Led by Bend’s Whitcomb, Team USA wins Jr. Ryder Cup

Brian Whitcomb, a PGA Professional from Bend, Oregon, smiled graciously during the closing ceremonies Tuesday as his team celebrated a 16-8 victory over Europe. The win, at Blairgowrie Golf Club, is the fourth consecutive for the Americans in this biennial competition.

“It’s heart-warming to see these two unbelievably gifted teams conduct themselves so well and play at such a high level in front of 1,500 or 2,000 children. That only sets the stage for these kids to grow up to be playing the game of golf and adding to our society,” said Whitcomb. “The fact that we won is great, and that’s what we came to do. But to leave Scotland, the home of golf, with the game in better hands – that’s what this week was all about.

“It was incredible golf. It wasn’t one great shot – it was 10 great putts or 10 great chips on both sides. This game is magical sometimes and yesterday and today were just that.”

The U.S. took a 7 -to-4 lead after the opening day of the Junior Ryder Cup. Today, in the 12 singles matches (six boys and six girls), the Americans captured 8 of a possible 12 points.

Whitcomb, a past president of the PGA of America, said he “just had this thought” Tuesday morning to send out Sierra Brooks, of Sorrento, Florida, first among the six girls singles matches.

“She just has this go-get-them attitude and I felt very good about that,” Whitcomb said. “She played against an unbelievably skilled player (Emily Pedersen of Denmark, the 2014 Ladies British Open Amateur Champion), and when she prevailed by birdieing three of the last four holes, that set the tone for us.”

Whitcomb added: “It was much closer today than what the final score indicated. Every match was close, nobody won any match this week by playing mediocre golf. The only way you’re going to win against these guys is to play a great round of golf and in this case we played a few more great rounds than they did.”

European Team Captain Stuart Wilson briefly broke down with emotion after the match. Wilson, the 2004 Amateur Champion, was stunned at the quality that the USA displayed on both days at Blairgowrie. At the same time, he was equally disappointed at a defeat which he stressed did not accurately reflect the hard efforts of he and his own team, both in the lead-up to and during the event.

“I’m absolutely gutted, to be fair,” said Wilson beforehand. “The way it panned out, it wasn’t what we had planned for, or expected, given the quality of our team. The Americans just played inspired golf. There wasn’t much to differentiate from tee to green. It was all around the greens and on the greens. They holed the crucial putts at the right time, and plenty of them.”

The U.S. now owns a 5-3-1 record in the Junior Ryder Cup, which will next be played in September 2016 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota.

The U.S. team sealed the win where Amy Lee sealed the crucial point with a 6&5 win over Germany’s Alex Frsterling.

Whitcomb’s American charges entered the final day with a 7 – 4 lead, and while there were some fleeting moments early in the day where it looked as if a European comeback may have been mounting, the visitors quashed any ideas of a ‘Miracle at Medinah’ repeat with devastating efficiency.

The second match of the day provided a perfect example of the courage shown by the overnight leaders as Sam Burns earned an incredible half point against local hero Bradley Neil, the Scotsman who grew up on the host venue course.

The match was dormie in favor of the Amateur Champion but, in front of huge home crowds, the Louisiana player capitalized on a mistake from Neil at the 16th before birdieing the 17th to win a second of three successive holes and sinking a 35-foot putt at the 18th to draw the match level.

In the end, it came down to 17 year old Amy Lee, who epitomized the incredible golf on display from the Americans by winning courtesy of four successive birdies from the tenth hole. The 2013 Women’s Junior PGA Champion was delighted to have been the one to rubber-stamp the victory for her team.

“It feels really good,” she said. “I played absolutely flawless today, I think I was five under through 13 holes. I birdied ten, 11, 12 and 13 coming in to win the match so it was amazing.

“On the 12th green I just saw that we needed a half point to win the cup and it feels incredible that I was able to capture it.

“I didn’t make any mistakes today, missing two fairways. One of them, at four, I was deep in the fescue and punched out to about 125 yards and hit it to a couple of feet to save for par. The other was at five in the hay as well and I laid up and then I pitched it to a centimetre from 70 yards for birdie. Every time I made a mistake I bounced back really well.

“It’s always an honour to represent your country, and it’s great to do the job. I knew all the players pretty well coming into this week, but I’m really happy that we got to bond with the European team this week, too.

“We couldn’t have had a better captain. He was very supportive and knew everything he needed to say and everything we needed to do. We couldn’t have done it without him.”

Burns, meanwhile, was delighted to have staged such a turnaround, especially under such pressured circumstances, but was inspired by the performances all week of his team mates.

“It was a crazy match,” said the 18 year old. “I knew it was going to be a tough one in Bradley’s home town, with all the people out here supporting him. I knew he would have an advantage but we talked all week about never giving up and that’s truly what I did today.

“I knew I was never out of the match, even being three down with three to play I knew my team mates were out there putting their hearts into it so I figured it was the least I could do. To win the last three was really special to me.

“It was a putt of a lifetime at the 18th. I actually felt pretty comfortable with the line but I knew halfway when I hit it that it looked pretty good and when I saw it go in dead centre I just went crazy. I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.”

The Europeans, meanwhile, were disappointed not to have been able to turn the tide early on in the final day but put it down to the putting prowess of their opponents on a week when many new friends were made between both teams.

“It’s always bad to lose, but we did everything that we could and the Americans were better,” said Linnea Strm of Sweden, who halved her match with Bethany Wu. “Every one of their players putted better. I’m happy to have played well today.

“Bethany and I played great golf against each other, I think we were both seven under, so that was great. It’s been a great experience for all of us.”

Strm’s compatriot Marcus Kinhult, who won his singles match by 2&1 over Gordon Neale, agreed that the week had been a great experience despite the defeat.

“It feels bad but they were better from the beginning,” said the 18 year old. “We expected more from ourselves but they were better on the greens and that was the difference. They holed a few more putts than us, especially some big ones at the end of the first day, so they deserve it.

“It’s been a great experience. It was a lot of fun, we’ve all made new friends and now Gleneagles will be great fun to play the course and watch the big guys. That will be cool. All experiences are good experiences, even if we lost, so I will learn from this.”

For the complete results, visit JuniorRyderCup.com.