US retain Junior Ryder Cup

The United States today won the Junior Ryder Cup for the third time in succession with a five-point victory at Olympia Fields in Chicago.

The home side led by 7-5 going into the 12 singles matches and were soon closing in on the trophy after winning four of the first five matches and halving the other.

And although Germany's Dominic Foos, Spain's Covadonga Sanjuan and Austria's Matthias Schwab won the next three matches out, America's Alison Lee was completing a 6&5 victory over Sweden's Linnea Strom in match nine to seal the win.

Ireland's Gavin Moynihan did have the satisfaction of a 4&3 win over Jim Liu in the final match, but the home side were comfortable winners by 14.5 points to 9.5.

That was considerably closer than the last contest on US soil in 2008, when the home side won by an amazing 22-2 in Kentucky.

The biennial competition has helped launch the careers of the likes of Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Nicolas Colsaerts, who are all on the European team seeking to defend the Ryder Cup at Medinah, starting on Friday.

The United States now owns a 4-3-1 overall record in the Junior Ryder Cup, and has not lost since 2004 at Westfield Country Club in Westfield Center, Ohio. The matches were halved 6-6 in 2006 at The Celtic Manor in Newport, Wales.

US Captain Roger Warren was overwhelmed by the entire experience of serving as the United States Captain and came away impressed with the performance of both teams.

"We are really fortunate to have won, because these teams are so evenly matched and each have such a wealth of talent," said Warren, who was the 34th president of The PGA of America. "We came because we wanted to compete and win. But in the end it was all about friendships and goodwill between the teams that made this a truly special experience."

European Captain Stuart Wilson also enjoyed his experience as Captain and is looking forward to being Captain again in 2014 when the Junior Ryder Cup visits Blairgowrie Golf Club in Perthshire, Scotland.

"The players really enjoyed themselves this week and we battled all the way down to the final match," said Wilson. "It will be an honour to Captain the team again in 2014 when we go to Scotland and we will hope for a better result."

Both teams will play a "Friendship" Match" Wednesday at Medinah Country Club, Illinois, during the 2012 Ryder Cup week.

The "Friendship" Match will feature a combined mixed four-ball, with six groupings of four players that includes one girl and one boy from both Europe and the United States. The teams will play a composite course of 10 total holes, blending both front-nine and back-nine holes. Play will begin on the first hole.