A weather delay of just over an hour was exactly what Team Europe needed to further shift the tide of momentum in their favor during Friday afternoon’s Four-Ball Matches.
“We got smoked in the first two matches,” Team U.S.A’s captain Juli Inkster told the media Friday evening. “And we were looking pretty good in that third match, and then Melissa makes a good putt on 16 and we miss ours. And then Carlota holes it out on 17. Yeah, that’s the beauty of match play.”
Team Europe took a commanding lead in the first of the afternoon matches with Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Hedwall taking a 5-up lead over Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer after the delay before closing the Americans out 4&3. The Europeans continued their dominance in the afternoon’s second match with Charley Hull and Gwladys Nocera who took advantage of the weather delay to extend their lead to as many as 4-up before closing out the match 3&2.
“I didn’t say anything to my team during the delay,” said Inkster. “And it really didn’t help us. We were down two big, in two matches already. We kind of held our own. I don’t think it helped us at all.”
One bright spot for the Americans in the afternoon looked to be the morning’s winning duo of Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson who held a 2-up lead when play was suspended Friday. But their opponents in Melissa Reid and Carlota Ciganda returned to the course determined to turn the tide, winning the next two holes to square the match. The Americans bounced back to take a 2-up lead heading to the 16th hole as darkness began to settle on the course. Reid and Ciganda again made birdie to win the hole, cutting the lead to 1-up with two holes to play. Both teams agreed to continue their match in the dark, heading to the par 4, 17th hole where Ciganda holed her approach from the fairway to square the match with one hole to play. That’s when they decided to call it quits for the day.
“After the rain delay we kind of just gelled,” Melissa Reid told the media Friday evening. “I made a birdie and Carlota makes an eagle. Yeah, that's probably one of the best matches I've ever been a part of. It's not finished yet. Obviously we want to finish off in style tomorrow.”
“That third match is a big match, it’s a big point,” Inkster said. “If my team doesn’t feel comfortable playing, let’s stop it and we’ll play it in the morning. And then the Europeans, on the other side, didn’t want to play. So we, that was fine with us, too. I don’t think any of the delays have really helped. We’ll see how it helps in the morning.”
The day’s final match of Gerina Piller and Brittany Lang was close all day long with Germany’s Caroline Masson and Sandra Gal, who were able to take a 1-up lead over Team U.S.A. following the delay. The group decided not to continue play in the dark, calling it a day after completing the 15th hole.
“I'm happy,” said European Captain Carin Koch. “It was too dark to keep playing. And both my teams finished on a real high. Yeah, it's good to go home and sleep on that for a night.”
Players were dealt a second delay when play was called due to darkness at 7:45pm, another opportunity for a shift in momentum.
“I think the rain delay, we definitely needed a little break in their momentum,” Morgan Pressel told the media. “And then same thing with darkness. But they wanted to go out and finish, because they know the momentum is in their favor. So darkness maybe helped us on that side. And time to come out in the morning and get it done.”
)
)
)
)
