WEST POINT — It may not have been the best double bogey World Golf Hall of Famer Pat Bradley ever made, but it likely was her most satisfying.
Nursing a one-stroke lead against Alison Nicholas as she stood on the 18th tee, Bradley knew she could close out a U.S. victory in 2014 ISPS Handa Cup at Old Waverly with the win and three other matches still on the course.
But what seemed like a cup-clinching win seemed like a final hole disaster that could have given the World Team a boost of momentum and a shot at retaining the Cup.
While Nicholas’ second shot on the par-4 18th settled onto the back fringe, 40 feet from the cup, Bradley’s game came unglued.
After blocking her tee shot into a hazard, she was only able to advance her ball 20 yards or so, leaving her no clear shot at the green. Instead, Bradley elected to play her third shot toward the No. 1 fairway. Still 125 yards from the cup, it seemed certain Nicholas would easily make up the one-shot deficit and secure for the World Team another two points, which would have closed the U.S. gap to 23-19 with three matches remaining and the World Team leading two of them.
Given the situation, it would not have been unusual for Bradley to have conceded the hole and the match.
Bradley, at age 63 the oldster competitor in the 24-player field, thought about it for a moment — only for a moment.
“I’ve been playing this game a long time,” said Bradley, the winner of 31 LPGA tournament, including six majors. “I’ve learned you don’t give up in this game. No matter what happens you grind it out.
“I could have conceded the hole, but then I looked around at all these young kids out here. I wanted them to remember you have to keep grinding. Don’t quit.”
So instead of conceding the hole and the match, Bradley landed her fourth shot about 35 feet from the cup.
In the meantime, Nicholas left her birdie putt about six feet outside the cup, then lipped out to finish with a three-putt bogey.
When Bradley sank her 3-footer for double-bogey, the match was halved and the U.S. had gained one point for the tie.
Sherri Steinhauer closed the U.S. win in the next match by sinking a 30-foot birdie for a one-shot victory against Alicia Dibos.
The teams split the final two matches, leaving the U.S. with a 28-20 victory, its ninth in 10 years after losing the Cup for the first time last year.
Steinhauer said she had no idea her win helped the U.S. clinch.
Steinhauer said she didn’t know as she studied her 30-foot birdie put that she needed only a par on the 18th hole to clinch the winning point.
“I didn’t look at the scoreboard,” said Steinhauer, who finished with a 3-under-par 69. “I didn’t want to know what the other players were doing. My thinking is you have to play for your own points. You do that and let everybody else do their part and whatever happens, happens.”
Steinhauer said she had faced the same putt Saturday. “I missed it yesterday because I putted the line that it’s supposed to be rather than the line I saw,” she said. “So today, I played the line I saw. It was a fun putt, a memorable putt.”
After the teams battled to a 12-12 tie Saturday, the U.S. team won seven matches of 12 matches and halved two others Sunday.
For the second year in a row in Handa Cup play, Julie Inkster of the U.S. beat the World team’s best player, Laurie Davies. Inkster shot a 5-under-67 for the one-stroke victory.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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