Stuart Grehan’s Walker Cup debut was a long time coming, but he was ready for the fight and landed one-and-a-half points from his two opening day matches as GB&I find themselves in with a fighting chance of just a third away victory in the what is the 50th staging of the match.
Playing alongside England’s Eliot Baker in the opening foursomes session, the two faced reigning Amateur Championship title-holder Ethan Fang and Preston Stout – the third and fifth-ranked players in the world – and it proved to be a titanic tussle.
Tyler Weaver and Conor Graham took down world number one Jackson Koivun and Tommy Morrison 3&1 in the leadout match, and Luke Poulter and Charlie Forster followed suit in match number two, defeating Stewart Hagestad and Ben James 3&2.
The U.S. team got red on the board in the final match of the opening session as Michael La Sasso and Jase Summy secured a 4&2 win over Cameron Adams and Dominic Clemons, leaving the golf course clear for Grehan and Baker who took a 1UP lead to the 18th tee.
Twice, the GB&I pair found themselves behind but struck back on each occasion and finally got their noses in front when a par was good enough to win the 13th and they doubled the advantage with a birdie on the par-3 15th. The 2UP lead was short-lived, however, and all three outcomes were still possible playing 17.
After Stout ran his birdie putt four-and-a-half feet past, Grehan had a slippery, downhill 20-footer for victory, but watched it agonisingly come up inches short on the perfect line.
On the last, Grehan’s approach landed pin-high but spun off the front of the green. With the U.S. duo facing a swinging 30-footer for their own birdie, Baker opted to chip and played a delightful shot to a foot which was conceded, meaning the equation was simple for Fang. Hole it, or go 3-1 down. He gave it a great run, but it missed low, and eight years after seeing his Walker Cup hopes dashed by a broken arm, Grehan had his first point on the board.
“It was a bit of a helpless situation,” Grehan said when asked about the emotions watching the final putt, “but I fully expected him to make it. You just have to do that in this format and against theses players. Unfortunately, he missed, but it was good for us.”
After a short break, Grehan and Fang were back on the tee in opposition as the squared off in match number six of the afternoon singles.
Gavin Tiernan, having sat out the morning foursomes, faced Stewart Hagestad in match number five and the Amateur Championship runner-up found himself in hot water early as Hagestad birdied four of the first six holes to go 5-UP and then added two more birdies to secure a 7&5 win, playing his 13 holes in six-under.
The singles format has traditionally favoured the Americans and did so again. Only Niall Shiels Donegan, who also sat out the morning foursomes, and Connor Graham secured victories for GB&I, but Grehan came back from 1DOWN on the 16th tee to claim a crucial half-point against Fang, meaning the deficit is just one point as the U.S. lead 6.5-5.5 going into the final day.
And Grehan came oh-so-close to making it a perfect two-for-two on day one. A sublime approach to the last left him a six-and-a-half-footer down the hill. Reading it as just outside the hole, he started it on line but the ball inexplicably seemed to move right, then held it’s line until it reached the cup, breaking six inches to the left in the final foot.
He was dumbfounded, and still couldn’t believe the putt had missed when he was interviewed moments later.
“Yeah, it was obviously very, very quick down the hill,” he said. “Ethan just missed his. I was a bit nervous on that one, but I thought I hit a great putt and I still don’t know how it didn’t go in. But, look, I did all I can. I played lovely today, just didn’t hole any putts really. But I think a tie is probably a fair result in the match.
“We had a really nice game. We were talking a little bit throughout the game, which was nice, and I don’t think any one of us got more than 1UP, so it was very, very tight. I got my value for money today – I played 36 holes.”
Grehan and Eliot will resume their foursomes partnership in match number three with Mason Howell and Jacob Modleski in opposition.
Tiernan will sit out the foursomes action again, but faces Michael La Sasso in the penultimate singles tie in the afternoon. Grehan plays Fang for the third time in this Walker Cup in match number five.
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