San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Undefeated Zhang leads U.S. to victory
Top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang capped off an unbeaten week as the Americans won six of the eight singles matches Saturday to beat Great Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup in Wales.
Zhang, who’ll start at Stanford in the fall, went 4-0-1 for the week at Conwy Golf Club, finishing with a 1-up victory over Emily Toy in the anchor match. By then, the United States had won so many matches that the Curtis Cup had been clinched.
That added to a 121⁄2-71⁄2 victory for the United States, which extended its dominance in the premier team event for women’s amateur golf. The Americans lead the series 30-8-3.
The score was tied at 6 going into singles. As the defending champion, the Americans only needed four points from singles to retain the cup.
“But that wasn’t our goal,” Rachel Kuehn said after her 2-up victory over Louise Duncan. “Our goal was to go out and to win eight singles matches. The more we can win, the less pressure is on the girls coming in.”
And it was only fitting the clinching point was won by Kuehn. Her mother, Brenda, secured the clinching point in the 1998 Curtis Cup at the Minikahda Club in Minnesota, and she was in Wales to watch her daughter do the same.
GB&I got its lone singles victory from Caley McGinty, 4 and 3 over Gina Kim. Hannah Darling halved the opening match against U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Castle Jensen.
It was the first time the Americans won away from home since a 13-7 victory in 2008 at St. Andrews.
The Curtis Cup, held every other year, was postponed one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be at Merion outside Philadelphia in 2022. Champions: Bernhard Langer birdied the final hole for a 6under-par 66 and a share of the second-round lead with Doug Barron in the Ally Challenge. A day after shooting his age on his 64th birthday, Langer had six birdies in a bogey-free round at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Mich., to match Barron at 14under 130. Joe Durant was a stroke back after a 66. Thongchai Jaidee was at 12-under. European Tour: American Sean Crocker shot a 6-under 64 to move up and share the lead after the third round of the European Masters in CransMontana, Switzerland. Crocker had six birdies and an eagle-3 at the 14th to finish at 10-under alongside Renato Paratore. The Italian’s round of 69 included retrieving his ball when it landed on a spectator’s backpack.