PEBLE BEACH, CA – Americans seized control in the sunlight and continued to sprint through the fog at Cypress Point on Sunday, defeating England and Ireland for their fifth straight Walker Cup victory to eliminate drama.
Betting on a one-point lead, the Americans announced a record-breaking performance with singles by winning eight of the 10 games and halving another in a 17-9 victory.
US amateur champion Mason Howell concluded his fantastic summer by scratching out half with Conner Graham in a tight match at the 18-year-old.
The veteran of the US team, playing in the fifth Walker Cup, Stewart Hagestud stopped a 20-foot birdie putt in par 3 15th place for a 4-3 victory that ensured the Americans would maintain the cup, and Preston Stout was a complete victory when Luke Poulter held back 2-1.
The fog was so thick there was a slight delay when players were unable to see the greenery on the ocean on par 3 16th hole. By then, I’ve finished with the exception of the final score.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the Walker Cup team bring it in like this afternoon in the singles,” US captain Nathan Smith said.
Bryson DeDanbaugh took his role, stopping by the US team on Saturday night to give him a bit of extra motivation.
“He gave them a pump-up speech last night, and they loved it and made them move,” Smith said. “They were ready to play today.”
Unlike the Walker Cup at St. Andrews two years ago, the Americans have been the longest winning streak of victory for the Americans since they won the eighth line from 1973 to 1987.
Anyway, they won a big win. The 8-1-1 Sunday singles was the highest record by the Walker Cup team since it turned 10 games in 2009.
Howell delivered a bigger moment on Sunday morning foursome, drilling a 35-foot birdie putt on the 15th and a hole from the fairway on the par 4 17th. Jackson Covon and Tommy Morrison turned what appeared to be a sure loss into a one-up victory.
The morning session ended in a draw, with the Americans taking a one-point lead in all 10 players single matches.
Under the vibrant blue sky of America’s most picturesque golf course, the scoreboard was quickly filled with red scores. All the matches were relatively close, but it was a challenging site for the GB&I team, aiming to win on US soil for the first time since 2001.
It will have to wait another four years.
“I’m really proud of the players. They’re going to grow from here,” said GB&I captain Dean Robertson. “As much as defeat sucks, if not, victory isn’t important.”
The Americans now have a 40-9-1 in a series that dates back to 1922, five years before the start of the Professional Ryder Cup.
Smith frontloaded a singles lineup with four of the top five players in the world’s amateur rankings, and quickly turned into a defeat. The other was Howell, a senior at a Georgia high school, joined the team by winning an American amateur at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
“I didn’t know that the US winner rode the Walker Cup until my quarter-final match,” Howell said. “It’s been a really fun week. I’m so blessed to be here.”
GB&I won only twice in America in 1989 at Atlanta’s Peachtree Golf Club and Georgia, the Ocean Forest on St. Simon’s Island, on the coast.
“We came here with a raised standard and focus, emulating what happened twice in a century,” said GB&I Captain Dean Robertson. “But Nathan’s team, they played great. …We had faith. We had goals. Even at lunchtime we had to gain momentum. Red went to the board early.”
Koivun, the world’s No. 1 amateur who already secured a PGA Tour card when he became a pro, lost his opening foursome match on Friday morning and won the next three. He went out first in singles, only following the opening hall before a 3-2 victory over Tyler Weaver.
Tommy Morrison never won three and two wins over Scotland’s Neil Shields Donegan, who grew up in San Francisco.
Howell won the unlikely half. He entered the bunker on the 18th and was completely blocked by a Cypress tree. When Graham failed to fall from just below the green, he went sideways and bogeyed the hole in half.
Stout is ranked 5th in the amateur rankings. He never followed him in a match against Paulter, a Florida junior and son of stubborn Ian Paulter of the Ryder Cup.
“I just saw how they were playing around with me and found a little shaded tree,” Smith said. “Don’t get in the way and let your horse run.”