Cobblestone Beach, California – Americans seized control of the sun in Sunday’s Cypress Point and continued to roll the fog to beat any drama in Britain and Ireland as they won the Walker Cup for the fifth consecutive victory.
The Americans won eight of 10 games and halved another game with a 17-9 victory, achieving a record-breaking performance in singles.
US amateur champion Mason Howell grabbed half of the game with Connor Graham at the age of 18, ending his amazing summer with a 2-0-1 record in the week.
The U.S. veteran Stewart Hagestad played in his fifth Walker Cup, hitting a 20-foot birdie putt on the 15th of the 3rd, winning 4 and 3, ensuring that the Americans retained the Cup Americans, while Preston Stout had a thorough victory in defeating Luke Poulter 2 and 1.
The fog is too thick, and there is a slight delay when the player cannot see the green on the ocean in the hole 16 of the Strip 3. At that time, in addition to the final score, it was over.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Walker Cup team bring it with me like I did this afternoon in singles,” said Captain America.
Bryson DeChambeau played his part and joined Team USA on Saturday night to increase momentum.
“Last night he gave them a pumping speech they liked and let them go,” Smith said. “They are ready for the game today.”
It was the longest winning streak for the Americans, as they won eight straight games from 1973 to 1987. Unlike the Walker Cup held in St Andrews two years ago, the strong American team doesn’t need any Sunday’s heroes.
Anyway, they won. Sunday’s 8-1-1 singles were the best record for the Walker Cup team since 2009.
Howell provided more important moments in the four-man Sunday morning, sandwiched on the 35-foot birdie on the 15th of the 15th and fell off the fairway in a 17-17-17 game. Jackson Koivun and Tommy Morrison turned what looked like a sure loss into a 1 win.
The morning meeting ended with a draw, with the Americans leading the way in a singles match of 10 players.
Under the brilliant blue sky on the picturesque golf course in the United States, the scoreboard was soon filled with red scores. The matches are all relatively close, but this is the arduous website where the GB&I team hopes to win on American soil for the first time since 2001.
That would have to wait for another four years.
“I’m really proud of my players. They’ll grow from it,” said GB&I captain Dean Robertson. “Although I’ve lost a lot, it doesn’t matter if I don’t.”
Now, the Americans went 40-9-1 in the series back to 1922, five years before the start of the Professional Ryder Cup.
It quickly turned into a rout, with Smith’s singles roster versus four of the top five players in the global amateur rankings. The other is Howell, a high school student from Georgia who won the American amateur victory at the San Francisco Olympic Club.
“I didn’t know the winner of the United States was in the Walker Cup until my quarterfinals game,” Howell said. “It’s been a really fun week. I’m lucky to be here.”
GB&i won two championships in the United States, twice in Georgia – in 1989 at the Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta and the Marine Forest on St. Simmons Island on the coast.
“We came here with a focus of raising the bar to mimic what happened twice in 100 years,” said GB&I captain Dean Robertson. “But Nathan’s team, they did a great job. … We have a belief. We have a goal. Even at lunch time, we have to get momentum. The red came on the board early.”
Koivun is the world’s No. 1 amateur who had already won the PGA Tour when he was already on the PGA Tour, losing his opening foursome on Friday morning before winning the next three games. He was out for the first time in a singles game, trailing only the opening hole before beating Tyler Weaver 3 and 2, the only GB&I player in the amateur top ten.
Tommy Morrison never beat Scotsman Niall Shiels Donegan, who grew up in San Francisco, with 3 and 2.
Howell made half of it. He entered a bunker on the 18th and was completely blocked by cypress trees. When Graham failed to get short from the green, he threw the shed sideways and halved it with bogey.
In the amateur rankings, stout ranks fifth. He has never competed against the son of the Florida teenager and Ryder Cup staunch Ian Poulter.
“I saw how they played, I just found a dark tree,” Smith said. “Just get out of the way and let the horses run.”
