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By Dave Shedloski
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| For a long while Saturday, it looked bleak for Tommy Fleetwood and his GB&I teammates. (John Mummert/USGA) |
Ardmore, Pa. – The late rally that Great Britain & Ireland staged in singles competition Saturday afternoon at Merion Golf Club was a great comfort to the visiting team in the 42nd Walker Cup.
But it might prove to be a benefit to the host Americans.
Team USA closed the first day of the biennial competition with a commanding 8-4 lead and needs only five of the available 14 points Sunday to win for the third straight time. The USA squad is confident, but captain George “Buddy” Marucci surmises that his charges won’t be overconfident on the final day.
“I think what happened this afternoon will actually help us tomorrow, help us stay focused,” Marruci said.
What happened was that at one point the Americans were leading or tied in each of the eight singles matches before the GB&I lads put on a charge that allowed them to salvage three points via four halves and the lone victory by Eamonn “Stiggy” Hodgson, who won twice on Saturday.
“We did manage to salvage some very good halves out of it. And I think at the end of the day, we will certainly take 8-4,” said GB&I Captain Colin Dalgleish. “The guys know that they are certainlythe match of the U.S. team, and although we were these points behind, the games were so incredibly close and there was a lot of great shots hit on both sides.
“We feel we are still very much in contention. There was awhile this afternoon that, as I say, things didn't look very good at all. The board was all red on one side and it wasn't looking good. But the guys fought back very well.”
While Marucci was proud of his team, he also deigned to give GB&I credit for showing its heart.
“I think it's wonderful the way GB&I was able to hang in there,” said Marucci, ever the sportsman. “But I also think it was wonderful the way we were able to jump off to such a great start. Our guys played brilliantly. … But I think that some of what they witnessed on the back nine where the scoreboard started to change, you know, things get a little tighter, we will certainly talk about that tonight.
“I don't think anybody on our team is overconfident,” he added. “I think they realize tomorrow is going to be a very difficult day. We will do everything we can tonight to kind of put this day in perspective. We are thrilled to have a four-point lead.… We are going to try to do the best we can to get those points, but no one on our side is expecting any gifts.”
Dalgleish said his team needs to do everything a little bit better if it is going to cut into the USA lead.
“I think all of the areas, driving a little bit better and making a few more putts of course,” he said. “Tomorrow we have got these extra two singles matches, so there are 14 points at stake tomorrow, which I would say helps when you're coming from 8-4 behind. I think we just have to be a little bit tighter in a few areas.”
The Sunday foursomes pairings reflect Dalgleish’s desire to perhaps get some early momentum, sending out Gavin Dear with Matt Haines in the first match at 7:30 a.m. EDT. Hodgson and Niall Kearney, the only winning pair for GB&I on Saturday in the anchor match, have been moved up to the second slot.
There they will face the imposing pair of Rickie Fowler and Bud Cauley, who won their Saturday foursomes match, 6 and 5. Fowler evidently didn’t feel much like playing on the first day as he followed up by blitzing Sam Hutsby in singles, 7 and 6.
“That’s why I sent him out there early,” said Marucci when asked about Fowler’s strong performance. “Rickie has been an incredible teammate to everybody on this team.”
Marucci also kept intact the pairing of Peter Uihlein and Nathan Smith that won 1 up Saturday. They go off Sunday in the anchor match against Chris Paisley and Dale Whitnell.
“You'll see pretty similar to what you saw this morning, but we are going to mix up a few because the team has decided that they do want to give everybody a three-round opportunity,” Marucci said. “A couple of the foursome matches will be adjusted a little bit, but you'll see pretty much the same lineup we had today. We'll go at it pretty much in the same order. We'll put our fast guys out there first and let them go, and then we'll just see what happens.”
“We have 20 awesome players here, so I would not say we have much advantage on the golf course,” Fowler added. “Being that we are in the States, we have our fans here, I would say that's more of our advantage, more of our home turf, our home field.”
Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on USGA championship sites.
