Team USA won six of the eight singles matches against GB&I at Conwy Golf Club to retain the Curtis Cup with a 12.5-7.5 victory, their first away win since 2008. Watch highlights this week on Sky Sports Golf.
Saturday 28 August 2021 18:05, UK
Team USA dominated the final-day singles to retain the Curtis Cup with a crushing five-point victory over Great Britain and Ireland at Conwy.
Caley McGinty was the only player on the home side to register a singles win in a one-sided contest, with the visitors winning six of the eight matches to post a 12.5-7.5 triumph, their first away victory since 2008.
Elaine Ratcliffe's team had been full of optimism for a third straight win on home soil having established a three-point lead on day one, but Team USA rallied to level the overall score on Friday and carried that momentum into the singles.
Hannah Darling was denied a win in the top match despite being three up on Jensen Castle with four to play, only for Darling to bogey the 15th and 16th before Castle birdied the last to snatch an unlikely half.
Rachel Heck and Brooke Matthews put further red on the board before AIG Women's Open star Louise Duncan took her match against Rachel Kuehn to the final hole, where the Scot ran up a double-bogey seven, gifting the point to Kuehn which also confirmed Team USA as the overall winners.
One of the spectators by the green to witness Kuehn's special moment was her mother Brenda, who also had the honour of securing the winning point for the Americans in the 1998 Curtis Cup at Minikahda.
The USA won all eight singles matches in their devastating 17-3 victory three years ago, but McGinty finally got a GB&I point on the board with an impressive 4&3 victory over Gina Kim.
But that was the lone bright spot for the home side as Annabel Wilson, Annabell Fuller and Emily Toy all suffered defeats in the final three matches, with world amateur No 1 Rose Zhang winning her fourth point of the week when she birdied the final two holes to hold off Toy.
"It feels amazing to have come here and to come away winners," said US captain Sarah Ingram. "We've had a spectacular week, beautiful weather. The people are amazing here, so welcoming and helpful and cheering us on as well as their own players. We're thrilled to have come away the winners.
"I think after the first day they got pretty fired up and realised that they needed to buckle down and play well. They just carried it over to today."
Ratcliffe added: "We fought hard, that's what we came here to do and we certainly did that. I'm very proud of all the players and the manner in which they played and in which they do everything.
"It's been a phenomenal three days. Highs and lows. We could have just done with a couple of more highs today."
