PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. \u2013 Perhaps it was apropos that the fog rolled into the Monterey Peninsula late Sunday afternoon. As the sun-splashed day morphed into a grey mist, the USA Walker Cup Team broke open what was a tight contest at Cypress Point to leave the visiting Great Britain and Ireland side in a fog, rolling to a 17-9 victory in the 50th edition of the biennial competition.<\/p>\n
Dominating the singles portion for a second consecutive day, the USA produced 8.5 of the available 10 points after the two teams split the morning foursomes session (2-2) and trailed by a point going into the lunch break. Since 2009, when the Match expanded to 10 Sunday singles matches, it was the largest margin of victory in a final session (8-1-1), surpassing the two 8-2 marks in 2017 and ’19.<\/p>\n
The USA, which won 5.5 of the eight available singles points on Saturday, has now won five consecutive Walker Cups since its defeat at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2015, and owns a 40-9-1 overall mark.<\/p>\n
GB&I has only won twice on American soil, in 1989 and 2001, both coincidentally contested in the state of Georgia.<\/p>\n
“I’m just blown away,” said USA captain Nathan Smith. “They showed up all weekend, in both singles matches in the afternoon, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Walker Cup team bring it like they did this afternoon in singles.”<\/p>\n
Auburn University junior Jackson Koivun, the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking\u00ae\/WAGR\u00ae, and 18-year-old Mason Howell, whose victory in last month’s U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club earned the Georgia high school senior a spot on the 10-man team, were the two American stars.<\/p>\n
Koivun, who won both of his singles encounters against Florida State standout Tyler Weaver, GB&I’s highest-ranked player at No. 10 in the WAGR, posted a 3-1 mark, while Howell went 2-0-1 to join Jordan Spieth (2011) as the youngest players with the best overall record in USA Walker Cup history. But unlike Spieth, a future three-time major champion, Howell’s team hoisted the Cup at the Match’s conclusion. Koivun defeated Weaver, 3 and 2, and Howell, after producing two heroic shots during the morning foursomes session, tied fellow 18-year-old Connor Graham, a sophomore at Texas Tech who became the youngest player in Walker Cup history two years ago at St. Andrews.<\/p>\n
Three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad, a broker for BDT & MSD Partners competing in his fifth Walker Cup, secured the 13th point to guarantee the Americans retained the Cup with his 4-and-3 victory over Eliot Baker, holing a 20-foot birdie putt on the 15th green to close it out and make him 7-1 overall in singles play. All five of the USA Teams that Hagestad has played on have claimed the Cup.<\/p>\n
Shortly thereafter, Preston Stout, who led Oklahoma State to the NCAA title this past spring, handed Luke Poulter a 2-and-1 defeat to give the USA its 14th point and ensure there would be no tie.<\/p>\n
Tommy Morrison, Ethan Fang, Ben James, Jase Summy<\/a> and Jacob Modleski added singles victories. Gavin Tiernan, of the Republic of Ireland, who was the lowest-ranked player in the Match at No. 465, had the lone singles victory for GB&I. The runner-up to Fang in this year’s Amateur Championship at Royal St. George’s, in England, defeated Michael La Sasso, 2 and 1.<\/p>\n Morrison, a University of Texas All-American, defeated Niall Shiels Donegan, a Scotland native who has spent the past 17 years living in Mill Valley, Calif., 3 and 2. Fang had the session’s largest victory, a 5-and-4 decision over Stuart Grehan, a 32-year-old reinstated amateur from Ireland. James, a University of Virginia senior who along with Hagestad was a member of the victorious 2023 USA Team, edged Charlie Forster, 1 up.<\/p>\n Reigning Western Amateur champion Summy, a University of Oklahoma standout who matched Koivun with a 3-1 overall mark, defeated left-hander Cameron Adam, 3 and 1, and Modleski, the first golfer from the University of Notre Dame to compete in the Walker Cup, took the anchor match, 1 up, over Dominic Clemons.<\/p>\n “We came here with a focus to raise our standard, to emulate what’s only been done twice in 100 years, which is to beat the U.S. [on the road],” said GB&I captain Dean Robertson. “But Nathan’s team, big congratulations to them. They’ve played fantastic.<\/p>\n “We were in it. We fought hard. Our foursomes performances were exceptional. But for a few putts, I think the big difference for us is we need to be better putters.”<\/p>\n GB&I had high hopes going into the lunch break after gaining a split out of the morning foursomes contests, thanks to an amazing comeback in Match 2.<\/p>\n Four down with eight to play, Poulter and Forster won five of the next six holes to completely flip their match against Oklahoma State teammates Fang and Stout to register a remarkable 1-up victory. That offset a rough finish by GB&I’s Graham and Weaver, who saw a 1-up lead against Koivun and Morrison evaporate with two costly bogeys on 17 and 18 in a 1-up loss.<\/p>\n The shot of the day came from Howell, who holed out a pitching wedge from 147 yards on No. 17 for a walk-off eagle 2 and a 3-and-1 victory with partner Modleski over Baker and Grehan. It came two holes after he rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-3 15th hole.<\/p>\n Adam and Shiels Donegan produced the other GB&I foursomes win, a 2-and-1 decision over La Sasso and Summy.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the latest on Oklahoma men’s golf, follow the Sooners on\u00a0Twitter (@OU_MGolf)<\/a>\u00a0and like\u00a0Oklahoma Men’s Golf on Facebook<\/a>. To support the program, consider joining the\u00a0Chip In Club<\/a>, a group committed to elevating Sooner golf.