It’s official. Catriona Matthew is now the most successful captain of Old World golf teams—male or female—in trans-atlantic competition. Tony Jacklin led Europe to two successive Ryder Cup victories in 1985 and 1987 and followed that with a draw against the United States in 1989. But that best is now previous.
After skippering Europe to two Solheim Cup wins in 2019 and 2021, Matthew completed her hat-trick of winning captaincies as Great Britain & Ireland’s women amateurs saw off their American counterparts at Sunningdale 10½ to 9½ to claim the Curtis Cup for the first time since 2016.
“This is just as special as any of the others,” said Matthew. “It’s all the same emotions. Any time you captain a team and represent your country, there is no bigger honour. I had a fantastic team. They all played well. And they all contributed. You can’t win these things with one or two players you need everyone to play well. We had a great week. They were relaxed and they enjoyed it. They played some amazing golf, as did the Americans. They gave us a real battle. We knew they would come out strong today and they did. But this team dug deep. I couldn’t be happier for them.”
Matthew’s enthusiasm was far from misplaced. This was a raucous last day of classic match play acted out in front of large crowds on one of the world’s great courses and in beautiful weather befitting such an occasion. Adding to that almost perfect scenario, the shifts in scoreboard supremacy kept on coming, the lead bobbing and weaving, to and fro, all afternoon. Perhaps only one thing was certain throughout; the winning and losing—or halving—of the 43rd Curtis Cup was only going to occur in the aftermath of a tight finish.
Oisin Keniry/R&A
And so it proved to be. Needing 3½ points from the eight final day singles, GB&I stumbled early, recovered somewhat, then crossed the finishing line with a late dip at the tape. Seconds before University of Stirling graduate Lorna McClymont (the only member of the home side not at college in the States) closed out Megan Schofill on the 16th green in Game 7, England’s Mimi Rhodes holed from 20-feet for a half on the 17th to stay 1 up on Melanie Green in Game 5, guaranteed the clinching half-point. That Green would go on to win the final hole only served to halve the eventual margin of victory from two points to one.
“To be fair, I didn’t really know what was going on,” said McClymont. “I could hear the crowds building though, so I had an idea my match meant something.”
Rhodes, was just as nonplussed, which is no bad thing in such a pressure-filled situation.
“I didn’t even think about the putt on 17 being for par,” she said. “I was just so focused on making it, to a point where I wasn’t as nervous as I might have been. I saw the line. I saw it going in. And I knew it would make me a lot more comfortable going down 18.”
The moment that sealed victory for Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup courtesy of Mimi Rhodes 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Y1dAhDqtNC
— Curtis Cup (@CurtisCup) September 1, 2024
All of which was mildly surprising. Coming into these matches, the theory was that the home side would need the best player within their ranks, World No. 1 Lottie Woad, to play on a level commensurate with her elite ranking if victory was to be achieved. And she did, albeit the 20-year-old Englishwoman won only one full point. Three halved matches surrounded her lone four-ball victory and a singles defeat to Asterisk Talley.
“I was really excited to be first off against Lottie,” said Talley, the second youngest U.S. Curtis Cup player in history after Michelle Wie. “I called my mom last night and she was asking why I got the hardest person. I was like, ‘thanks mum.’ I knew I would have to make lots of birdies. And I did that, without making too many mistakes.”
Indeed, there was no great shame in any of the above for Woad, who was under par when the pair shook hands on the 16th green. The five birdies and an eagle that dotted Talley’s metaphorical scorecard illustrated only too well the potency of the 15-year-old’s performance. Still, that GB&I didn’t need more in terms of points from their leader only underlined the depth of the home team.
There was also some irony to be had within the one-point “loss” GB&I suffered in the singles. The only member of the home team who was on zero going into the final day, Patience Rhodes, turned out to be its biggest final-day winner, 6 and 5 over Zoe Campos. The home star, however, was Sara Byrne. After leaning on Woad’s formidable talents in the foursomes and four-balls, the 23-year-old Irishwoman made six birdies and an eagle in seeing off the redoubtable Catherine Park, 3&2.
Sara Byrne celebrates winning her match during the Sunday singles at the Curtis Cup – Oisin Keniry/R&A
“I don’t have words to explain this week,” said Byrne, who will turn professional in three days. “It has been the best week of my life. This is a very special feeling to end my amateur career like this. I’m not sure it has all settled in yet, although when I went 3-up on 15 I did think that was me unbeaten for the week. But that was only for a second. I knew I had to get a full point, not just a half. I locked back in quickly.”
As for the Americans, captain Meghan Stasi was predictably philosophical in the wake of what was a tough defeat. There was pride too though.
“It was a fight from Day 1, Round 1,” she acknowledged. “My guys stepped up. Nothing was easy out there and we had a lot of players new to the Curtis Cup. It’s amazing what they accomplished. The standard of play was incredible. What the fans brought and what the girls brought made this a great occasion. We lost to birdies and even eagles sometimes. The course had a lot to do with that. Sunningdale was set-up perfectly and presented a great challenge, one that was great for match play.”
For the stat geeks, there were even some scoring quirks to pour over. All 16 players scored at least a half-point. Despite regaining the cup, only half of the GB&I team—the Celtic quartet (two Scots, two Irish) of Aine Donegan, Sara Byrne, Lorna McClymont and Hannah Darling—emerged with winning records. That feat was achieved by only three members of the losing side—Talley, Jasmine Koo and Rachel Kuehn.
Appropriately though, the last words must go to Matthew.
“No one remembers individual records,” insisted the modest Scot. “This was a team affair.”
Images: Oisin Keniry/R&A
