Lonnie Nielsen rolled in a 3-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday to win the match and boost the United States into a tie with the Great Britain-Ireland team after two rounds of the PGA Cup for club pros.
Nielsen, 43, the head pro at Crag Burn Golf Club in East Aurora, N.Y., hit a 116-yard 9-iron approach to within 3 feet of the par-5, 533-yard 18th.Steve Schneiter of Sandy also was involved in two winning matches Saturday. He teamed with Robby Ware of Kingwood, Texas, and then with Stu Ingraham.
Nielsen's putt gave him and Bob Ford of Oakmont, Pa., a 1-up victory over England's Bill Longmuir and Scotland's Russell Weir.
The victory was the eighth for the U.S. team over two days, matching the total of their hosts. Each team won four matches Saturday. Ford was involved in two of them, and was 4-0 after two days.
In the morning, Ford was teamed with Jeff Roth of Flint, Mich.
The competition concludes today with 10 singles matches.