The Irish quartet of Conor Purcell, Caolan Rafferty, Mark Power and James Sugrue have all been retained in the R&A’s latest revised squad of 16 players who are in contention for the Great Britain and Ireland team to play against the United States of America in the 47th Walker Cup match at Royal Liverpool.
The players will gather at Hoylake today and tomorrow for practice sessions ahead of the biennial encounter being played on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September.
Unsurprisingly, Amateur Champion Sugrue remains in the squad after giving his all to narrowly miss the weekend cut by one shot at last week’s Open. The Mallow man is joined by fellow Irish teammates Rafferty (Dundalk), Purcell (Portmarnock) and Power (Kilkenny) ahead of the final 10-man team being announced in August.
The changes made by GB&I captain Craig Watson to the initial squad of 26 players selected in April include call ups for English trio Matty Lamb, David Langley and Joshua McMahon.
Craig Watson, GB&I captain, said, “We have monitored results of the players originally selected since we last got together as a squad, while also keeping an eye on the performances of other players not included.
“We have brought in three new players who have had encouraging results in recent events and we look forward to working with them and the other players when we meet up at Royal Liverpool this week.”
24-year-old McMahon comes into contention for selection after winning the Lytham Trophy in May, while Lamb and Langley have recorded encouraging results over the summer months.
The players selected for the GB&I squad are:
| Jake Burnage, Saunton, 23 | Thomas Plumb, Yeovil, 20 |
| Alex Fitzpatrick, Hallamshire, 20 | Mark Power, Kilkenny, 18 |
| Bailey Gill, Lindrick, 21 | Conor Purcell, Portmarnock, 21 |
| Harry Hall, West Cornwall, 21 | Caolan Rafferty, Dundalk, 26 |
| Benjamin Jones, Northamptonshire County, 19 | Sandy Scott, Nairn, 20 |
| Matty Lamb, Hexham, 21 | Tom Sloman, Taunton & Pickeridge, 22 |
| David Langley, Castle Royle, 25 | James Sugrue, Mallow, 22 |
| Joshua McMahon, Wallasey, 24 | Euan Walker, Kilmarnock (Barassie), 24 |
GB&I is aiming to win back the trophy after losing 19-7 at the Los Angeles Country Club two years ago and the final ten-man team will be announced in August.
Tickets are now on general sale for the 47th Walker Cup match and can be purchased via www.randa.org/walkercuptickets.
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