The Great Britain & Ireland team defeated the United States of America 13½-12½ to win the 51st Walker Cup at Lahinch in one of the most dramatic finishes in the match’s 104-year history.
Trailing 9½-6½ going into this afternoon’s singles session, Dean Robertson’s side conjured up a comeback for the ages which culminated in Josh Hill securing the winning point on the 18th hole with the last putt of the match to secure GB&I’s first victory since 2015 at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
The victory for GB&I on the County Clare coast ends a streak of five victories by the USA, and is GB&I’s 10th win overall.
Trailing 6½-5½ after the opening day’s four foursomes matches and eight singles matches, the USA swept the morning foursomes 4-0 for the first time since the 2007 match at Royal County Down to move into a 9½-6½ lead before Sunday afternoon’s 10 singles matches.
Rotherham-based US Amateur champion Jack Whaley got GB&I’s comeback effort off to a flying start when he blew away William Jennings 8&7 to reduce the deficit to two points. In doing so, he equalled the second largest margin of victory in a singles match in the Walker Cup.
Stuart Grehan, the lone Irishman in the GB&I side, then delighted the home fans by coming back from 2dn against Preston Stout to win 2&1 in the top match, before Luke Poulter drew the sides level at 9½-9½ by defeating Ethan Fang 3&1.
Home hopes rose further when Tyler Weaver edged GB&I back in front in the match with a convincing 4&3 scoreline against Jay Leng Jr, while Niall Shiels Donegan kept his composure at the last to secure a vital half against Kihei Akina after the American missed a putt to win the match from close range.
The USA responded shortly after when Josiah Gilbert defeated Sam Easterbrook 4&3. Eliot Baker then claimed another point for the hosts when he birdied the last against Walker Cup veteran Stewart Hagestad to win 1up, before Ryder Cowan looked to have put the visitors in a commanding position as the match headed towards its conclusion with a 3&2 win over Ben Bolton.
With only two matches left out on the course, the USA only needed a point to retain the trophy, while GB&I needed one and a half points to win the match outright.
Connor Graham secured an important half point in his match against Miles Russell, coming back from 3dn at the 11th to win the last with a birdie and leave Josh Hill requiring a point against Tyler Watts in the last match on course.
The Englishman found the greenside bunker with his approach and dug deep to produce a wonderful recovery which left him a 3ft putt. With Tyler unable to convert his birdie chance from long range, Josh calmly holed out to set off the team celebrations.
GB&I captain Dean said: “We are so elated. We’re hardly able to put it into words. There’s a lot of emotion, a lot of happy tears; but pride, pride is the word I would use to describe this.
“There was most definitely a belief in the players and even though we were swept 4-0 this morning, there wasn’t a despondency. The American team were outstanding this morning. The quality of the golf was sensational. It really was and you’ve really just got to tip your cap and say well played.
“When we came in at lunchtime, I had to change the order and we had to bring some energy so that we could feed off of that. Stuart Grehan, he brought the energy, as did Luke Poulter, Jack Whaley, and Tyler Weaver. They kind of started to kind of grow from there. Then Josh Hill produced a Matt Fitzpatrick bunker shot at the last and holed the putt, and we’ve got the Walker Cup.
“The boys have delivered and I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them.”
Nathan Smith, captain of the US team, said: “The match was incredible. It was definitely a tale of two days with what happened this morning and how they played this afternoon.
“We knew how great their team was. They’re a great team. They’re a deep team. We knew they were capable of anything. Really at no time did we take the foot off the accelerator; but they played great. All you can do is really tip your cap to them; they played great.”
For the full results click here.
