Friday Afternoon Recap: GBI forges into the lead

Great Britain & Ireland won two matches and halved another in the afternoon foursomes on Friday to end the opening day with a 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 lead. Paul Wesselingh of GBI was part of one winning duo and helped halve another match.

By John Kim and T.J. Auclair, PGA.com

Friday Afternoon Foursomes Matches

Match 1: Great Britain & Ireland's Craig Goodfellow and Mike Nesbit v. USA's Don Yrene and Ryan Benzel

Result: Halved

The United States team seized an early lead with a birdie on the first hole and seemed to be in control for most of the match. In fact, after the GB&I team suffered through four consecutive bogeys from holes No. 12-15, the U.S. squad seemed to be in great shape with a 2-up lead. When both teams made par on No. 16, the U.S. side had the visitors dormie and seemed near a lock for the valuable point.

But a clutch 8-footer on No. 17 for birdie by Craig Goodfellow and a brilliant 10-foot par-saving putt on the final hole by Michael Nesbit earned a stunning and important half point for the Great Britain and Ireland team.

"We knew it was an important match," said Nesbit. "After we had a three-putt on No. 15, we knew we were really in a difficult position. But we never gave up and knew that we could salvage a half point. I'm happy that we did."

"Mostly we tried to play our own game," said teammate Goodfellow. "But once we were dormie, we had to be a little more aware of where they stood. So we took a little more of a chance on 17 to give us a shot at birdie and that paid off. On No. 18, we were in a tough spot, but based on where they were, we knew that a 4 might very well win the hole, and it did."

"We just didn't get it done; we let them off the hook," said Don Yrene of the United States squad. "They didn't quit, give them credit, but it's a disappointing half point from our perspective. We had them and just didn't finish."

Match 2: Great Britain & Ireland's Paul Wesselingh and Andrew Barnett v. USA's Tim Thelen and Butch Sheehan

Result: GBI wins, 2&1

The team from Great Britain and Ireand continued their strong play as Paul Wesselingh and Andrew Barnett captured another valuable point as they defeated the United States pairing of Tim Thelen and Butch Sheehan, 2&1. The result of this match put the GBI team ahead in the overall standings for the first time.

The GBI team birdied the first holed and never looked back as they led 15 of the 17 holes played, though never by more than two holes. Still, every time the United States squad seemed to make a charge, the visitors from across the Atlantic seemed to have an answer.

"We were all square after 12 and then the long par 3, we make a great birdie," explained Paul Wesselingh, the Head Professional at Kedleston Park in Derby, England. "Two holes later, on the other par 3, we make another 2. So we make two 2s in three holes and that pretty much did it right there.

"It was a very good match, both teams hit the ball really well. But I feel good about today and our team. Honestly, I think I should have won the morning match. But you come back, you go at it again, and hope for a better result. This afternoon, we got it.

"You look at the size of England, and you can drive from any one point to another no problem," said Wesselingh. "So we all know each other. It's not like here in the States where it's just so vast and I'm thinking that a lot of their players really don't have that same level of comfort. So in my opinion, we have to be strong in the four-ball and foursome matches. Everyone knows the United States will be strong in singles, so we need to get out to a good start."

Match 3: Great Britain & Ireland's Jon Bevan and George Ryall v. USA's Lee Rinker and Chris Starkjohann

Result: GB&I wins, 1-up

In arguably the most exciting match of the afternoon foursomes, Great Britain and Ireland's Jon Bevan and George Ryall held on for an extremely important 1-up win to give GBI a 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 advantage after day one of the 23rd PGA Cup.

Bevan hit a decent second shot on the demanding par-4 closing hole, leaving his partner with a shot from just off the green, pin-high, roughly 50 feet from the hole. For the Americans, Lee Rinker hit a spectacular approach to with 10 feet of the hole, giving his partner Chris Starkjohann a good look at birdie.

Ryall guaranteed at least a half-point for GB&I when his chip lipped out for birdie and par was conceded.

"That chip felt awesome," Ryall said.

When Starkjohann failed to convert the birdie putt for the U.S. team, GBI snuck away with an important point to give the visitors the one-point advantage for their day's work.

Surprisingly, Ryall's chip on 18 wasn't even his best shot of the day. That came at No. 15, a 175-yard par 3. After watching Starkjohann hole a birdie chip that looked to square the match for the Americans with three holes to go, Ryall rolled home a 50-footer for birdie to take the wind out of the U.S. sails.

"The putt I holed on 15, that was special," Ryall said. "I hadn't made a putt all day. I had been leaving everything short, so that was big. Jon played great. On the last five or six holes, Jon was just straight on the flag. It made life easy for me."

GB&I didn't have a lead in the match until the 13th hole.

"We were a bit scrappy on the front nine, but we got it going on the back and managed to pull it off," Ryall said. "We think we've got a pretty strong team, so we're just going to play. I think we're quite confident that we can compete. We're confident in our own abilities, so now we'll just go out there and see what happens."

Match 4: Great Britain & Ireland's John Dwyer and Duncan Muscroft v. USA's Mike Small and Alan Schulte

Result: USA wins, 5&4

In what proved to be the most lopsided win of the day for the Americans, Mike Small and Alan Schulte knocked off Great Britain and Ireland's John Dwyer and Duncan Muscroft, 5&4.

Small and Schulte -- who also teamed up to gain a half-point in the morning four-ball session -- wasted no time laying down the gauntlet in the afternoon. After just seven holes, the Americans were already 5-up with five birdies in those first seven holes.

"We started off well," Small said. "Five under after seven holes in alternate shot is pretty good. We got on them early. We hit it close a couple of times and if you can get up early in this format, it helps."

"To be honest, Mike just flat stuffed it three times on the front," Schulte said. "We hit some good shots in there, but it sure is easy when they're giving you putts for birdie."

When Dwyer and Muscroft got the deficit to 4-down with a birdie at 11, Small and Schulte put an exclamation point on their brilliant play at No. 12, as Schulte holed a right-to-left downhill breaker from 25 feet for birdie to get back to 5-up. Two pars and two holes later, the U.S. had its lone full point of the afternoon for the 5&4 victory.

"You can't ever think that par is going to get it done," Schulte said. "You've just got to try and put it away. Was I necessarily trying to make that putt on 12? Not necessarily, but you still kind of are. I hit my line, I hit it solid. We needed that point. There's two days left and we're close."