and play solid golf."