LAHINCH, Ireland - Entering Saturday down 6.5-5.5, Team USA used seven victories and a Match 16 tie between twins David Ford/Maxwell Ford and Santiago de la Fuente/Omar Morales to jump ahead of Team International and lead the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup through 24 matches 13-11.
The first four matches to come in all went Team USA’s way. After Match 15 came in a Maisie Filler/Amanda Sambach 5&4 victory, Mary Kelly Mulcahy and Farah O’Keefe used three birdies and an eagle to get past Team International’s Caitlyn Macnab and Louise Rydqvist 2&1.
“Farah hits it really far, so I thought that, if I could chip in on some short game, we would work well together,” said Division II PING WGCA Player of the Year Mulcahy. “Mary Kelly is a great partner,” added Austin, Texas native O’Keefe. “Our attitude was fantastic, laughing and smiling down the fairway all morning, and we agreed to ‘no sorrys’ before we even teed it up. We had five shots out of the bunker and got every single one up and down.”
Ben James and Preston Summerhays then controlled Ryan Griffin and Filip Jakubcik throughout Match 23 for the 7&5 win.
“I had a slow start and Ben made some great putts to get us up early,” Summerhays, a 2023 PING First-Team All-American, said. “Playing with Preston is always amazing,” said James, who teamed up with seven other Palmer Cup alumni to win the 2023 Walker Cup at Old Course at St Andrews. “He has such a great attitude and that’s the key in this format. We were super excited and had a lot of fun out there.”
2024 NCAA Division I team champions and PING First-Team All-Americans Jackson Koivun and Brendan Valdes eagled their 11th hole and never looked back against Team International’s Phichaksn Maichon and Ben van Wyk in Match 19, claiming the 2UP victory.
“We had some struggles on the front nine where we weren’t finding very many fairways,” said Valdes. “We started turning it on on the back side with an eagle and a couple of birdies to keep it rolling. Playing with a college teammate and one of the best players I’ve ever seen, having that behind me being able to hit my next shot gave me comfort.”
Max Kennedy and Calum Scott grabbed Team International’s first point of the day with three birdies in their last seven holes and the 1UP win over Jack Lundin and Jackson Van Paris.
“We knew what situation we were in, being 1UP with one to play,” said 2024 The Open Championship qualifier Scott. “They were on the back of the green in three, so I made sure I brought it there to give Max a putt at it in case they holed it. Glad we came away with the win.”
Arizona State teammates Josele Ballester and Wenyi Ding carded five birdies in their highly-anticipated Match 18 against Team USA’s Michael La Sasso and Gordon Sargent to win 2&1. 2024 R&A The Women’s Amateur champion Melanie Green teamed up with five-time Palmer Cup participant Rachel Kuehn to claim their Match 22, 3&2 victory over Team International and Spain’s Carla Bernat and Paula Martín Sampedro. Down until Match 21’s 13th hole and tied on the 18th, 2024 R&A The Amateur champion Jacob Skov Olesen and Team International teammate Bastien Amat birdied the par-4 ninth to defeat Ian Gilligan and Jackson Klutznick 1UP.
For more information about the Palmer Cup, visit arnoldpalmercup.com.
About the Arnold Palmer Cup
The Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and began at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla., in 1997. The event is a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men’s and women’s university/college golfers matching the United States against a team of International players. The Palmer Cup has been played at some of the world’s greatest courses, including The Old Course at St. Andrews, The Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Baltusrol, The Honors Course, and Cherry Hills. Beginning with the 2018 matches at Evian Resort Golf Club, the Palmer Cup is the only major tournament that features men and women playing side-by-side as partners.
Since its inception, over 245 former Arnold Palmer Cup alumni have gone on to earn cards on the PGA, DP World, or LPGA Tours; 44 have represented Europe or the USA in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, or Solheim Cup and more than 90 have claimed over 425 victories on the PGA, DP World, or LPGA Tours, including 2023 major champions Jon Rahm (Masters Tournament), Lilia Vu (The Chevron Championship & AIG Women’s Open), Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open), Allisen Corpuz (U.S. Women’s Open), and Brian Harman (The Open), as well as 2023 FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland. The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 14-12-1.
The Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation supports the Palmer Cup, which provides a platform for perpetuating Arnold Palmer’s commitment to youth character development and the growth of amateur/collegiate golf. For more information, please visit arnoldpalmercup.com.
About the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation
The Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation continues the Palmer family’s mission to champion youth health and development. By continuing their efforts to ensure every child gets the opportunity to live a life well played — through support for nature-focused well-being and character development through golf — the foundation is committed to keeping the Palmer legacy at the forefront of the global conversation of golf and society at large. Learn more at palmerfoundation.org.
Rolex and the Arnold Palmer Cup
Through an unwavering commitment to the game of golf for more than 50 years, Rolex has developed one of the broadest and longest-standing relationships between brand and sport. These strong ties date back to 1967 when Rolex partnered with legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, making him the first official Rolex Golf Testimonee. The charismatic American holds a special place in golf history thanks as much to his natural talent and successful playing career as to his pioneering role in the sport. Since that pivotal bond began, Rolex has gone on to establish partnerships at every level of the sport, including with the governing bodies responsible for advancing the sport and with the finest players, from The Big Three to the New Guard who lead today’s rankings. The decision to partner with the Arnold Palmer Cup was thus a natural progression for the Swiss watchmaker and a tribute to Arnold Palmer’s inspiring legacy.
About Rolex
Rolex is an integrated and independent Swiss watch manufacturer. Headquartered in Geneva, the brand is recognized around the world for its expertise and the quality of its products – symbols of excellence, elegance, and prestige. The movements of its Oyster Perpetual and Cellini watches are certified by COSC, then tested in-house for their precision, performance, and reliability. The Superlative Chronometer certification, symbolized by the green seal, confirms that each watch has successfully undergone tests conducted by Rolex in its laboratories according to its own criteria. These are periodically validated by an independent external organization.
The word “Perpetual” is inscribed on every Rolex Oyster watch. But more than just a word on a dial, it is a philosophy that embodies the company’s vision and values. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of the company, instilled a notion of perpetual excellence that would drive the company forward. This led Rolex to pioneer the development of the wristwatch and numerous major watchmaking innovations, such as the Oyster, the first waterproof wristwatch, launched in 1926, and the Perpetual rotor self-winding mechanism, invented in 1931. In the course of its history. Rolex has registered over 500 patents. At its four sites in Switzerland, the brand designs, develops, and produces the majority of its watch components, from the casting of the gold alloys to the machining, crafting, assembly, and finishing of the movement, case, dial, and bracelet. Furthermore, the brand is actively involved in supporting the arts and culture, sport, and exploration, as well as those who are devising solutions to preserve the planet.
About Nike
The exclusive footwear, apparel, headwear, and glove supplier of the Arnold Palmer Cup, our mission is what drives us to do everything possible to expand human potential. We do that by creating groundbreaking sport innovations, by making our products more sustainably, by building a creative and diverse global team, and by making a positive impact in the communities where we live and work.