LANARKSHIRE'S Pamela Pretswell was last night toasting a famous Curtis Cup triumph at Nairn, although she almost felt like drowning her sorrows.
The Bothwell Castle amateur golfer and her Great Britain & Ireland team-mates recorded a 101/2-91/2 win over the USA to end a run of seven straight defeats in the biennial clash.
Pretswell, who suffered Curtis Cup heartache in the 2010 match on American soil, went down 4 and 3 in the final day singles to Lisa McCloskey.
Despite the Scot's reversal, the GB&I girls produced a stunning show and won the session 5-3 to record a narrow victory, which was clinched when Northern Ireland ace Stephanie Meadow dumped Amy Anderson 4 and 2.
Pretswell, who managed one win from four matches during an event of mixed fortunes, said: "I was devastated when I lost my singles as I was wanred to post a point for the team.
GB&I had trailed by just a single point heading into the final day's play and they were given an early boost when Kelly Tidy fought back from three down after six in the top tie to beat Austin Ernst 2 and 1.
With Pretswell losing, the home side hit back with Holly Clyburn and Amy Boulden winning to push GB&I into the lead for the first time in the contest before Meadow sealed success.
GB&I's win means for the first time, the Ryder Cup, the Solheim Cup, the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup are on this side of the Atlantic.
Elsewhere, one bad swing ended Rory McIlroy's hopes of going into his US Open title defence at the Olympic Club in San Francisco this week with a fourth PGA Tour victory.
He was joint leader at the FedEx St Jude Classic in Memphis when he hooked into a lake off the final tee. McIlroy double-bogeyed and dropped to joint seventh place. The title went to American Dustin Johnson.