Lingmerth wins singles match

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – David Lingmerth did his part on the second day of the Palmer Cup as he clinched the first point for Team Europe in singles competition to help close the gap in the European’s deficit to the Americans to just two points, 9-7, at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland.

Playing the second singles match of the day, Lingmerth secured the Euro’s first point by stroking par on the 17th hole to win 2 & 1. The former Razorback never trailed in the match and after an all square first hole, the Transas, Sweden, native would lead the rest of the way. A birdie on the par 5 second hole put Lingmerth up by one and he increased the advantage to two after sinking par on the fourth and watching his American counterpart, John Chin (UC Irvine) bogey the hole.

Chin would get back to one down on the seventh after he hit par and Lingmerth conceded the hole, but back-to-back birdies by Lingmerth on the eighth and ninth holes placed him three up with nine to play. Lingmerth would go up by as many as four after the 12th hole, but Chin would mount a strong comeback effort with birdie and par on the 13th and 14th holes to make it two once more. Undaunted by the effort, Lingmerth birdied the 15th to make it a three-hole lead which he won two holes later.

Lingmerth concludes play at the 2010 Palmer Cup with another singles pairing, this time against a familiar face, Jonathan Randolph of Ole Miss. The pair will be the third off the tee box with the Europeans looking to win their third straight Palmer Cup and match the record of the Americans who won three straight in the first three years of the competition, 1997-1999.