Nice Britain and Eire produced an outstanding unbeaten session within the afternoon fourballs to take a two-point lead over the USA into the ultimate day of the Curtis Cup.
Catriona Matthew’s aspect battled again on Friday afternoon to say a share of the spoils after the opening day, then gained one and halved one of many three foursomes matches on Saturday morning in entrance of sturdy crowds at Sunningdale.
That left the scores locked at 4.5-4.5 heading into the afternoon session, the place Nice Britain gained two and halved one of many three matches to maneuver right into a 7-5 benefit over the defending champions.
It leaves Nice Britain and Eire requiring three and a half factors from Sunday’s eight singles matches to win the Curtis Cup for the primary time since 2016, with the USA needing 5 factors to retain the trophy and 5 and a half factors for a fourth consecutive win.
How Nice Britain and Eire moved forward
All three foursomes contests proved tense and tight on Saturday morning, with two ending on the 18th and the opposite selected the seventeenth gap to depart little to separate the 2 groups.
Lottie Woad and Sara Byrne completed all-square in opposition to Melanie Inexperienced and Rachel Kuehn, with the Nice Britain and Eire pair shedding their lead with back-to-back bogeys from the sixteenth earlier than snatching the half-point when Inexperienced missed a five-footer for victory on the 18th.
The USA’s solely full level of the day got here when Catherine Park and Zoe Campos edged Endurance Rhodes and Beth Coulter 2&1, earlier than Hannah Darling and Aine Donegan ensured the morning ended stage with a one-hole win over Anna Davis and Megan Schofill.
Darling and Mimi Rhodes defeated Jasmine Koo and Asterisk Talley 3&2 within the afternoon fourballs, with Lorna McClymont and Coulter then beating Anna Davis and Inexperienced 2&1.
Sara Byrne had the prospect to finish a session whitewash however was unable to gap from 12 ft for birdie on the 18th, that means she and accomplice Lottie Woad needed to accept half a degree in opposition to Rachel Kuehn and Megan Schofill.
“I hit a really great shot in there to give me the opportunity, the putts just didn’t drop today,” a pissed off Byrne informed Sky Sports activities. “I was struggling today for the putts to drop but that’s golf.
“Me and Lottie each performed unbelievable and Lottie holed an important, nice putt on the sixteenth to get us fired up. Tomorrow is a vital day and the previous couple of holes are essential. There’s massive magic moments occurring each time.”
Looking forward to Sunday’s singles, Woad, who gained the Augusta Nationwide Ladies’s Novice earlier this 12 months, added: “I think you’ve just got to not think too far ahead, just focus on your own match. You can only win your own point so don’t focus on what the whole group’s doing and win your match.”
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