USA takes commanding lead at Palmer Cup

08 Jun 2013
by Golfweek
see also: View results for Palmer Cup, Congaree Golf Club, Justin Thomas Rankings
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Justin Thomas

WILMINGTON, Del. (June 8, 2013) -- The United States made a statement on Saturday afternoon at the Palmer Cup: They are leaving nothing to risk.

After going 4.5-0.5 in the morning four-ball session, the U.S. picked up six more points in the afternoon singles play to take a commanding 10.5-3.5 lead over Europe heading into the final day of action on Sunday at Wilmington Country Club.

Alabama, fresh off its NCAA title, was well represented on Saturday, with its three players accounting for 5.5 of the 10.5 points.

Defending Haskins Award winner Justin Thomas had the most lopsided singles victory, a 5-and-3 romp over Greg Eason (UCF). Thomas played with Stanford's Patrick Rodgers in the morning and the pair of All-Americans romped over Eason and Ben Taylor, 5 and 3.

Rodgers also won his singles match, 4 and 3, over TCU standout Julien Brun.

Kevin Phelan was the only European to win in the afternoon singles session, defeating Cal's Michael Weaver 3 and 1. Phelan also played with Gary Hurley to secure a halve in morning four-ball play.

Play will resume at 7 a.m. on Sunday in foursomes matches, followed by 10 more singles matches starting at 1:30 p.m.

Here are Saturday's scores:

Saturday Four Ball

• Sean Dale/Bobby Wyatt, U.S. def. Sebastian Cappelen/Pontus Widegren, Europe, 5 and 4
• Patrick Rodgers/Justin Thomas, U.S., def. Greg Eason/Ben Taylor, Europe, 5 and 3
• Alex Carpenter/Cory Whitsett, U.S., def. Julien Brun/Joel Stalter, Europe, 3 and 2
• Daniel Berger/James Erkenbeck, U.S., def. Scott Fernandez/Pedro Figueiredo, Europe, 4 and 3
• Michael Kim/Michael Weaver, U.S., vs. Gary Hurley/Kevin Phelan, Europe, Halved

Saturday singles

• Bobby Wyatt, U.S., def. Sebastian Cappelen, 3 and 2
• Justin Thomas, U.S. def. Greg Eason, Europe, 5 and 3
• Patrick Rodgers, U.S., def. Julien Brun, Europe, 4 and 3
• Sean Dale, U.S., def. Pontus Widegren, Europe, 2 up
• Daniel Berger, U.S., def. Ben Taylor, Europe, 2 and 1
• Cory Whitsett, U.S., vs. Scott Fernandez, Europe, Halved
• Alex Carpenter, U.S., vs. Gary Hurley, Europe, Halved
• James Erkenbeck, U.S., vs. Joel Stalter, Europe, Halved
• Kevin Phelan, Europe, def. Michael Weaver, U.S., 3 and 1
• Michael Kim, U.S., vs. Pedro Figueirdo, Europe, Halved

View results for Palmer Cup

ABOUT THE Palmer Cup

The annual Ryder Cup-style competition features top men and women collegiate players from the United States against their International counterparts.

Each team will be comprised of 12 men's and 12 women's golfers. Day one will feature Mixed Four-Ball competition, day two will see Mixed Foursomes in the morning and Four-Ball in the afternoon, with 24 singles matches on the final day.