Walker Cup 2023: Team USA fight back to beat Great Britain and Ireland 14.5-11.5 at St Andrews
Highlights from day two of The Walker Cup at St Andrews
Highlights from day two of The Walker Cup at St Andrews
The United States staged a superb fightback to beat Great Britain and Ireland and retain the Walker Cup at St Andrews.
GB&I led by three points after the opening day, but the USA won Sunday morning’s foursomes 3-1 to reduce their deficit and then took seven points from the 10 singles matches to win by 14.5 to 11.5.
England’s Jack Bigham and Ireland’s Mark Power were the home side’s only winners in the singles, Bigham beating Nick Gabrelcik 3&2 and Power making birdies on the 17th and 18th to defeat Ben James and claim his third victory of the weekend.
Team USA claimed a 14.5-11.5 victory in the Walker Cup
The visitors had been odds-on favourites to secure a fourth consecutive victory in the biennial contest for the top male amateur golfers, with eight of the 10-man side ranked in the world’s top 10.
World No 1 Gordon Sargent led from the front and completed a perfect 4-0 record with victory over John Gough on the 18th, as Gough crucially hit his tee shot out of bounds on the previous hole to fall behind.
Gordon Sargent impressed for Team USA in their Walker Cup victory
GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said: “We’re obviously disappointed. We had a nice lead this morning that we kind of let slide quite a bit in the foursomes but I think where the guys will be hurting the most is they’ll know themselves they haven’t turned up this afternoon and acquitted themselves in the way we know they can.
“We always thought it was going to be a tight match and everything went our way yesterday (Saturday). Six matches went up the last and we got four and a half points out of them but all the momentum seemed to be with the US side today. To be fair to the players they are a great side and they handled the conditions a lot better than our guys.”
Stuart Wilson was the non-playing captain for Great Britain and Ireland
US captain Mike McCoy, who was a player on the last American side to lose the Walker Cup in 2015, said: “It’s pretty special, it’s certainly the pinnacle of my golfing life. After the morning session I felt a lot better, like we were really back in the tournament and had a chance to win this thing.
“Last night I was pretty concerned as the mornings are historically not our strong suit, but the guys played great and I think the morning was what made the day.”
What’s next?
Luke Donald will name his six captain’s picks to complete Europe’s Ryder Cup side on Monday, live from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of the contest taking place from September 29-October 1.
The next DP World Tour event is the Horizon Irish Open, beginning on Thursday at the K Club, where Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry are all due to feature.
