United States opens Palmer Cup with 8-4 lead

The United States opened the 23rd annual Arnold Palmer Cup with an 8-4 lead after the first round of mixed fourball matches at the Alotian Club in Roland, Ark. The U.S. won three of the day’s first five matches to jump out to an early lead.

Palmer Cup veterans Chandler Phillips and Mariel Galdiano opened the day for the United States, and their veteran leadership did not disappoint. The first pairing of the day cruised to a 4-and-3 victory after birdieing four holes on the back nine.

After the United States opened the day with a pair of victories the Internationals picked up their first point of the day after a 3-and-2 victory from Sandy Scott and Julie McCarthy. The duo shot six under par including an eagle on the par-5 eighth to earn the International’s opening point.

With the United States leading in the middle part of the afternoon, they picked up a hard-fought tie after Will Gordon drilled a 20-foot putt on the 18th to tie the match. Gordon reached the green in two shots on the 505-yard par-4 18th before completing the comeback with his long par putt.

“I hit driver off the tee and 8-iron into the green. I was able to get my 8-iron to 20 feet and I got the putt to fall. It was a great halve for us.”

The tie was the start to a strong finish for the United States, who closed the day with four wins in the final five matches.

Mixed Four-Ball Results

Galdiano/Phillips, United States def. Kinhult/Nyfjall, International, 4 and 3
Augenstein/Migliaccio, United States def. Greville/McClymont, International, 4 and 2
McCarthy/Scott, International def. Benton/Martin, United States, 3 and 2
Aoshima/Ruffels, Interantional tied Lau/Scott, United States
Eckroat/Nam, United States def. Laisne/Yu, International, 1 up
Belac/Gagne, International def. Cummins/Parmerter, 4 and 3
Del Rey/Stomo, International tied Carlson/Gordon, United States
Grimmer/Harford, United States def. Go/Pichaikool, 1 up
Kuest/Papp, United States def. Garcia/Ramirez, International, 3 and 1
Chang/Smalley, United States def. Harm/Schmid, International, 4 and 3
Kanaya/Naveed, International def. Kim/Wu, United States, 1 up
Cooper/Hammer, United States def. Jeon/Nakajima, International, 2 and 1