USA Leads Chinese Taipei After Low-Scoring

Second Round at The Spirit

NEWS RELEASE
AUTHOR: Alex Blair
Trinity, Texas – In team best-ball, a leaderboard can change at a moments notice. Just ask the United States.
An incredible closing nine by the US gave them a 25-under total and three-shot lead over Chinese Taipei at The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club after the second round.
"The lead we have isn’t quite as large as we would want, especially in this format it can change so quick," said US team captain Paula Creamer. "But a lead is a lead, and hopefully we can build off that momentum."
The Americans started on the back nine and were only 4-under at the turn. The girls team of Alexis Thompson and Jennifer Johnson were 3-under while the boys team of Jordan Spieth and Ben Martin were only 1-under.
The Spirit is an Olympic-style team best-ball competition. Teams from 20 countries, consisting of four golfers each, two men and two women, come every other year to compete at Whispering Pines.
They are housed on-site in an International Village. Golf fans can watch the action at The Spirit in live-streaming video for all four rounds at www.amgolf.com. The webcast starts every day at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m.
When a country’s men and women teams both make birdies the leaderboard can change in a hurry.
Plenty of other countries were taking proper advantage of the pristine scoring conditions. Argentina, starting on the front nine, was 11-under on the day as they made the turn. They were only a couple back of the US and Chinese Taipei. But Argentina’s momentum stalled, and they would go no lower. Argentina finished 15-under on the day, in a three-way tie for sixth.
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"Golf is golf," said Argentina captain Jorge Morgan. "Those magic moments appear and disappear like that. I think the last nine holes are more difficult than the first. Certainly the greens are more difficult. Maybe we repeat this performance tomorrow and stay close. Then the last day there will be pressure, so who knows?"
France’s Lucie Andre vaulted France up the leaderboard by herself. She pulled an 8-iron on the par 3 15th. Her approach bounced three feet in front of the hole, hopped, and rolled right in. It was the first ace Andre had ever made.
"My friend Marion was very excited," Andre said. "I didn’t know why. I didn’t realize that it had gone in. I was very happy."
Two holes later, at the par 5 17th, Andre was in the greenside rough in two and chipped in for her second eagle in two holes. The Spirit is Andre’s first tournament in the United States. She might want to consider playing in more.
With hard-charging teams like Argentina on their heels, the United States picked up five shots in three holes. Thompson birdied No. 1 and hit the 529-yard second hole in two and two-putted for birdie. Then Johnson stuffed her approach to three feet on the par 3 12th for the pair’s third consecutive birdie. Playing one group behind them, Martin birdied 10 and Spieth birdied 11. That gave the Americans a lead they would not relinquish. They tacked on five more birdies (but also carded two bogies). That matched Argentina’s 11-under total on the front nine. Martin was heroic on the day with six individual birdies. Spieth sees room for improvement.
"Ben was off yesterday and I was off today," Spieth said. "If we could get it going at the same time it could get pretty nasty out there."
Good nasty.
It looked like no one could match the US’s closing kick, but first-round leader Chinese Taipei was up to the challenge. The women’s team of Yu-Leing Hsieh and Hsuan-Yu Yao rallied with two birdies on the final three holes to finish at even-par on the day. That helped the men’s team, who has played better than any other male pair at The Spirit. In the first round Tao Huang and Chien-Yao Hung shot 63. For an encore, they shot 64. If the women’s team can put score in red numbers for the next two days, Huang and Hung might carry Taipei to the gold medal. Hung has scored 11 birdies in two rounds, more than any other competitor. Chinese Taipei sits at 22-under for the championship.
"I told them this morning that yesterday we got a really low score but today the pressure would come up," said Chinese Taipei team captain Eric JJ Lin. "Getting in position is the most important thing. In competition the physical side is second, the psychological is first. Don’t get in trouble in your mind."
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Though both Korean and Japanese golf cultures are well known, Taiwanese golfers have made a splash at The Spirit. The most notable is two-time LPGA champion Yani Tseng, who played in the 2005 Spirit. Still…
"Golf is not very popular in Taiwan," confessed Huang. "There are about 70 courses. I got started just following my father to the driving range."
Alone in third place is a familiar team: England. The English are two-time defending champions at The Spirit. Several leaderboard operators commented that England had no chance this year. But that was before the back nine.
Stiggy Hodgson made his first birdie of the Spirit on his 27th hole of the championship, and it just so happened to come on the notoriously difficult par 4 18th. That was the breaking of the dam, as he went on to card four birdies on the back nine, and Matthew Haines chimed in with two more for a back nine 30 from the English men.
The women’s team of Rachel Jennings and Holly Clyburn carried the men in round one but could afford to coast with a 1-under 71 in the second round. The English now sit at 17-under, well within striking distance for a third straight Spirit.
"We’re just looking to get both the girls and the boys hot tomorrow," said England team captain Kevin Cademy-Taylor.
"For Chinese Taipei and the US, everyone’s been on fire. If they keep doing what they’re doing it won’t matter what anyone else does."

+Switch to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk for The Spirit team scoreboard.