Sara Byrne produced a brilliant finish to ensure Great Britain and Ireland fought back to end day one of the Curtis Cup on level terms with the United States.
Partnering England’s Lottie Woad against Catherine Park and Zoe Campos in the final fourball match, Ireland’s Byrne holed from long range for birdie on the 16th and then chipped in for another on the 17th at Sunningdale.
That sealed a 2&1 victory for the home pair and gave GB&I their second win of the session, with Aine Donegan and Hannah Darling having earlier beaten Anna Davis and Megan Schofill on the last.
The visitors had won one and halved two of the morning foursomes to enjoy a 2-1 lead in their bid to win the biennial contest for the fourth time in succession, although now head into day two with the score locked at 3-3.
“Honestly I’m a bit speechless at the minute but absolutely delighted,” Byrne told Sky Sports. “I was kind of waiting for something to fall because I’d been hitting good putts and chipping well all day, so to do it on 16 and 17 is a dream.”
What else happened on day one?
Women’s Amateur Champion Melanie Green and three-time Curtis Cup player Rachel Kuehn stormed to a 6&4 victory over sisters Patience and Mimi Rhodes in game one of the morning session, while Irish duo Beth Coulter and Donegan won the 18th to secure a valuable half-point in a topsy-turvy match against Jasmine Koo and Campos.
World amateur No 1 Woad and Sara Byrne were three down after nine to Catherine Park and 15-year-old Asterisk Talley, but then won five of the next six holes – birdieing four of them – to sensationally move two up with three holes to play.
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Lottie Woad became the first Englishwoman to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this year. We went down to her home club to find out about the junior section that helped her rapid rise through the women’s game.
Park and Talley then responded with a wonderful fightback of their own, winning both the 17th and 18th to salvage an unlikely half-point and ensure the USA were ahead going into the fourballs.
Talley and Koo then charged to a sensational win over Lorna McClymont and Mimi Rhodes in the afternoon fourballs, playing 14 holes in nine-under-par to secure an emphatic 5&4 win over McClymont and Mimi Rhodes, but that would be the only point Team USA were to add to their tally in the afternoon session.
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Matthew ‘delighted’ with GB and Ireland start
“I’m absolutely delighted,” GB and Ireland captain Catriona Matthew said. “An amazing finish and after we had a shaky, nervy start, 3-3 going into tomorrow is just fantastic for us I would say.
“In that bottom game Lottie and Sara were [three] up and then the Americans went eagle, birdie, par, birdie, birdie and it was great golf from both sides. They lost their lead but hung in there and came back with some birdies of their own at the end.”
Asked what her main message would be to her team ahead of day two, the former Solheim Cup skipper added: “Just that they’ve shown now they can compete. They’ve shown that they’re good enough, they can hole the putts when they have to, they can make the shots when they have to.
“This morning at one point it looked like we were going to get beaten 3-0 and we were off to a really poor start again like the last two or three Curtis Cups. The way they’ve come back today is amazing and it will give them the belief they can go out and do it.”
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