Great Britain and Ireland completed the biggest comeback in Walker Cup history at Lahinch, beating the United States 13½ points to 12½ to win the trophy for the first time since 2015. GB&I had lost the Sunday-morning foursomes session 4-0, leaving the USA just three and a half points from a sixth straight win before the singles began.
more
Stuart Grehan set the tone for the fightback by beating world number one Preston Stout, who had been battling illness before the match, in the day’s opening singles. It was the second time in the week that Grehan, playing at home in Ireland, had beaten Stout. He called the win “unbelievable” and said it was the best feeling he had ever had on a golf course.
How the singles turned
Luke Poulter, the son of Ryder Cup captain Ian Poulter, beat Ethan Fang, and Jack Whaley routed William Jennings 8&7, the largest winning margin any GB&I player has recorded in the match’s history. Eliot Baker beat Stewart Hagestad on the final hole, and Conor Graham won the last two holes of his match to halve with Miles Russell.
The Cup was still undecided when Josh Hill reached the last match to finish on the course, against world number two Tyler Watts. Hill found a greenside bunker in two shots on the par-five 18th, flicked his third from the sand to four feet, and watched Watts miss the birdie putt that would have kept the USA in the match. Hill’s putt won the Walker Cup for GB&I.
Captain Dean Robertson said he “had full belief in the players” even after GB&I fell behind in the foursomes.
Why Sunday’s format put everything on the singles
Each Walker Cup match is worth a full point, with a half awarded to each side when a match is halved. GB&I needed 13½ points to take the Cup outright, and the USA needed 13 to keep it, across 26 matches played over two days. Foursomes pairs alternate shots and share one ball between the two players, while every member of both ten-man teams plays in the Sunday singles.
After the Sunday foursomes sweep, the USA needed only three and a half points from the singles.
A rare result against a dominant opponent
The United States had won the previous five Walker Cups. Great Britain and Ireland had not won since a 16½-9½ victory at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2015, in a match that included Bryson DeChambeau on the American side. Sunday’s win was GB&I’s tenth in the competition’s history. The United States had won 40 of the previous 50 meetings between the sides, with one match tied.
Lahinch, a links course on Ireland’s west coast, was hosting the Walker Cup for the first time. The next edition returns to a normal two-year gap, at Bandon Dunes in Oregon in 2028.
