NEWS

United States completes rout of Europe to reclaim Palmer Cup
 
Jun. 8, 2007
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OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The United States claimed six of the eight final session singles matches Friday to post an 18-6 victory at the Palmer Cup at Caves Valley Golf Club. The win moves the all-time series to 6-4-1 in favor of the Americans in this unique Ryder Cup-style event matching teams of collegians from the United States and Europe.

PALMER CUP
DAY TWO SINGLES
Billy Horschel, USA, def. Oscar Floren, Europe, 4&3
Luke List, USA, def. Gordon Yates, Europe, 6&5
Brian Harman, USA, def. Gareth Shaw, Europe, 1-up
Jonas Blixt, Europe, def. Webb Simpson, USA, 1-up
Jamie Lovemark, USA, def. Mark Haastrup, Europe, 2&1
Jonathan Moore, USA, def. Pedro Oriol, Europe, 2&1
Dustin Johnson, USA, def. Jorge Campillo, Europe, 2-up
Rhys Davies, Europe, def. Chris Kirk, USA, 4&2
DAY TWO FOURSOMES
Brian Harman/Billy Horschel, USA, def. Jorge Campillo/Pedro Oriol, Europe, 5&4
Jonas Blixt/Oscar Floren, Europe, def. Luke List/Jamie Lovemark, USA, 5&4
Jonathan Moore/Webb Simpson, USA, def. Mark Haastrup/Gordon Yates, Europe, 4&3
Dustin Johnson/Chris Kirk, USA, def. Rhys Davies/Gareth Shaw, Europe, 2&1

"After the success we had yesterday afternoon, it would have been very easy to come out complacent today," said Team USA Head Coach Mike McGraw. "This morning's matches were key. If we had been swept this morning, it would have been back to a tight ball game but we got down to business and put ourselves in a great position where we only needed a halve to win back the Palmer Cup."

Luke List clinched the victory for the Americans with a 6 & 5 decision over Gordon Yates. List never trailed in the match and lost only one hole in the afternoon singles.

The Americans would also claim the next three matches. Billy Horschel won the first two holes in his 4 & 3 win against Oscar Floren and would push lead to 3-up through five. Floren would even the match after No. 10. Horschel would win four of the next five to close out the match.

Brian Harman beat Gareth Shaw 1-up. Harman held 1-up leads after Nos. 2 and 4, but Shaw would take a 1-up lead at the turn. The two went back to all square through 10 but Harman would take the lead at No. 12 and extend it to two holes through 15. Shaw would claim the next two holes to even the match before bogeying the 18th to drop the match.

Jamie Lovemark led all but one hole against Mark Haastrup in his 2 & 1 win. Lovemark went 3-up through 8, but Haastrup would cut the lead to one hole after Nos. 11 and 14. Lovemark birdied the 17th for the victory.

Rhys Davies produced Europe's first win after downing Chris Kirk, 4 & 2. Davies took the lead with birdie at No. 2 and extended his advantage to two holes through six. Kirk would claim the next two to even the match, but Davies would win the next four. Kirk would cut the lead to 3-up by winning No. 4 before Davies closed out the match with a birdie two holes later.

Jonathan Moore downed Pedro Oriol, 2 & 1. Oriol held his only lead after the second hole but Moore took the lead after No. 6 and moved to 3-up after winning Nos. 11 and 13. Oriol would rebound to take the 14th but could get no closer.

The final two matches both went 18 holes. Jonas Blixt's 1-up come-from-behind victory against Webb Simpson was Europe's second of the round. Simpson birdied the first to take the lead but Blixt birdied the next hole to move the match to all square. Simpson won both the 10th and 11th to go 2-up but Blixt evened the match with claiming Nos. 12 and 14. Blixt birdied the 18th for the victory.

Dustin Johnson claimed the final match of the competition -- 2-up -- against Jorge Campillo. Johnson posted a double bogey on the first hole to fall behind, but won the next two to claim the lead. Campillo would respond by winning Nos. 6 and 7 to move back ahead. Johnson evened the match after Campillo bogeyed No. 11 but Johnson returned the favor at No. 13 for Campillo to pull back ahead. Johnson would win three of the last four holes -- including a concession by Campillo on the 18th green for the victory.

On Friday morning, Team USA claimed three of four foursomes matches to extend its lead to 12-4. The Americans needed one-half point to clinch the matches in the afternoon, while Europe needed a sweep of the afternoon singles session to retain the cup.

"I was very pleased this morning to go 3-1," said McGraw. "People consider this (foursomes) to be Europe's format, so it was nice -- not surprising but nice -- to win three matches. If you reversed that result, it would be a whole different ballgame."

Harman and Horschel won the first match of the foursomes session, 5 & 4, over the Spanish duo of Campillo and Oriol. The U.S. claimed the first hole but conceded the second after hitting into the water. The Americans would rebound by winning the next two. They would also claim Nos. 7, 10 and 14.

Sweden's Blixt and Spain's Floren downed List and Lovemark, 5 & 4. Europe won Nos. 3 and 4 with birdie and would never trail. They extended their lead to 4-up through eight holes, but the U.S. would trim the lead to three at the turn. The Swedes would again claim back-to-back holes on Nos. 11 and 12.

Moore and Simpson would win the second match of the morning for Team USA, beating Haastrup and Yates, 4 & 3. Europe claimed two off the first three holes, but the U.S. would move the match back to all square by after the sixth hole. Moore and Simpson would win Nos. 8-10 and holes 12 and 13 to move to 5-up before settling for their 4 & 3 victory.

Johnson and Kirk claimed the final match of the session against Davies and Shaw, 2 & 1. Europe won the first hole after an American bogey, but the U.S. would even the score with a birdie on the fifth. Team USA would take the lead after claiming three straight holes beginning on No. 11. Europe would whittle the lead down to 1-up through 16 after back-to-back American bogeys. Johnson and Kirk would close out the match by winning No. 17.

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