FORMBY, England – Europe dominated the third round singles matches to extend its lead to 13-7 at the Arnold Palmer Cup at Formby Golf Club. Augusta University men's golf senior Robin Petersson is competing for Team Europe and the host side earned seven of the 10 points available on Saturday and need only 2.5 points to reclaim the Arnold Palmer Cup.
Petersson was named an All-America honorable mention on Friday at the start of the Palmer Cup. Play wraps up tomorrow on Sunday, June, 26.
Europe put the first number on the board Saturday when Antoine Rozner downed Will Gordon, 5 and 4. Gordon claimed the first hole but two straight wins by Rozner at the sixth and seventh put him in the lead for good. Rozner would go on to take Nos. 10, 11, 13 and 14 to push the match to its final margin.
USA got on the board with Nahum Mendoza III defeating Matthias Schwab 3 and 2. Mendoza never trailed after the first hole and extended his lead to 5-up after 9. Schwab reduced the margin with birdie at 10 and cut the lead to 3-up after a Mendoza bogey on 15. The two halved 16 with pars, sealing the victory for Mendoza.
Europe got their second point of the day with David Boote's 4 and 3 victory over Michael Johnson. The two traded wins on the first two holes, before Boote won five of the next six holes to go 5-up. Johnson would cut the lead to 3-up before a birdie by Boote on 14 brought the margin back to 4-up before a par to close the match on 15.
The second match of the day was halved between Adrian Meronk and Alistair Docherty. The match was never separated by more than 1-up. Team USA's Docherty took an early 1-up lead after a Meronk bogey at the second, but Meronk responded with a win on number 3. Meronk took a 1-up lead after a birdie on No. 9, with Docherty answering with a birdie of his own on 12. Docherty birdied 16 to take a 1-up lead, but a bogey on 17 brought it back to square. They halved the final hole to finish the match even.
Sweden's Robin Petersson defeated Doug Ghim in dominating fashion 6 & 5. Ghim won the first hole with a birdie before Petersson squared the match with a par on No. 3. Petersson would win the four straight beginning at No. 3, including two birdies and an eagle, to move to 3-up. The Swede would push the match to its final outcomes with win by birdie at Nos. 8, 11 and 13.
Sam Horsfield would post another victory for Europe when he beat Will Zalatoris, 2-up. With the exception of a Zalatoris 1-up lead thru No. 5, the match was all square until Horsfield took the lead for good thru 10. He would extend the lead to 2-up with birdie at No. 14. Zalatoris would cut the lead with birdie at No. 16 but Horsfield closed the match with birdie at No. 18.
Rico Hoey would provide Team USA second singles victory with a 2 and 1 triumph over Lars van Meijel. Van Meijel took an early lead by winning the second. Hoey responded by winning with birdie on the next two holes. The American would push the lead to 2-up after a birdie concession on No. 8 but van Meijel pushed the match back to all square by winning the next two. Hoey took control of the match for good by claiming Nos. 11-13. Van Meijel made a late run to cut the lead to 1-up thru No. 15. Hoey closed the match with birdie at No. 17.
Robin Sciot-Siegrist defeated Derek Bard, 2 and 1, to push Europe's lead to 11.5-6.5. The first 10 holes were a back-and-forth affair, with Bard holding a 1-up lead thru Nos. 5 and 6 and Sciot-Siegrist thru No. 9. The Frenchman took the lead for good with eagle at No. 11 and pushed the lead to 2-up with birdie at No. 14.
Stuart Grehan notched another European victory, 2 and 1 over Charlie Danielson. Danielson led early after birdie at No. 3 but Grehan equalized the match thru No. 5. The Irishman took the lead for good with birdie at No. 6. He twice pushed the lead to 3-up before the 2 and 1 final outcome.
The two sides halved the final match. Switzerland's Mathias Eggenberger and Team USA's Zach Wright were all square for 14 of the 18 holes of the round. Eggenberger led for three holes, including No. 17, but a bogey on No. 18 paired with a Wright par halved the match.
Final round singles matches tee off at 9:00 am Sunday.
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."
The United States leads the all-time Arnold Palmer Cup series 10-8-1.
Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.augustajags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags
-- 30 --