Danielle McVeigh, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, on her way to victory in the 'Helen Holm' at Royal Troon on Sunday. Click on the image to enlarge it.

It's not enough for me to play in the Curtis Cup, let's

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think about beating the US for a change: Danielle

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Mary McKenna, the most successful Great Britain & Ireland player in Curtis Cup history, certainly knows what it takes to be a winner as an individual against the Americans.

She is the Curtis Cup skipper once more for the June match in the States but she feels debutante Danielle McVeigh is going to be the team leader within the eight-strong squad of players.
"I thought it was a terrific win Danielle had in the 'Helen Holm" at the weekend and she will go the States so full of confidence. I really do think she will be the team leader for Great Britain & Ireland at Essex County Club."
Certainly, no-one in the American camp is going to look down on the 6ft 1in University of Ireland Maynooth student, physically or metaphorically.
At that height, specially in girls and women's golf, a player has a commanding presence.
McVeigh, who played on the American women's college circuit for two years with Texas A&M, has seen it all and done it all around the world of women's amateur golf. She won the world students' championship in Thailand in 2007.
Last year she won the Welsh women's open stroke-play title and the British women's open stroke-play championship at Royal Aberdeen.
Winning means a lot to Danielle but she is certainly not self-centred and Mary McKenna may have hit the nail right on the head.
When I spoke to Danielle after her win at Royal Troon on Sunday and commented that she was a certainty to win one of the eight places in the GB&I Curtis Cup team, which was not named until 24 hours later, her answer would have delighted her skipper-to-be:
"Great to be in the team for the Curtis Cup but that's not what it's all about for me. Let's think about WINNING, let's think about BEATING the Americans for a change," said the 22-year-old Royal Co Down Ladies member.
The United States have won the last six Curtis Cup matches in a row. The odds are stacked against GB&I ending that losing sequence on Massachusetts turf ... but if anyone can inspire her team-mates to rise to the occasion, then it's Danielle McVeigh.