Posted at 11:10 a.m., Saturday, June 12, 2004
Wie helps U.S. team take Curtis Cup lead
Advertiser Staff
Honolulu's Michelle Wie won her singles match and the United States team won five of the six singles matches Saturday, rallying to take a 5-4 lead over a squad from Great Britain and Ireland after the first day of the Curtis Cup.
Wie, at 14 the youngest Curtis Cup player in USA history, defeated Anna Highgate, 5 and 4, in match-play competition in this biennial amateur golf competition.
The GA&I team won all three team (alternate shot of partners) competitions for a 3-0 lead in the morning and took a 4-0 lead after Emma Duggleby defeated Liz Janangelo, 3 and 2. But the U.S. team won the next five after the first day of the 33rd event being played at Formby Golf Club in Merseyside, England.
Four of the five singles victories did not advance past the 15th hole.
USA Captain Martha Kirouac said the morning's foursomes served as a wake-up call for her team.
"I think we went out this morning just a little bit flat," said Kirouac on the USGA web site. "This team is very competitive. They didn't like being shut out three to zip this morning, and I think they showed that this afternoon."
Wie was among the U.S. teams to lose in team competition. Anne Laing and Claire Coughlan defeated Wie and Brittany Lang if McKinney, Texas, 1 up
Wie admitted the team struggled with the foursomes format.
"Foursomes is a little bit tough because you don't really get into a rhythm," she said. "But this afternoon helped our confidence for tomorrow."
No team has lost the Curtis Cup after sweeping the first day of foursomes. The GB&I last won all three first-day foursomes matches in 1986, when it went on to earn a 13-5 victory over the USA at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan. It was the first time that GB&I had defeated the USA on American soil.
On Sunday, three more foursome matches will be played followed by six singles matches. The USA has won the last three Curtis Cup Matches and owns a 23-6-3 lead in the series that dates back to 1932.
Victory in a match scores one point. When a match goes 18 holes without a decision, one-half point is awarded to each team. Three foursome matches and six singles matches are played on each of the two days of competition.
The Match is conducted alternately in the USA and Great Britain and Ireland. The team winning the Cup takes custody for the ensuing two years. In case of a tie, the Cup remains with the previous winner.
The USGA web site contributed to this report
