June 29, 2006

ATLANTA - Georgia Tech's Roberto Castro captured one point for the United States with a singles victory, but Europe dominated the first day of the 2006 Palmer Cup by winning six of eight singles matches after sweeping the morning four-ball session for a 10-2 advantage.

The Palmer Cup, an annual Ryder Cup-style match between collegiate players from the U.S. and Europe, is being contested at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, Scotland.

Castro, a junior from Alpharetta, Ga., provided Team USA with its second point with a 1-up win against Scotland's Richard Ramsay on Thursday. The Yellow Jackets' All-American eagled the third hole and parred the fourth for a 2-up advantage. He parred the sixth to go up three holes, but Ramsay responded with birdie at No. 7. Castro retook a three-hole lead by posting a bogey at the ninth. Ramsay cut the lead back to one with wins at Nos. 10 and 15. Each player took a hole by concession - Castro the 16th and Ramsay No. 17 - before both birdied the 18th.

Ryan Baca, an All-American from Baylor, scored the other USA point by defeating Georgia State's Mark Haastrup, 3 and 2. Baca birdied No. 2 and parred the fifth, sixth and 11th to go up four holes, but Haastrup claimed the next two holes to cut the lead in half. Baca extended the lead back to three with a par at No. 15 and won the match when both players parred No. 16.

Kevin Larsen, a Tech junior from Santa Barbara, Calif., dropped his singles match, 5 and 4, to Sweden's Oscar Floren. Floren claimed holes two through four, but Larsen countered by winning Nos. 5 and 6. Floren won the seventh and followed with victories at 11 through 13. He closed the match when both players parred No. 14.

In the morning four-ball matches, Castro and Larsen were paired together and lost, 2 and 1, to Floren and England's Stephen Lewton, which completed a European sweep of the morning set. The Europeans birdied the second and parred the fifth to go two up, but the Americans birdied No. 6 and No. 8 to even the match. Lewton drained a long birdie putt to reclaim the lead for Europe on the ninth. Team USA evened the match with a birdie at No. 10, but Europe won the next two holes. The Europeans extended the lead to three holes at No. 15 but the Americans birdied the 16th. The two sides halved No. 17.

Play will resume with foursomes matches at 7:30 a.m. local time on Friday.

2006 Palmer Cup presented by Monster
Prestwick Golf Club, Prestwick, Scotland

Day One Results
Europe 10, United States 2

Four-Ball Matches Results
Alejandro Cañizares/Pablo Martin, Europe def. Brian Harman/Chris Kirk, USA, 5 and 3
Mark Haastrup/Joost Luiten, Europe def. Luke List/Clay Ogden, USA, 4 and 3
Rhys Davies/Richard Ramsey, Europe def. Ryan Baca/Ryan Blaum, USA, 6 and 4
Oscar Floren/Stephen Lewton, Europe def. Roberto Castro/Kevin Larsen, USA, 2 and 1

Day-One Singles Matches Results
Pablo Martin, Europe def. Brian Harman, USA, 6 and 5
Alejandro Cañizares, Europe vs. Clay Ogden, USA, 2 and 1
Ryan Baca, USA def. Mark Haastrup, Europe, 3 and 2
Joost Luiten, Europe def. Luke List, USA, 1-up
Roberto Castro, USA def. Richard Ramsay, Europe 1-up
Oscar Floren, Europe vs. Kevin Larsen, USA, 5 and 4
Stephen Lewton, Europe def. Chris Kirk, USA, 1-up
Rhys Davies, Europe def. Ryan Blaum, USA, 4 and 3

Day Two - Foursomes Matches Pairings
Alejandro Cañizares/Pablo Martin, Europe vs. Ryan Blaum/Roberto Castro, USA
Oscar Floren/Mark Haastrup, Europe vs. Ryan Baca/Clay Ogden, USA
Joost Luiten/Richard Ramsay, Europe vs. Brian Harman/Luke List, USA
Rhys Davies/Stephen Lewton, Europe vs. Chris Kirk/Kevin Larsen, USA