By Steve Maze
NEWCASTLE, Northern Ireland — Team Europe completed an epic four-point comeback to shock Team USA and claim the 2012 Palmer Cup, 13.5-10.5. Pontus Widegren, a UCLA senior from Stockholm, Sweden, put the finishing touches on the Americans, downing Stanford's Andrew Yun, 3 and 1, in the final round of singles matches. In addition to Widegrin and Yun, the Pac-12 had two other golfers participating in the event. Stanford's Patrick Rodgers and Washington's Chris Williams both competed for Team USA, and were both victims in the Americans' heartbreaking final day collapse.
The Palmer Cup, which is formatted similar to the Ryder Cup, played out at The Royal County Down Golf Club over three days.
In the four-ball matches, Williams and Yun combined to earn a point, while Widegren and his partner defeated Rodgers' pairing to earn a point for Team Europe.
Moving onto singles, Rodgers was unable to exact revenge on Widegren as they halved their head-to-head match. Conversely, Williams and Yun both rode the momentum of their opening victory, winning 3 & 2 and 4 & 2 respectively. At the end of day two, it seemed that Team USA had a stranglehold on the competition. But, alas, it was not to be.
In the final round of singles matches, Team Europe came out in dominant fashion, claiming seven of eight matches to win the 2012 Palmer Cup. With the victory, the Europeans climbed a little closer in the all-time standings, which the U.S. leads 8-7-1.
When it comes down to it, the Palmer Cup is all about global bragging rights. This year, Widegren and Team Europe will take home the hardware, but every one of these exceptional collegiate golfers should be proud of their accomplishments and the experience they gained by competing in the tournament.
