Darkness halted a United States rally on Saturday and Europe held an 8-5 lead with three fourball matches still on the course at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot in St. Leon-Rot, Germany.
Europe built an 8-4 lead by finishing off a 3-1 surge when Friday’s fourball matches were finished on Saturday morning and also had a 3-1 edge in foursomes matches later in the morning.
Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr started the American comeback with a 3-and-2 victory over Spaniards Azahara Munoz and Carlota Ciganda in the first afternoon fourball match.
Stacy Lewis (pictured) and Gerina Piller held a 1-up lead over Caroline Masson of Germany and Caroline Hedwall of Sweden through 16 holes, while Brittany Lincicome and rookie Alison Lee were 1-up against Suzann Pettersen of Norway and Charley Hull of England after 15.
“So we were down pretty good, 8-4,” U.S. captain Juli Inkster said. “And then we come on in the afternoon; I thought our girls really played well.
“Lexi and Cristie have kind of been our horses. We got them out early. They didn’t play this morning, so I wanted to get them out there.”
Karine Icher of France and Catriona Matthew of Scotland were ahead of Lizette Salas and Brittany Lang, 1 up, through 15 holes in the other match halted by darkness.
In the morning foursome matches, Lewis and Piller gave the U.S. its only victory, 5 and 4, over Hedwall and Anna Nordqvist of Sweden.
“Gerina was hitting the ball so good,” said Lewis, who is ranked No. 3 in the world, the highest of any player in the competition. “She played well yesterday.
“To see her make those couple of putts this morning, I was like, ‘Let’s go, let’s get to the first tee right now.’ I was pumped up, I was excited. … We’ve got an opportunity (Sunday) morning to really flip this thing in our favor. It’s amazing how the team hasn’t gotten down.”
Ciganda and Melissa Reid downed Lee and Michelle Wie, 4-3, while Hull and Pettersen edged Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel, 1 up, by winning five of the last seven holes, and Matthew and Sandra Gal defeated Lincicome and Angela Stanford, also by 1 up.
The fourball matches will be concluded Sunday morning before the 12 singles matches that will determine the outcome.
The U.S. holds an 8-5 advantage in the series, but Europe has won the last two.
