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Need Four Singles ] For Match Victory Turnesa and Urzetta Pace Americans to Two Wins and Two Ties in Opening Round By WALTER W. THORNBERRY United Press Sports Writer BIRKDALE, England, May 11. — Capt. Willie Turnesa and U. S. amateur champion Sam Urzetta today led Americas amateur golf stars from the brink of defeat into a commanding 2 to 0 lead over Britain in the thirteenth renewal of the Walker Cup matches. The Yanks wound up the first days play by winning two of the foursome matches and halving the other two. That gave the U. S. two out of four possible foursome points — no points are scored in the case of halved matches — and left the Americans needing only four victories in tomorrows eight concluding singles matches to retain possession of the famed international trophy. Britain, on the other hand, would have to win six of the matches to win the cup. Three of the American foursomes trailed after the first 18 holes of todays four 36-hole foursome matches, but Turnesa and Urzetta led a rally, which all but ruined Britains hopes of recapturing the trophy. Turnesa and Urzetta, who were 3 down at the twentieth hole, came back to defeat veterans Jim Bruen and John Morgan, 5 and 4, while Dick Chapman, of Pine-hurst, N. C, and Bob Knowles, of Brook-line, Mass., turned in the other U. S. victory, defeating Alex Kyle and Ian Caldwell, 1 up. Half Point for Each Team Frank Stranahan of Toledo, Ohio, and Bill Campbell of Huntington, W. Va., halved with Ronnie White and Joe Carr, while Charles Coe of Oklahoma City and Jim McHale, Jr., of Philadelphia also finished all even with Cecil Ewing and John Langley. Each team earned a half point in the split matches. Bright sunshine and a slight breeze, what the British call "American weather," drew a crowd of 10,000. They had plenty to cheer about during the morning as the British, playing confidently and well, showed the United States stars how to handle Birkdales narrow fairways and 150 bunkers. White and Carr were 3-up on Stranahan and Campbell; Bruen and Morgan were 1-up on Turnesa and Urzetta; and Caldwell and Kyle held the same lead over Chapman and Knowles at the end of 18 holes. Langley and Ewing were all even with Coe and McHale and British hopes ran high as the teams left for lunch. • Morgan and Bruen, who was playing with a sprained wrist filled with novacaine, built up a 3-up margin on the twentieth hole but that was Britains high water mark. Turnesa, Urzetta and the other Americans unlimbered their power games, spiced with deadly chipping and putting, and the tiring British could not keep pace. Urzetta s Shot Strikes Spectator Turnesa and Urzetta won the twenty-first with a four when the British three -putted for a five. The Yanks also won the twenty-third holes to pull even, dropped behind again when Bruen and Morgan took the twenty-sixth but they deadlocked the home pair again on the twenty-seventh, winning with a lucky break when Urzettas bad shot struck a spectator and bounced back on the green. After that, Turnesa and Urzetta won five straight holes to win the match. Bruens wrist troubled him but the two Americans probably would have been unbeatable under any circumstances. Chapman and Knowles gave Kyle and Caldwell plenty of chances but finally won on the thirty-fifth hole when Chapman sank an 18-foot putt for a birdie two. The British pair almost pulled even on the final hole because Knowles, who mixed good putting with poor drives all day, drove the second shot into another sand pit. Chapmans fine recovery enabled the Americans to halve the hole and pick up their other clean cut point. Stranahan and Campbell, considered the strongest of the U. S. pairs, won the 21st, 23rd and 24th to wipe out the White-Carr lead. Carr blew up as the pressure increased, losing the 21st hole by missing a three-foot putt, and the 23rd by flubbing a two-footer. Stranahan and Campbell moved ahead on the 27th with the Toledo strong boy holing the winning four after reaching the green with a good second shot. Campbell made it two up with an eight-foot putt for a birdie three on the 29th, but White, playing on his home course, kept the Britons in connection. With the Yanks one up coming into the 35th, Campbells drive reached the edge of the crowd, which was pressed against the restraining rope. Stranahan finally dropped the ball and played his shot from outside the ropes. He overshot the hole by 10 feet. Campbell just missed with the long putt. Carrs second shot, lipped the cup and White then sank a short one to even the match. Both pairs shot birdie fours on the 36th and the match was halved. Coe and McHale were three down to Ewing and Langley after 13 holes but won the last three holes of the morning round to even the match. Ewing and Langley were two up as late as the 33d hole, but lost the 34th. Coe and McHale earned half a point when they shot a four against the tiring Britons six on the final hole. Despite his fine putting, Knowles spent too much of his time in the bunkers and rough today and was dropped from tomorrows singles lineup by Capt. Turnesa. Harold Paddock, Jr., will take his place. Sam McCready, the Irish star who won the 1949 British Amateur title, will replace Bruen for the British in the singles. The singles pairings: Stranahan-Carr, Coe-White, McHale-Langley, Campbell-Ewing, Turnesa-Kyle, Paddock-CaldweU, and Chapman-Morgan.
