Blustery and windy conditions dominated the links as the Middleton Cup resumed for round three. And the play suffered accordingly. The general theme for the group was four-putts, duffs, mishits, and the occasional moment of brilliance. Good times! Lee Westwood would have been proud.
But despite the uneven play, the match was surprisingly competitive. Due to their recently-discovered philanthropic streak, the world gifted 2 of the first 3 holes but a good showing on the 4th brought them back (great par by christie here). On the fifth, the world succumbed to the wind as our they finished a combined, ahem, nine over. Showing their resolve (and short memories!) they quickly grabbed the next two to square the match heading into the par 3 eighth. Some crafty play from, foltz (the classic driver-putter birdie hole - suggested by Byrne) saw North America back in the lead. They also took the 9th and a 2 hole lead into the back.
After swapping wins on the 10th and 11th, (solid play by Byrne in this stretch) G-mac managed a great birdie (nearly holing out for eagle from off the green) on the 12th. Not only did he contribute with his magnificent play (sadly this was a rare pick-up for Ward as he found some trouble in the gardens) -but he also found a way to added two points to his squad's total on that hole by pointing out some odd rule about holding the flag and putting that nobody had ever heard of. A somewhat dubious and un-Middleton-esque half. But the North Americans soldiered on. Surely, the golf gods would remember this bit of karma.
And they did! They made G-Mac continue putting!
Another half on the 13th (very clutch putt by Ward here to keep the World alive). But a par by Foltz on the 14th and put the Americans 3-up again.
A nice win on the 15th for the world gave them hope, but more solid play from Byrne on the 16th (not Huapai solid mind you, but then again, if we know one thing about Byrne it's that he prefers muddy conditions!) and the North Americans had secured a 2-1 test lead heading into another long hiatus.
Byrne 27
Foltz 27
G-Mac 27
Bubba 26
(all scores approximate-ish)
