GB&I Wins Walker Cup 13½-12½, Ends US Streak — SkimNews
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- Great Britain & Ireland won the Walker Cup 13½-12½ against the United States at Lahinch, Ireland — their first victory in the biennial amateur match since 2015 and a denial of what would have been a sixth straight American win.
- Josh Hill clinched the cup on the 18th hole, blasting a long bunker shot to 3 feet and holing the birdie putt after Tyler Watts missed an 18-footer in their all-square match.
- Connor Graham birdied the final two holes to halve his match against 17-year-old Miles Russell, keeping GB&I alive after trailing by 2 with two holes to play.
- Team USA swept the four morning foursomes in fierce wind to build a 3-point lead, but GB&I won the first four singles matches to seize control heading down the stretch.
- The Americans entered loaded with seven of the top 10 players in the world amateur ranking and needed only 3½ of the 10 available singles points to retain the cup.
- U.S. Amateur champion Jack Whaley routed William Jennings 8 and 7 in singles for the USA, while Eliot Baker won the par-5 18th against veteran Stewart Hagestad to atone for a singles loss at Cypress Point a year ago.
- The United States still leads the overall series 40-10-1, and the 2028 Walker Cup moves to Bandon Dunes in Oregon — where GB&I has not won on American soil since 2001 at Ocean Forest.
Why it matters: GB&I's win snaps a five-year American streak despite the U.S. fielding seven of the world's top 10 amateurs — a reminder that team match play rewards singles resilience and home-course edge over individual ranking depth. With the 2028 cup shifting to Bandon Dunes, GB&I now faces the rare test of trying to retain the trophy on U.S. soil for the first time since 2001.
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