LIZ BENNETT HOLES CRUCIAL PUTT TO
HALVE SATURDAY MORNING FOURSOMES

England international Liz Bennett from Brokenhurst Manor, at 25 the oldest player in the home squad, courageously holed a 5ft downhill putt on the last green to enable Great Britain & Ireland to share the Saturday morning foursomes 1 ½-1 ½ on the second day of the Curtis Cup match under suuny skies over the Old Course, St Andrews.
Bennett and her 19-year-old partner, Texas A&M University student Jodi Ewart from Catterick, Yorkshire finished all square with American college No 1 Amanda Blumenherst and Tiffany Joh in the last tie to finish before lunch-time.
Had Bennett missed the knee-knocker of a putt … from almost the same distance and same position as Doug Sanders did to fall into a losing play-off with Jack Nicklaus in the 1970 Open – then United States would have won the session 2-1 and increased their overnight lead to 6-3 with three afternoon four-ball ties and Sunday’s eight singles still to come.
Both foursomes and four-ball sessions finished 2-1 in favour of the Americans who have not lost to Great Britain & Ireland since the Killarney contest in 1996.
Home skipper Mary McKenna had been hoping her girls would turn the tables on the cup-holders by wiping out the two-point overnight deficit by the end of Saturday’s two sessions of play.
But she was delighted that Liz Bennett was able to salvage half a point and stop the Americans from increasing their overall lead.
“That was a crucial putt,” said Mary. “I told the girls before the start of the day that if they could not win a game then I would settle for half-points. ~They all add up in the end.”
Bennett and Ewart were one up at the turn against Blumenherst and John but lost three holes in a row from the 11th to allow the Americans to leapfrog into a two-hole lead after the 13th.
The English pair responded brilliantly, winning the 14th, 15th and 16th to regain a one-hole lead with two to play.
Then a crisis. Bennett drove out of bounds at the 17th for the Brits to lose the hole and be all square on the 18th tee.
Both pairs made the 18th green in two shots with GB&I some 20yd beyond the flag and the Americans with much the better putt from about 12ft short and wide of the hole.
The Americans just failed to hole their birdie putt for victory after Ewart, tackling her tricky downhill putt, left the ball five feet short of the hole.
The big gallery round the 18th green fell silent as Bennett lined up her crucial putt … and exploded into a great roar when the Hampshire player sank the putt to halve the hole and enable GB&I to share the morning honours.
“I knew it was all resting on me and I felt I had to make up for driving out of bounds at the 17th. That putt must be the best I’ve ever sunk. I have to say it never looked like going anywhere but in the hole … to my great relief.”
Earlier, Edinburgh 16-year-old Sally Watson lost her 100 per cent winning Curtis Cup debut record when she and new Scottish champion Michele Thomson were beaten 5 and 4 by Irish-born Alison Walshe and Stacy Lewis.
The Americans were three up at the turn, lost the 10th to a Scottish birdie 3 but then took the 11th, 12th and 13th to all but extinquish their young opponents’ hopes. The Scots three-putted the 11th and were bunkered at the 13th.
But it was the Scottish-Welsh partnership of 15-year-old Carly Booth from Comrie and Wrexham’s Breannie Loucks who turned the tide for Great Britain & Ireland.
They beat Kimberly Kim and Jennie Lee by 3 and 2 to make it 1-1 on the day. All square at the turn, Carly and Loucks won the 10th with a birdie 3 after Loucks hit her approach stone dead. Then the Americans lost to the 12th to a bogey and the 13th to a birdie 3.
The Americans’ final fling was a birdie 4 to win back the 14th to get back to two down but after a half at the 15th, the GB&I pair closed out their opponents with a par at the 16th.