ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Former NCAA champion Stacy Lewis and Alison Walshe stayed perfect on the Old Course, hanging on to win the final fourball match Saturday to give the Americans a 7-4 lead in the Curtis Cup. In stark contrast to Friday's gray and wet session, Saturday's action took place in glorious sunshine and in front of a shirt-sleeved crowd of 5,800.

Lewis, who won the NCAA title at Arkansas last year, played all four team matches over two days and won them all, but the final one might have been the most important. Lewis and Walshe took the lead on the 16th hole and held on for a 1-up victory over Elizabeth Bennett and Florentyna Parker, giving the United States a big advantage going into the eight singles matches Sunday.

The Americans, who have won the Curtis Cup five straight times, need only 2 points on Sunday to retain the cup.

Walshe, born in Ireland and raised outside Boston, is 3-0 in her matches.

Bennett holed a 5-foot par putt on the 18th hole Saturday morning that enabled Britain and Ireland to split the foursomes session, but the home team has narrowly lost every other session.

Sally Watson rebounded from a morning loss in alternate shot by teaming with Krystle Caithness in a 3 & 2 victory over Amanda Blumenherst and Meghan Bolger, a match in which Britain and Ireland never lost a hole. In the other four-ball match, Kimberly Kim and Mina Harigae pulled ahead on the par-5 14th and closed out the match on a 17th, a 2 & 1 victory over Carly Booth and Breanne Loucks.

Bennett kept the Americans from winning another session with a clutch par putt on the 18th hole to earn a halve. It was the last of three morning matches, and arguably the most riveting.

Blumenherst and Tiffany Joh won three straight holes starting on the par-3 11th to go 2-up, only for Bennett and Jodi Ewart to win the next three holes to take a 1-up lead. Bennett then drove out-of-bounds on the 17th, allowing the Americans to tie the match. She hit her approach 60 feet beyond the flag on the 18th.

Ewart lagged to 5 feet, and with the Americans already in for par, Bennett faced a par putt before a large gallery around the green that grew quiet. The putt was perfect and the crowd gave a loud ovation as Britain and Ireland stayed in the game.

"I knew it was all resting on me, and I felt I had to make up for driving out-of-bounds at the 17th," Bennett said. "That putt must be the best I've ever sunk. I have to say, it never looked like going anywhere but in the hole, to my greatest relief."

Lewis and Walshe turned in the biggest rout of the matches in the Saturday morning foursomes, 5 & 4, handing Watson her first loss of this Curtis Cup. In the other foursomes match, 15-year-old Carly Booth teamed with Breanne Loucks for a 3 & 2 victory over Kim and Jennie Lee.

The United States leads the overall series, 25-6-3.

There is not much between the two teams. The Americans have won three of the four sessions by a 2-1 margin but USA skipper Carol Semple Thompson's talented squad seem to win the points that matter.

Once again there was a lot of good golf. The six Saturday matches produced a combined total of 33 birdies, compared with Friday's all-in count of one eagle and 40 birdies.

It is golf of the highest standard and GB&I is hanging in there. But the hosts face a mammoth task to make up their three-point deficit.

"We're still in the hunt. It's still there to be taken. Maybe if we get a little bit more wind on Sunday it might be in our favor," said GBI Captain Mary McKenna. "My girls just played their hearts out. The Americans are good and we know that but we very nearly matched them. One point per head is all I want from them in the final set of singles."

Saturday Results:
Foursomes: United States 1 1/2, Great Britain & Ireland 1 1/2
Carly Booth / Breanne Loucks, GBI, def. Kimberly Kim / Jennie Lee, USA, 3&2
Alison Walshe / Stacy Lewis, USA, def. Sally Watson / Michele Thomson, GBI, 5&4
Amanda Blumenherst / Tiffany Joh, USA, vs. Elizabeth Bennett /Jodi Ewart, GBI, halved

Four-balls: United States 2, Great Britain & Ireland 1
Kimberly Kim / Mina Harigae, USA, def. Carly Booth / Breanne Loucks, GBI, 2&1
Sally Watson / Krystle Caithness, GBI, def. Amanda Blumenherst /Meghan Bolger, USA, 3&2
Alison Walshe / Stacy Lewis, USA, def. Elizabeth Bennett / Florentyna Parker, GBI, 1-up

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