Curtis Cup:You don't get any easy questions out here, not when the Curtis Cup is at stake. Lisa Maguire, cast in the role of spectator for the morning foursomes, bided her time; and when the question was finally asked, she answered it in emphatic manner in partnering Sally Watson to a win in the bottom fourball which gave Britain and Ireland a 3.5 to 2.5 advantage over the United States after an enthralling first day in the 36th edition of this old biennial encounter.
Maguire, as she has done for herself so often in a young career that has packed the rewards of a lifetime into just 15 years, holed the par putt on the 18th that earned the win over Jessica Korda and Tiffany Lua. It gave Mary McKenna’s charges the edge heading into today’s second series of foursomes and fourballs, with tomorrow’s final eight singles set to prove decisive.
Seeking to end a near decade and a half of being the bridesmaids to the United States, the visitors took an important step forward. The morning foursomes had been shared 1.5 to 1.5 - with all three matches halved - but Britain and Ireland claimed the fourballs 2-1, with Danielle McVeigh –the 22-year-old from Royal Co Down – and Pamela Pretswell outgunning Jennifer Song and Kimberly Kim, who between them hold three US titles, by 4 and 3.
Alexis Thompson, who is due to turn pro after the match, and Jennifer Johnson responded by taking the middle fourballs 3 and 2 over Leona Maguire and Rachel Jennings to give the US their only fourballs point.
As happy as McKenna was with her team assuming the lead, actually the first time since Killarney in 1996 that Britain and Ireland ended day with the lead, she had a note of caution. “It’s fabulous, tremendous to be ahead. but it’s only day one and we now have to forget that, clean the slate and move on . . . we can’t control what they do, only what we do. We’ve been saying since we got here that ‘yes, we can do it’ and today the girls stood up to the plate.”
For Lisa Maguire, holing the crucial par putt to win the match meant she marked her Curtis Cup debut – along with sister Leona they became the youngest ever players in the competition for any Britain and Ireland team – and, as she put it afterwards, left her “pretty chuffed with myself. It was a really tough battle and it was nice finish things off.”
The golf in the fourballs was quite spectacular, the trend set in the very first match at the very first hole where McVeigh hit a three-wood approach to three feet for an opening birdie to put down a marker. McVeigh and Pretswell finished the match on the 15th to claim the first point for Britain and Ireland and McKenna believed the manner in which they charged into the lead fed back to their team-mates behind.
Britain & Ireland 3.5 USA 2.5
Morning Foursomes
(British and Irish names first)
S Watson and R Jennings halved withJ Song and J Jonhson.
H Barwood and H Clyburn halved withA Thompson and J Korda.
D McVeigh and L Maguire halved withC Clanton and S Kono.
Afternoon Fourballs
D McVeigh and P Pretswell beatJ Song and K Kim 4 & 3
R Jennings and Leona Maguire lost toA Thompson and J Johnson 3 & 2
S Watson and Lisa Maguire beatJ Korda and T Lua 1 up