GB&I urged to '˜go out fighting' on last day of Curtis Cup

Captain Elaine Farquharson-Black has called on her Great Britain & Ireland team to 'go out fighting' on the final day of the 40th Curtis Cup at Quaker Ridge.

The Aberdonian’s call came after the holders left themselves with a mountain to climb in the singles after falling 9-3 behind in the biennial clash with the US.

Leading 4-2 after the opening day, the hosts won the morning fourballs 3-0 before claiming two points from the afternoon foursomes.

Olivia Mehaffey and Sophie Lamb contributed GB&I’s only point, meaning the US need only one-and-a-half points from the singles to win the overall match.

“We definitely played better in the morning than we played in the afternoon,” said Farquharson-Black, who is in her second stint as captain after leading GB&I to victory in Ireland two years ago.

“Olivia and Sophie played great golf but, in the second match we were doing all right before losing five holes on the spin and then it got really ragged. You can’t get any momentum and they were always fighting it.

“I was disappointed because we didn’t play to our own high standards and we didn’t really put any pressure on the Americans in the second two matches.

“We can still do it. Every single one of them can beat every single one of the Americans. We’ve got to believe that and we’ve got to go out fighting.”

Aboyne’s Shannon McWilliam played in both sessions on the second day but lost in the company of Lily May Humphreys in the morning and in the afternoon with Paula Grant.

McWilliam faces Lauren Stephenson in the fifth singles match, with Farquharson-Black sending out Mehaffey at the top of her batting order in a bid to get some blue on the board early on.

“Everyone will be pumped up tomorrow,” said Mehaffey. “We’ve got nothing to lose, we’ve got to go out all guns blazing and hopefully we can get a couple points on the board.”

Second-day results

Morning fourballs

Olivia Mehaffey/Sophie Lamb (GB&I) lost to Jennifer Kupcho/Kristen Gillman (USA) 3&2.

Alice Hewson/Annabell Fuller (GB&I) lost to Lilia Vu/Mariel Galdiano 2&1.

Lily May Humphreys/Shannon McWilliam lost to Lucy Li/Andrea Lee 3&2.

Afternoon foursomes

Olivia Mehaffey/Sophie Lamb (GB&I) bt Jennifer Kupcho/Lilia Vu 2&1.

Annabell Fuller/India Clyburn (GB&I) lost to Lauren Stephenson/Kristen Gillman 6&5.

Paula Grant/Shannon McWilliam (GB&I) lost to Lucy Li/Sophia Schubert 7&5.