Curtis Cup 2021 R3
Day 1, Day 2
The USA completed an impressive comeback to win the 41st Curtis Cup match with a dominant final day singles performance at Conwy Golf Club in Wales.
The USA, captained by Sarah Ingram, recovered from a three-point deficit after the opening day to surge to a convincing 12 ½ – 7 ½ victory over Elaine Ratcliffe’s Great Britain and Ireland team. The Americans took a firm grip on proceedings in today’s singles winning six of the eight matches.
Curtis Cup 2021 R3
“It feels amazing to have come here and to come away winners,” said Ingram. “We’ve had a spectacular week, beautiful weather. The people are amazing here, so welcoming and helpful and cheering us on as well as their own players. We’re thrilled to have come away the winners.
“I think after the first day they got pretty fired up and realised that they needed to buckle down and play well. They just carried it over to today.”
Curtis Cup 2021 R3
In a remarkable twist of sporting fate the winning point was secured by Rachel Kuehn, whose mother Brenda achieved the same distinction in the 1998 Curtis Cup match at Minikahda and was on hand to see her daughter follow in her illustrious footsteps.
A day that had initially promised so much for the GB&I team, with the likes of Hannah Darling, Charlotte Heath and Caley McGinty taking early leads, steadily began to slip away. A tide of red began to wash across the leaderboard as Brooke Matthews, Rachel Heck and Allisen Corpuz took control of their matches.
Curtis Cup 2021 R3
Matthews secured the first point for the Americans with a 3&2 win over Heath and Heck soon followed up with a 3&1 result against Ireland’s Lauren Walsh.
Darling was never behind in her match with Jensen Castle and was 3up with four to play but errant drives on the 17th and 18th cost the Scot dearly and Castle secured what had seemed an unlikely half point. Kuehn then saw off the challenge of Scotland’s Louise Duncan with a two-hole win to clinch the match.
Curtis Cup 2021 R3
England’s McGinty flew the flag for GB&I with an excellent 4&3 victory over Gina Kim. Her compatriot Annabell Fuller battled all the way in her match with Emilia Migliaccio but lost out by two holes at the last.
“I was very comfortable today,” said McGinty. “Elaine told me in the morning to not try to force things and I thought having that information freed me up to go out and get off to a good start. It’s a shame that it was over. All I could do was just do the best I could.
“It’s been one of the best weeks of my life with the team morale. I think having that energy off the golf course transfers on to it and it brings the best out of you.”
The winning moment for Team USA as they retain the @CurtisCup at @conwygolfclub 👏 pic.twitter.com/NA7HE4qcZp
— The Curtis Cup (@CurtisCup) August 28, 2021
Curtis Cup 2021 R3
Emily Toy also showed great resilience to fight back from three down at the 12th to win the next three holes with birdies and take Rose Zhang down the final hole but the world number one held her nerve to seal a one hole victory.
“We fought hard, that’s what we came here to do and we certainly did that,” said Ratcliffe. “I’m very proud of all the players and the manner in which they played and in which they do everything.
“It’s been a phenomenal three days. Highs and lows. We could have just done with a couple of more highs today.”
Curtis Cup 2021 R3
Saturday Singles |
|||||
USA 12 ½ |
vs |
GB&I 7 ½ | |||
1 |
Jensen Castle |
Halved |
Haddan Darling | ||
2 |
Rachel Heck |
< |
3&1 |
Lauren Walsh | |
3 |
Brooke Matthews |
< |
3&2 |
Charlotte Heath | |
4 |
Rachel Kuehn |
< |
2 Holes |
Louise Duncan | |
5 |
Allisen Corpuz |
< |
2&1 |
Annabel Wilson | |
6 |
Gina Kim |
4&3 |
> |
Caley McGinty | |
7 |
Emilia Migliaccio |
< |
2 Holes |
Annabell Fuller | |
8 |
Rose Zhang |
< |
1 Hole |
Emily Toy |
|
