USA missed four putts to retain the trophy after whitewashing Great Britain and Ireland in the morning foursomes; Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Great Britain and Ireland won the Walker Cup for the first time since 2015 after a nerve-shredding late comeback saw them beat the USA by a 13½-12½ scoreline. Dean Robertson’s side looked to be heading for defeat after suffering a clean sweep of defeats in the Sunday morning foursomes and with the Americans three points ahead going into the singles matches. But the home side lost only two of the 10 matches and the competition eventually came down to the very last as Josh Hill won the 18th hole of his match with Tyler Watts to seal an incredible victory. The USA will be left to regret the late turnaround after four missed putts to retain the Walker Cup.
Speaking after securing the decisive point, Hill said: “This is absolutely unbelievable. It doesn’t get better than this.” Captain Robertson added: “I believed in the team the whole time. They worked so hard. They played so well.” This is just the tenth time GB&I have won the Walker Cup.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Stuart Grehan beat Preston Stout 2&1Luke Poulter beat Ethan Fang 3&1Jack Whaley beat William Jennings 8&7Tyler Weaver beat Jay Leng Jr 4&3Niall Sheils Donegan halved with Kihei AkinaEliot Baker beat Stewart Hagestad 1-upConnor Graham halved with Miles RussellJosh Hill beat Tyler Watts 1-upBen Bolton lost to Ryder Cowan 3&2Sam Easterbrook lost to Josiah Gilbert 4&3 Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player The morning session saw GB&I lose all the momentum they’d claimed on Sunday as the USA comprehensively won all four matches to move into a three-point lead. Home captain Robertson stuck with his pairings from Saturday, but his players struggled to perform and failed to take the lead in any of the four matches. The demise started as Grehan and Baker were beaten 3&2 in the opening match of the day by Stout and Fang. Leng Jr. and Akina took out Poulter and Easterbrook by 4&3 in the second match, while Russell and Watts had little trouble in overcoming Weaver and Graham 3&2.
In the final match, the USA duo of Jennings and Cowan took the lead against Sheils Donegan and Hill on the second hole and never looked back, taking a 4&3 victory to leave the visitors needing just 3½ points in the afternoon session. Stuart Grehan / Eliot Baker lost to Preston Stout / Ethan Fang 3&2Luke Poulter / Sam Easterbrook lost to Jay Leng Jr / Kihei Akina 4&3Tyler Weaver / Connor Graham lost to Miles Russell / Tyler Watts 3&2Niall Sheils Donegan / Josh Hill lost to William Jennings / Ryder Cowan 4&3 Sky Sports will be broadcasting all four rounds of the Amgen Irish Open at Doonbeg from Thursday September 10 to Sunday September 13, with coverage starting on Thursday from 1:30pm.
