Sunday Notes From The Walker Cup Match

*The 18th hole was good to Jonathan Moore and the USA team.  It all started on the Saturday morning when Moore and his playing partner Webb Simpson had fought back to 1-down against Jamie Willett and Daniel Moul with the par 5, 18th hole to play. After a good drive by Simpson that found the left rough, Moore his a 5-iron from 235 that landed short and rolled up to short of the green. Simpson rolled in a 100-foot eagle putt to square the match and gain a valuable half-point for the USA.

On Sunday, the USA again found itself in a precarious position, but this time the Cup was squarely on the line. Again Moore was on the 18th green, but this time he was playing a 39-year-old, scrappy Nigel Edwards. The match was tied and this time Moore was in the right rough, 252 yards from the hole and instead of a 5-iron, Moore used a 4-iron.  Minutes later the 4-foot putt for eagle went it. It was the second eagle on the 18th all week and Moore was involved with both.

*The spirited comeback by the GB&I team in Sunday afternoon singles was a product of great play by the eight players. The eight GB&I players totaled 4-under-par during the afternoon, with David Horsey leading way with a 4-under-par total that included a 4-under 32 on the back nine. Other GB&I players under par were Rory Mcllroy at 1 under, Rhys Davies 3 under, Lloyd Saltman at 1 under and Jonny Caldwell at 1 under.

*The last time the USA won all four foursomes was 1997 when the it won 18-6 over a outmatched GB&I team. That team included many players that had significant promise, Brad Edler, Jason Gore, Joel Kribel, Randy Leen and Steve Scott, but only Gore has had a successful professional career. One other player on that team was USA Captain Buddy Marucci, who teamed with Jerry Courville to win their foursomes match 5 and 4 over Justin Rose and Michael Brooks. Marucci won three points that week, including a singles win over David Park and another foursomes win with Courville.

*GB&I captain Colin Dalgleish was stunned but hopeful after his team went four points down after the morning foursomes.  A player in 1981 at Cypress Point, when the USA won 15-9, Dalgleish was hoping for a Sunday singles finish like at Narin (1999), when GB&I won seven of the eight singles matches to win 15-9. 

“I can’t understand how we are in the position we are in,” Dalgleish said after the Sunday morning foursomes. “There’s no doubt these guys can do it. It’s been done before. At Narin we came back. So it can be done, we need to need some early momentum.”

*Length was not an issue for the USA this week at Royal County Down Golf Club.  At 7,181 yards, Royal County Down was the longest course in Walker Cup history. The course that it supplanted was the Portmarnock G.C. outside of Dublin, Ireland, which played to 7,133 yards. The USA has won on the two longest courses in Walker Cup history.

*In the morning foursomes the USA got to the 16th tee leading in all four matches and lost only one hole in sweeping them.