| A Preview of the 2010 Palmer Cup |
A Preview of the 2010 Palmer Cup
Europe will be out trying to make Palmer Cup history. The United States will be out trying to stop the bleeding. That's the setup going into this year's 14th Palmer Cup Matches at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. The Europeans have won the last two Palmer Cup competitions and will be seeking the elusive hat trick of three in a row, something which has never been accomplished before in this event. Last year, at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colo., Europe scored a 13-11 victory and in 2008 at Glasgow Golf Club, Gailes Links in Scotland, won by a 14-10 count. This year also serves as the "rubber match" at this point in this international team competition among college players. Both sides have won six times, lost six times, and tied (1998) once. In the early going, the U.S. pretty much dominated. From the inaugural event in 1997 through 2002 it was the Americans against a squad made up from Great Britain & Ireland. The U.S. was 4-1-1 in that span. In 2003, GB&I expanded (much like the Ryder Cup) to include all of Europe and the tone of the matches took on more of a competitive atmosphere. Europe has won five of the seven competitions. All the U.S. players are making their first Palmer Cup appearances, while two of Europe's eight were members of last year's winning team. Andrea Pavan, a senior at Texas A&M from Italy, was victorious in both his foursome matches and was 0-1-1 in singles, while Henrik Norlander, a junior at Augusta State from Sweden, was 1-1 in both singles and foursomes. Joining these two this time around are James Byrne, Arizona State (Scotland); Rhys Enoch, East Tennessee State (Wales); Jesper Kennegard, Arizona State (Sweden); David Lingmerth, Arkansas (Sweden); Patrick Spraggs, Stirling University (England); and Pontus Widegren, UCLA (Sweden). Representing the U.S. are Tyson Alexander, Florida; John Chin, UC-Irvine; David Chung, Stanford; Russell Henley, Georgia; Scott Langley, Illinois; Daniel Miernicki, Oregon; Corey Nagy, Charlotte, and Jonathan Randolph, Mississippi.
Dean Robertson of Scotland returns as head coach of the European team as does assistant coach Walle Danewid of Sweden. In winning for the second consecutive time last year at Cherry Hills CC, Europe led from the start and then held off a late American charge for its Europe opened the competition by taking a 3-1 lead after foursomes play the first day and then won singles 4.5 to 3.5 for a 7.5 to 4.5 lead.
The U.S. briefly cut into the lead when Mike Van Sickle scored the largest singles victory in Palmer Cup history with and 8-and-7 win. But the Euros quickly responded with victories from Stephan Gross and Jorge Campillo. Tim Sluiter appeared ready to close out the matches after building a 4-up lead after four holes against Morgan Hoffmann and leading by that same margin after 12 holes. Hoffmann then won four of the next five holes to square the match going to the 18th. However, Hoffmann¹s tee shot found the water on the left side and when Sluiter made par on the hole, Europe had the victory. Cameron Tringale (1-up), Trent Leon (2 and 1) and Adam Mitchell (3 and 2) would claim wins for the U.S. while Italy's Andrea Pavan and Erik Flores halved the final match for a final team score of 13-11. "Our team played extremely well this week and had a tough fight today against the U.S.," said Robertson after the competition. "It was a privilege to play at a course with the history of Cherry Hills and have Arnold Palmer in attendance all week." Can Europe make it three in a row? Which side will break the 6-6 deadlock? That's what we will find out June 24-26 at the famed Royal Portrush Golf Club. |