SURREY, England – After dropping a 4&2 decision to Scotland’s James Ross in his singles match on Friday morning, LSU’s junior All-American Stewart Jolly will now look to help the United States retain the Palmer Cup in Saturday’s finale at this year’s event as Team USA and Team Europe will tee off tied at 10 points apiece at Walton Heath Golf Club.
Ross gave the Europeans their second victory of the day as he defeated the Tiger All-American in the sixth of 10 scheduled singles matches on the second day of the competition.
According to Friday’s recap published by the Golf Coaches Association of America, the pair traded birdies on holes No. 2 and No. 3 before trading holes again at No. 6 and No. 7 to remain all square nearing the turn. But Ross took control of the match with a four-hole winning streak that featured three birdies to take a 4-up advantage through 11 holes on the back nine.
Jolly cut Ross’ advantage in half by winning holes No. 12 and No. 14 before the Scotsman claimed back-to-back wins at No. 15 and No. 16 to close out a 4&2 victory and put the Europeans back on the scoreboard.
The United States entered Friday’s competition facing a one-point deficit of 5.5-4.5 following Thursday’s opening day of foursomes and four-ball matches to kick off the event at Walton Heath Golf Club. The Americans drew level with a 10-10 score following Friday’s action thanks to singles victories by Alabama’s Trey Mullinax and Robby Shelton, Georgia Tech’s Ollie Schniederjans and SMU’s Bryson Dechambeau. The Europeans took three matches, while three matches were halved to tie the overall score at 10 points apiece.
Jolly will next face Central Florida’s standout Ricardo Gouveia (Portugal) in the ninth singles match scheduled to tee off at 4:20 a.m. CT in Saturday’s finale as the United States looks to retain the Palmer Cup for 2014.
The Palmer Cup is an annual Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top American and top European golfers competing at the collegiate level each season. The United States are the defending Palmer Cup champion as the Americans defended their home turf a year ago with a 20.5-9.5 victory at Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware, a year ago.
2014 Palmer Cup Schedule and Results
All times British Standard Time
Third Round Singles Pairings
Match 11: Trey Mullinax, USA def. Thomas Detry, Europe, 3 and 1
Match 12: Robby Shelton, USA def. Jon Rahm, Europe, 1-up
Match 13: Ollie Schniederjans, USA def. Pep Angles, Europe, 3 and 1
Match 14: Ricardo Gouveia, Europe def. Brandon Hagy, USA, 1-up
Match 15: Erik Oja, Europe halved Wyndham Clark, USA
Match 16: James Ross, Europe def. Stewart Jolly, USA, 4 and 2
Match 17: Bryson Dechambeau, USA def. Louis Tomlinson, Europe, 5 and 4
Match 18: Paul Dunne, Europe halved Anthony Maccaglia, USA
Match 19: Grant Forrest, Europe def. Jack Maguire, 3 and 2
Match 20: Jack McDonald, Europe halved Rico Hoey, USA
Final Round Singles Pairings
Game 21 – 9 am: James Ross, Europe vs. Brandon Hagy, USA
Game 22 – 9:10 am: Grant Forrest, Europe vs. Trey Mullinax, USA
Game 23 – 9:20 am: Paul Dunne, Europe vs. Robby Shelton, USA
Game 24 – 9:30 am: Louis Tomlinson, Europe vs. Ollie Schniederjans, USA
Game 25 – 9:40 am: Jack McDonald, Europe vs. Bryson Dechambeau, USA
Game 26 – 9:50 am: Thomas Detry, Europe vs. Jack Maguire, USA
Game 27 – 10 am: Jon Rahm, Europe vs. Wyndham Clark, USA
Game 28 – 10:10 am: Erik Oja, Europe vs. Anthony Maccaglia, USA
Game 29 – 10:20 am: Ricardo Gouveia, Europe vs. Stewart Jolly, USA
Game 30 – 10:30 am: Pep Angles, Europe vs. Rico Hoey, USA