Miernicki Keys U.S. Victory at Palmer Cup
Courtesy of Golf Coaches Association of America
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland -- The United States defeated Europe, 13-11, to
claim the Palmer Cup held at Royal Portrush Golf Club. The victory was the Americans first in Europe since 2002 and gives the USA a 7-6-1 overall advantage in the
Palmer Cup series.
Each side claimed four matches in final day singles action. Daniel Miernicki and David Chung posted the first two victories of the day for the
Americans when they defeated James Byrne and Henrik Norlander, respectively.
Miernicki claimed the first hole in his 5 and 3 win and never trailed. Chung holed
in from the fairway for eagle on the first hole of his match but Norlander would respond with an eagle of his own at the par 5 second. Chung would reclaim the lead after No. 4 before cruising to a 4 and 2 victory. Chung
was
the only player to post a 4-0 record at this year¹s Palmer Cup. It was
just the 12th unbeaten and undefeated performance in the 14-year history of
the Palmer Cup.
Europe would claim the next three matches. Pontus Widegren won Europe¹s first point of the day downing Corey Nagy 6 and 5. The Swede birdied the first hole to take a lead he would not relinquish. Another Swedish
player, David Lingmerth would provide Europe¹s second victory. He never trailed
in his 2-up victory against Jonathan Randolph and led all but three holes. Andrea Pavan claimed the third of the three-straight wins when he beat
Tyson Alexander 2 and 1. Pavan never trailed and moved the match to dormie
after No. 15 before settling for the 2 and 1 win.
Russell Henley gave the Americans their 12th point after beating Jesper Kennegard, 4 and 2. Henley never led by more than one hole through the
first eight holes, but would control the next eight holes - winning four and
only losing one - to win the match.
With six matches in the clubhouse only John Chin and Scott Langley
remained on the course for the United States. Chin had led most of his match - including 3-up after three holes - but his opponent Patrick Spraggs
battled back to take the lead after No. 15. Chin evened the match after 17
putting himself into a position for either a half or a win to clinch the match
for the Americans. Langley meanwhile had led most of his match but had been holding a 1-up advantage since No. 13. While Chin and Spraggs were in
the
fairway on No. 18, Langley clinched the match for America, ensuring at
least a half when both he and Rhys Enoch parred No. 17. Chin would go on to
drop his match, 1-down, while Langley would complete his 1-up victory.
³I actually didn¹t know at the time that I clinched it,² said Langley.
³I knew it was going to be close. That¹s what the coaches said all day. I
knew we had a couple of wins with David (Chung) and Dan (Miernicki) early.
That was key. I knew that the other matches were close but I was confident
that the other guys could pull it out. In the end Russell (Henley) won big
and I ended up winning too. I knew it was close and I knew that I had to play
17 well. I didn¹t know that I didn¹t need to play 18 well, but I still
tried to do my best and hit two solid shots and I was able to do that.²
³We decided to change the lineup a little bit,² said USA Head Coach
Chris Zambri. ³We had a couple of guys who had a great week so far so we
figured we¹d put them out early and see what happens. Daniel (Miernicki) played unbelievably well. Our second match out was David (Chung) and David
played unbelievably well. Jonathan (Randolph) gave them a real good fight but
lost. In the end we thought we had eight real strong players and they
obviously had eight also. Luckily we had a two-point lead coming into the day and
the guys just played really well. We got the wins we needed with our buffer.
It worked out really well. Russell (Henley) played great for us in the
anchor match and Scott Langley played great. They were a couple of guys coming
off a really great finish at the U.S. Open and we figured that they would
come through for us and they did.²
Palmer Cup
Royal Portrush Golf Club
June 26
United States defeats Europe, 13-11
Final Round Singles Results
Daniel Miernicki, United States def. James Byrne, Europe, 5 and 3
David Chung, United States def. Henrik Norlander, Europe, 4 and 2
David Lingmerth, Europe def. Jonathan Randolph, United States, 2-up
Pontus Widegren, Europe def. Corey Nagy, United States, 6 and 5
Patrick Spraggs, Europe def. John Chin, United States, 1-up
Scott Langley, United States def. Rhys Enoch, Europe, 1-up
Andrea Pavan, Europe def. Tyson Alexander, United States, 2 and 1
Russell Henley, United States def. Jesper Kennegard, Europe, 4 and 2
