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Horschel Defeats McIlroy In Front of Home Crowd Of Thousands
Newcastle, N. Ireland. – On Saturday, Billy Horschel, a skinny 20-year-old University of Florida junior from Grant, Fla., defeated Great Britain and Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, the teen superstar who was low amateur at this year’s British Open.
He won, 1 up, when McIlroy three-putted the final hole at Royal County Down. Horschel and his and morning foursomes partner Rickie Fowler were the only USA players to tally two points on the first day.
Horschel’s win helped the USA to an early 6-3 lead in the Walker Cup Match before the GB&I team won the final three matches of the afternoon singles to tie the Match 6-6 heading into the final day.
In a back-and-forth match that saw only five halved holes, the contest between Horschel and McIlroy came down to the last putt. McIlroy faced a 20-foot putt for the win, which slid by the hole, and missed the four-foot comeback putt that would have halved the match.
“I like going out first,” said Horschel. “I like to play quick and I think of myself as a leader, so I like to go out in the lead.”
Horschel held a 2-up advantage with four holes to go before McIlroy, who attracted the largest crowds of the day, won the 15th and 16th holes with pars to square the match.
“We didn’t play good. There were spells where one of us played bad, the other played good, and that’s how we won holes,” said Horschel.
A crowd of nearly 10,000 people followed the matches on Saturday, with a high percentage surrounding the 18th green as McIlroy and Horschel vied for the first point of the afternoon.
“It was a scrappy match and I fought hard to get back into it. To not get anything out of it after that it’s not good for me, or the team,” said McIlroy. “To three-putt the last, it’s just so stupid.”
In spite of the initial disappointment of losing his singles match when he had a chance to win, GB&I Captain Colin Dalgleish said later that McIlroy’s spirits were lifted considerably by his teammates’ resurgent effort in the final matches on Saturday.
David Normoyle is a writer whose work has appeared previously on www.usga.org.
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PAR AND YARDAGE – Royal County Down will be set up at 7,181 yards with a par of 35-36-71 GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT – Old Tom Morris is credited with the original routing in 1889, which was possibly the first course to ignore the then traditional layout of nine holes "out" and nine holes "back." Royal County Down was opened for play in 1891. Many revisions were made, including some by club professional Seymour Dunn (1904) and by famed golfer Harry Vardon. Others who had a hand in evolving changes to the course were George Combe and Harry Colt, all in the first three decades of the 1900s. The last of the modifications was in 2005 when Donald Steel tinkered with the 16th hole. ROYALTY – In 1908, King Edward VII conferred "Royal" status to the Club. WHAT IS THE WALKER CUP MATCH? – The Walker Cup Match is contested by male amateur players, one team from the United States and one team from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The teams consist of not more than 10 players and a captain. The Match is conducted every two years, alternately in the U.S. and Great Britain/Ireland. SCHEDULE OF PLAY – On Saturday, Sept. 8, and Sunday, Sept. 9, there will be four foursomes matches (18 holes each) each morning and eight singles matches (18 holes each) each afternoon. Starting Times – (local GMT) TICKETS – Daily grounds tickets are 25 pounds apiece. While a limited number are available, they can be purchased online at www.randa.org. Junior (age 16 and under) are 10 pounds apiece. 
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