FORMBY, England – Augusta University men's golf senior Robin Petersson picked up a PING All-America honorable mention honor on the eve of the 2016 Arnold Palmer Cup at Formby Golf Club in Formby, England. Petersson is representing Team Europe in the Ryder Cup-style competition and the first round foursomes pairings teed off on Friday morning.
The second, third and honorable mention PING All-America Teams were announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCCA) on Thursday, June 23. View the first, second, third, and honorable mention All-Americans below.
First round foursomes pairings for the 2016 Arnold Palmer Cup at Formby Golf Club were released at the Palmer Cup opening ceremony on Friday and match play started at 7:30 a.m.
Europe leads the United States, 6-4, after the opening day. Team USA won three of five matches in the afternoon four-ball session. Europe's David Boote and Adrian Meronk earned the first point of the four-ball session for dowing Derek Bard and Michael Johnson, 4 and 2. Team USA claimed the first two holes of the match. Birdies by Boote at the third and fifth holes pulled the score back to even with back-to-back birdies by Meronk on Nos. 6 and 7 gave Europe the lead. Meronk closed out the match by winning Nos. 15 and 16.
The United States claimed its first match of the Arnold Palmer Cup when Doug Ghim and Will Zalatoris defeated Sam Horsfield and Adrian Meronk. Europe took its only lead when Horsfield birdied No. 5. A Ghim birdie the next hole moved the match to all square. Another birdie by Ghim at the eighth gave Team USA the lead. The Americans would extend the lead to 2-up thru No. 15 and closed out the match when both Zalatoris and Horsfield birdied No. 17.
France's Antoine Rozner and Robin Sciot-Siegrist moved Europe to six points for the day after a come-from-behind, 1-up victory over Alistair Docherty and Will Gordon. Neither side gained more than a 1-up advantage, with Team USA holding the lead thru 15. Rozner pushed Europe into the lead with birdie at No. 16 and eagle at the 17th. Both Americans hit within three feet on No. 18 but Robin Sciot-Siegrist's birdie halved the hole.
Team USA's Charlie Danielson and Zach Wright never trailed against Stuart Grehan and Lars van Meijel, winning 4 and 2. The Americans took the lead right out of the gate with birdies by Danielson and Wright on Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. Wright pushed the lead to 3-up with another birdie at No. 5. Europe won its only hole of the match at No. 7 to cut the lead to 2-down. The U.S. closed out the match when Danielson birdied No. 15 and Wright No. 16.
The Americans won the final match of the day when Rico Hoey and Nahum Mendoza III outlasted Mathias Eggenberger and Robin Petersson, 1-up. Neither side led by more than one hole. All nine holes won were done so with birdie with all four players claiming at least one hole. Mendoza put USA ahead for good with birdie at No. 17 and clinched the match when all four players parred No. 18.
Third-round singles matches tee off Saturday at 9:00 am.
The United States leads the all-time Arnold Palmer Cup series 10-8-1.
Match Play Guidelines And Terminology
- Match play is a game played by holes.
- Score is kept by the number of holes up (won) and the number of holes to play. (Example: U.S. 2-up, with six holes to play)
- When a team is up (winning) by more holes than there are holes remaining then the match is closed out and point is awarded.
- One point is awarded for each match won. If the match is tied or "halved" through 18 holes of play, each team receives one half point. A total of 30 points are awarded in Arnold Palmer Cup competition.
- If a match is currently tied while in competition, then it is considered "all square."
PING All-America Teams
First Team
Charlie Danielson, Illinois
Sam Horsfield, Florida
Beau Hossler, Texas
Lee McCoy, Georgia
Maverick McNealy, Stanford
Matthew NeSmith, South Carolina
Jon Rahm, Arizona State
Matthas Schwab, Vanderbilt
Robby Shelton, Alabama
Aaron Wise, Oregon
Second Team
Thomas Detry, Illinois
Doug Ghim, Texas
Gavin Hall, Texas
Rico Hoey, Southern California
Michael Johnson, Auburn
KK Limbhasut, California
Nahum Mendoza III, San Diego State
Adrian Meronk, East Tennessee State
Antoine Rozner, UMKC
Zach Wright, LSU
Third Team
Derek Bard, Virginia
Paul Barjon, TCU
Stephen Behr, Clemson
Will Gordon, Vanderbilt
Chase Koepka, USF
Tyler McDaniel, Kentucky
Max McGreevy, Oklahoma
Collin Morikawa, California
Greyson Sigg, Georgia
Kristoffer Ventura, Oklahoma State
Honorable Mention
Cheslo Barrett, TCU
David Boote, Stanford
Sam Burns, LSU
Ryan Cole, James Madison
Jared du Toit, Arizona State
Luis Gagne, LSU
Franklin Huang, Stanford
Tee-k Kelly, Ohio State
Charles Kim, Arkansas
Hank Lebioda, Florida State
Patrick Martin, Vanderbilt
Dylan Meyer, Illinois
Taylor Moore, Arkansas
Gordon Neale, Florida
Jordan Niebrugge, Oklahoma State
Stratton Nolan, Oklahoma State
John Oda, UNLV
Aksel Olsen, USF
Jeremy Paul, Colorado
Corey Pereira, Washington
Michael Perras, Houston
Robin Petersson, Augusta
William Rainey, College of Charleston
Ryann Ree, San Diego State
Davis Riley, Alabama
Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Louisville
Justin Suh, Southern California
Will Starke, South Carolina
Sepp Straka, Georgia
Lars van Meijel, Memphis
Will Zalatoris, Wake Forest
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