June 29, 2012
Newcastle, Northern Ireland – James White halved his match with Thomas Pieters of Belgium to give the United States a half-point, and the Americans scored 3 ½ points in singles matches Friday to carry a 10-6 lead into the final day of the Palmer Cup matches at Royal County Down Golf Club.
Europe claimed three matches and halved three others, and but the United States got wins from Chris Williams of Washington and Andrew Yun of Stanford to maintain its edge. Final round singles matches tee off at 10 a.m. local time Saturday morning.
Pieters, the 2012 NCAA champion from Illinois, won the first hole of his match against the Tech All-American White and led the entire front nine. White evened the match throughout 10 and took a brief lead after Pieters conceded No. 15. Pieters won 16 with a birdie but White reclaimed the lead heading into the final hole. Pieters sunk nine-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to win the hole and escape with a half-point for the Europeans.
“You definitely would sign-up for a four-point lead going into tomorrow before the tournament,” said USA Coach Josh Gregory. “We got off to a rough start. We were down in six of the eight matches almost at the turn and it wasn’t looking good. There was a lot of blue on the scoreboard. They guys did what they did yesterday. They played well in the early stretch of the back nine to get themselves back in good position. They didn’t play their best today but at the same time Europe probably had a little extra motivation.”
Williams pushed the United States lead to six points when he defeated Graeme Robertson, 3 and 2, in the opening singles match. Julien Brun claimed the next match from Europe, downing Blayne Barber, 2 and 1.
Andrew Yun ran his Palmer Cup record to 7-0 with a 4 and 2 victory over David Booth, White’s opponent for Saturday’s round of singles matches, before Europe’s Daan Huizing won his first hole with birdie and led throughout in his 1-up decision over Corbin Mills.
Robert Karlsson provided Europe with its second straight win by downing Derek Ernst, 4 and 2, and before the teams halved the last three matches to finish the day.
Palmer Cup
The Royal County Down Golf Club
June 29
United States 10, Europe 6
Round Three Singles Matches
Chris Williams, USA def. Graeme Robertson, Europe, 3 and 2
Julien Brun, Europe def. Blayne Barber, USA, 2 and 1
Daan Huizing, Europe def. Corbin Mills, USA, 1-up
Andrew Yun, USA def. David Booth, Europe, 4 and 2
James White, USA halved Thomas Pieters, Europe
Robert Karlsson, Europe def. Derek Ernst, USA, 4 and 2
Justin Thomas, USA halved Sebastian Cappelen, Europe
Patrick Rodgers, USA halved Pontus Widegren, Europe
Round Four Singles Matches Pairings
Sebastian Cappelen, Europe vs. Chris Williams, USA
Daan Huizing, Europe vs. Justin Thomas, USA
Robert Karlsson, Europe vs. Patrick Rodgers, USA
Thomas Pieters, Europe vs. Corbin Mills, USA
David Booth, Europe vs. James White, USA
Graeme Roberts, Europe vs. Derek Ernst, USA
Julien Brun, Europe vs. Blayne Barber, USA
Pontus Widegren, Europe vs. Andrew Yun, USA
