KirkwoodGolf: We got stuffed, says Trish Johnson of International Team

USA take 16-8 lead in Handa Cup

SARASOTA, Florida– Competition was close in Friday’s morning four-ball matches of the 2015 ISPS Handa Cup, but the United States team surged in the afternoon to take a 16-8 lead into Saturday’s singles matches.

The U.S. and World teams were tied 6-6 after the morning four-ball (best-ball) matches, but the Americans won five of the six matches in the afternoon foursomes (modified alternate shot) to put distance between themselves and the international squad in this week’s 10^th annual event.

Leading that charge for the Americans was the pairing of Danielle Ammaccapane and Kris Tschetter, each making their debut in the Handa Cup, and the pairing of 2015 U.S. Solheim Cup Captain Juli Inkster and 2015 U.S. Solheim Cup Assistant Captain Pat Hurst, also playing in her first Handa Cup. Each pairing combined to win both of their Friday matches to contribute a total of eight points for Team U.S.A.

“Kris and I ‘ham-and-egged’ it all day,” said Ammaccapane. “When one of us was out of it, the other picked up the slack. We played well, made birdies and we made a great team today.”

“Juli and I have never been paired together in the Solheim Cup, so we thought it would be fun," added Hurst, who posted a score of 31 with Inkster in the best-ball nine-hole format and 29 in the modified alternate shot event. "It worked out well."

Conversely, the World Team knows it needs a winning day in Saturday’s singles matches.

“We got stuffed,” said England’s Trish Johnson of the World Team. “The U.S. played really well and I don’t think we were at our best. We have to go out tomorrow and think we’re going to win every match.”

“We are frontloading this team tomorrow and we’re going out with guns blazing,” added World Team Captain Sally Little. “You’re going to see some early fireworks from our side.”

U.S. Captain Nancy Lopez said her team knew they had a formidable opponent in today’s opening matches and she warned the event is far from over.

“Tomorrow, any match can go any way, so we just have to focus on one match at a time and hope we will finish on top at the end of the day,” said Lopez.

Here are the results of Friday’s matches: http://leaderboard.thelegendstour.com/usa-world-round1-2015.php

Listed below are the pairings for Saturday’s Handa Cup singles matches:

9 a.m. Juli Inkster vs. Laura Davies

9:10 a.m. Laurie Rinker vs. Trish Johnson

9:20 a.m. Barb Mucha vs. Helen Alfredsson

9:30 a.m. Pat Hurst vs. Catriona Matthew

9:40 a.m. Beth Daniel vs. Liselotte Neumann

9:50 a.m. Pat Bradley vs. Wendy Doolan

10 a.m. Danielle Ammaccapane vs. Jenny Lidback

10:10 a.m. Michele Redman vs. Lorie Kane

10:20 a.m. Meg Mallon vs. Alicia Dibos

10:30 a.m. Christa Johnson vs. Jan Stephenson