GB&I captain Dean Robertson joked that his team had gone from a five club wind back to the serenity of Cypress Point twelve months ago with the calm weather on day one of the Walker Cup. It looked like a good day to be an American, but a late singles rally showed that his charges won’t be bullied in a format that has been so disastrous for them in the previous 50 contests.
The USA entered the day 49 points better off than their opponents in the singles matches historically. A heroic halved session that saw America’s star turns in world number one Preston Stout, Tyler Watts and Miles Russell all beaten has helped GB&I into a 6.5-5.5 lead as they look for their first Walker Cup title since 2015 and tenth overall.
GB&I captain Dean Robertson was steely eyed when asked by Irish Golfer if the halved session felt like a win and was a statement that his side will not be bullied in a format that they have previously wilted in.
“When I arrived this morning, I was nervous this morning. It was really exciting, and to see the wind had laid down, I was — I knew the American team were going to play tough.
“We were 15-under par for four foursomes collectively and the team that lost were 5-under when losing to Miles Russell and Tyler Watts. This afternoon the boys were 19-under collectively. They went out there and played really, really well.
“Tomorrow it’s going to be really challenging. The U.S. team went to 10 in the singles, have always had that depth, but we’ve got depth and confidence in our preparation as well, so we’re ready for tomorrow and looking forward to it.”
Grehan set the tone with a magnificent comeback victory over Stout in the top match where he was 3DN through three and 2DN with three to play. A closing birdie delivered a famous win. USA put four successive points on the board but Niall Sheils Donegan, Luke Poulter and Eliot Baker came up trumps in the last three matches to set up a sensational Sunday ahead.
With gusts of over 30km/h set to arrive on Sunday it will be weather that should favour the hosts but they will be looking to win the morning foursomes session first and extend their advantage heading into the Sunday singles where the ties will be extended from eight to the full compliment of ten. The extended depth in the US squad means that this is a format that GB&I have not won since 2015.
Change the tale of that tape and silverware should come with it on Sunday evening.
“Well, for the players who played in the south and played in the nasty weather, if that’s what it’s going to be like, they will have experienced that before. Playing in that kind of weather requires grit and you need to be able to adapt and just keep the ball moving in front of you.
“A lot of the time it can become a bit damage limitation. Irrespective, it’s going to be exciting, because there will be a lot of people here and it’s match play, so it’s man against man and it’s the low score each hole. So we have a plan and we’ll be prepared.”
Entering the contest, Great Britain and Ireland had a panel of players all ranked inside the top-100 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings and boasted an average ranking of 41, with America’s average of 8 with nine of the top-12 players by no means in another league.
It was the first time that GB&I had the Amateur and US Amateur champions since 2013 and the strength of the squad has been reflected in the amount of birdies being made by the hosts. In the calm weather they lived with the Americans. They beat them at their own game at 20-under to 18-under in the singles.
Tomorrow with more traditional West Clare weather expected, the USA will have to beat the hosts at their own game if they are to make it six successive Walker Cup titles and their 41st in total.
Tomorrow’s foursomes session sees Grehan lock horns with Stout again as he and Baker take on the world number one and Ethan Fang in the top match at 08:05.
Leave a comment