USA Retain Walker Cup

USA retained the Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club with a 14-12 victory over Great Britain & Ireland.

USA Retain Walker Cup

The USA started the final day with a two point advantage. However, Great Britain & Ireland would take the Sunday Foursomes 2.5 – 1.5 to cut the margin to one.

With the overall scores standing at 8.5 – 7.5 heading into the afternoon singles, team USA would need five points to retain the trophy.

Their afternoon couldn’t have got off to a better start, as Austin Eckroat defeated Mark Power 7&6 and Pierceson Coody defeated Alex Fitzpatrick 3&1.

Joe Long and Matty Lamb clawed back some points for Great Britain & Ireland, with 1-up and 2-up victories.

Castillo joined the likes of Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa to have an undefeated record at the Walker Cup. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

However, Ricky Castillo would defeat John Murphy 2&1 to maintain his perfect record of four wins and no losses for the USA, putting the American team on the brink of victory.

As Cole Hammer secured his 4&3 win over Ben Schmidt, the USA would retain the Walker Cup and secure the fifth consecutive win on American soil.

Speaking after his victory, Hammer said: “I honestly had no idea that my match was the clinching point, but it’s really special. We’ve waited two years for this and it was really close going into this afternoon and to be able to be the one to clinch it is a cool deal.

“Living up to expectations is hard, there’s no two ways about it. We looked like a really tough team to beat on paper and foursomes is just a difficult deal, but we were able to hold our own and that’s what pushed us over the edge.”

With USA retaining the cup, Angus Flanagan secured his second victory of the week for GB&I, with a 1-up win over William Mouw.

But a 4&2 victory for Stewart Hagestad in the final match would secure a 14-12 triumph for the Americans at Seminole Golf Club.

Speaking after the singles, GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said: “It’s been a great weekend of golf and the guys have come out fighting. Unfortunately it just wasn’t their weekend.

“Looking at it from our perspective we maybe let the Americans off with a little too much, there were a few slack shots here and there, but hats off to the USA team and Nathaniel for pulling the victory off.”

Nathaniel Crosby, who secured his second Walker Cup triumph as captain, said: “It was such an evenly matched contest and our guys were really fired up.

“The next generation is going to be well served, there’s going to be a lot of future PGA stars that are emerging from this week and many will be turning pro next week. I’ve been blessed to be part of their lives for a few years and it’s just been so great.”

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