Mehaffey, Rafferty and Power help Internationals to 9-3 lead at Arnold Palmer Cup
Arnold Palmer with the Arnold Palmer Cup
Ireland’s Caolan Rafferty and Olivia Mehaffey and Mark Power and partner Kaleigh Telfer won their opening mixed fourball matches as the Internationals raced into an 9-3 lead over the USA after the opening day of the Arnold Palmer Cup at Bay Hill.
Rafferty and Mehaffey beat Quade Cummins and Jaime Jacob 1 up as Power and South African Telfer defeated Evan Katz and Gina Kim 3&2.
Drawing first blood, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, and Adrien Pandaries took a 2&1 win over Florida Gators Addie Baggarly and Ricky Castillo. The duo set the tone for the Internationals in what became an onslaught for the Americans until late.
Losing three of the first four matches, the Americans notched their first ‘W’ with a 4&3 Zach Zediker birdie fest. Playing alongside Allisen Corpuz, Zediker tallied all five birdies for the pair while Corpuz kept cruise control on to allow for Zediker to attack the pin.
“I kept telling her [Corpuz] ‘make pars and I can play aggressive from there’”, Zediker said post-match. “I was just looking at flags all day and getting it as close as I possibly could.”
Their win over Sam Choi and Sofia Garcia was just one of two wins for the Stars and Stripes on Day 1.
The most lopsided match of the day came at the hands of Ingrid Lindblad and David Puig. Taking on Jonathan Brightwell and Kenzie Wright, the Swede and Spainaird made light work of the course with a 6&5 victory.
The Internationals got out to a hot start with birdies on four of the first five holes while Brightwell and Wright negated one of the birdies with one of their own on No. 4. Unable to get any momentum rolling, two of the final three holes were decided by an American bogey.
In perhaps the most unique match of the day, Megan Schofill took on Puwit Anupansuebsai and Sophie Guo due to a withdrawal from a teammate. Holding her own, Schofill took a 2 up lead through two and a 1up lead through No. 10. Unfortunately for the Americans, the underdog match was not to be as the Internationals won hole Nos. 11, 13, and 16 to take a 2&1 win, keeping Team USA from what would feel like a stolen point.
As the final few matches came to a close, the Internationals looked as though they would hit double digits after just one round of matches.
John Augenstein and Rachel Kuehn teamed up to give the US at least a couple of positives from the day as they battled back from 2 down through No. 15 to force a halve with Yuxin Lin and Angelina Le.
Closing out round one as the anchors, Pierceson Coody and Kaitlyn Papp faced Mattias Schmid and Emma Spitz. Giving the Americans hope, the Longhorns dominated, not allowing the Internationals to win a single hole, capping the match off with an eagle on the par-5 16th.
Day 2 play begins at 7:30 am ET with Foursomes. The afternoon session begins at 12:30 pm ET and will be mixed foursomes.
Arnold Palmer Cup 2020, Bay Hill & Lodge, Orlando
First round Mixed Fourballs
Team International (Adrian Pendaries, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard) bt Team USA (Addie Baggarly, Ricky Castillo) 2&1
Team International (Alex Fitzpatrick, Gabriela Ruffels) bt Team USA (Cooper Dossey, Emilia Migliaccio) 1 up
Team International (Olivia Mehaffey, Caolan Rafferty) bt Team USA (Quade Cummins, Jaime Jacob) 1 up
Team International (Sam Choi, Sofia Garcia) lost to Team USA (Zach Zediker, Allisen Corpuz) 4&3
Team International (Angus Flanagan, Alyaa Abdulghany) bt Team USA (Latanna Stone, Davis Thompson) 2&1
Team International (Linn Grant, Vincent Norman) halved with Team USA (Julia Johnson, Garett Reband)
Team International (Ingrid Lindlad, David Puig) bt Team USA (Kenzie Wright, Jonathan Brightwell) 6&5
Team International (Puwit Anupansuebsai, Sophie Guo) bt Team USA (Megan Schofill) 2&1
Team International (Mark Power, Kaleigh Telfer) bt Team USA (Evan Katz, Gina Kim) 2&1
Team International (Ludvig Aberg, Maja Stark) bt Team USA (John Augenstein, Allyson Geer) 2&1
Team International (Yuxin Lin, Angelina Ye) halved with Team USA (Rachel Kuehn, John Pak)
Team International (Matthias Schmid, Emma Spitz) lost to Team USA (Pierceson Coody, Kaitlyn Papp) 3&2
Second Round Foursomes Pairings
Match 13: 7:30 am (#1) Linn Grant/Maja Stark, International vs. Allyson Geer/Emilia Migliaccio, United States
Match 14: 7:35 am (#10) Adrien Pendaries/Matthias Schmid, International vs. Ricky Castillo/John Pak, United States
Match 15: 7:40 am (#1) Alex Fitzpatrick/Mark Power, International vs. John Augenstein/Davis Thompson, United States
Match 16: 7:45 am (#10) Sofía Garcia/Ingrid Lindblad, International vs. Gina Kim/Kenzie Wright, United States
Match 17: 7:50 am (#1) Olivia Mehaffey/Kaleigh Telfer, International vs. Addie Baggarly/Megan Schofill, United States
Match 18: 7:55 am (#10) Puwit Anupansuebsai/Sam Choi, International vs. Quade Cummins/Cooper Dossey, United States
Match 19: 8:00 am (#1) Yuxin Lin/David Puig, International vs. Evan Katz/Zach Zediker, United States
Match 20: 8:05 am (#10) Alyaa Abdulghany/Sophie Guo, International vs. Julia Johnson/Latanna Stone United States
Match 21: 8:10 am (#1) Pauline Roussin-Bouchard/Emma Spitz, International vs. Jaime Jacob/Rachel Kuehn, United States
Match 22: 8:15 am (#10) Ludvig Åberg/Vincent Norrman, International vs. Pierceson Coody/Garett Reband, United States
Match 23: 8:20 am (#1) Tied
Match 24: 8:25 am (#10) Gabriela Ruffels/Angelina Ye, International vs. Allisen Corpuz/Kaitlyn Papp, United States
Third Round Mixed Foursomes Pairings
Match 25: 12:30 pm (#1) Adrien Pendaries/Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, International vs. John Augenstein/Allyson Geer, United States
Match 26: 12:35 pm (#10) Mark Power/Kaleigh Telfer, International vs. Addie Baggarly/Ricky Castillo, United States
Match 27: 12:40 pm (#1) Alex Fitzpatrick/Gabriela Ruffels, International vs. Quade Cummins/Megan Schofill, United States
Match 28: 12:45 pm (#10) Olivia Mehaffey/Caolan Rafferty, International vs. Evan Katz/Gina Kim, United States
Match 29: 12:50 pm (#1) Matthias Schmid/Emma Spitz, International vs. Jonathan Brightwell/Kenzie Wright, United States
Match 30: 12:55 pm (#10) Alyaa Abdulghany/Angus Flanagan, International vs. Cooper Dossey/Emilia Migliaccio, United States
Match 31: 1:00 pm (#1) Linn Grant/Vincent Norrman, International vs. Rachel Kuehn/John Pak, United States
Match 32: 1:05 pm (#10) Sam Choi/Sofia García, International vs. Allisen Corpuz/Davis Thompson, United States
Match 33: 1:10 pm (#1) Yuxin Lin/Angelina Ye, International vs. Jaime Jacob/Zach Zediker, United States
Match 34: 1:15 pm (#10) Ludvig Åberg/Maja Stark, International vs. Julia Johnson/Garett Reband, United States
Match 35: 1:20 pm (#1) Ingrid Lindblad/David Puig International vs. Pierceson Coody/Kaitlyn Papp, United States
Match 36: 1:25 pm (#10) Tied