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.
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