Justin Thomas
WILMINGTON, Del. (June 8, 2013) -- The
United States made a statement on
Saturday afternoon at the Palmer Cup: They
are leaving nothing to risk.
After going 4.5-0.5 in the morning four-ball
session, the U.S. picked up six more
points in the afternoon singles play to take a
commanding 10.5-3.5 lead over
Europe heading into the final day of action on
Sunday at Wilmington Country
Club.
Alabama, fresh off its NCAA title, was well
represented on Saturday, with its
three players accounting for 5.5 of the 10.5
points.
Defending Haskins Award winner Justin
Thomas had the most lopsided singles
victory, a 5-and-3 romp over Greg Eason
(UCF). Thomas played with Stanford's
Patrick Rodgers in the morning and the pair of
All-Americans romped over
Eason and Ben Taylor, 5 and 3.
Rodgers also won his singles match, 4 and 3,
over TCU standout Julien Brun.
Kevin Phelan was the only European to win in
the afternoon singles session,
defeating Cal's Michael Weaver 3 and 1.
Phelan also played with Gary Hurley to
secure a halve in morning four-ball play.
Play will resume at 7 a.m. on Sunday in
foursomes matches, followed by 10
more singles matches starting at 1:30 p.m.
Here are Saturday's scores:
Saturday Four Ball
• Sean Dale/Bobby Wyatt, U.S. def. Sebastian
Cappelen/Pontus Widegren,
Europe, 5 and 4
• Patrick Rodgers/Justin Thomas, U.S., def.
Greg Eason/Ben Taylor, Europe, 5
and 3
• Alex Carpenter/Cory Whitsett, U.S., def.
Julien Brun/Joel Stalter, Europe, 3
and 2
• Daniel Berger/James Erkenbeck, U.S., def.
Scott Fernandez/Pedro Figueiredo,
Europe, 4 and 3
• Michael Kim/Michael Weaver, U.S., vs. Gary
Hurley/Kevin Phelan, Europe,
Halved
Saturday singles
• Bobby Wyatt, U.S., def. Sebastian Cappelen,
3 and 2
• Justin Thomas, U.S. def. Greg Eason,
Europe, 5 and 3
• Patrick Rodgers, U.S., def. Julien Brun,
Europe, 4 and 3
• Sean Dale, U.S., def. Pontus Widegren,
Europe, 2 up
• Daniel Berger, U.S., def. Ben Taylor,
Europe, 2 and 1
• Cory Whitsett, U.S., vs. Scott Fernandez,
Europe, Halved
• Alex Carpenter, U.S., vs. Gary Hurley,
Europe, Halved
• James Erkenbeck, U.S., vs. Joel Stalter,
Europe, Halved
• Kevin Phelan, Europe, def. Michael Weaver,
U.S., 3 and 1
• Michael Kim, U.S., vs. Pedro Figueirdo,
Europe, Halved