Gordon Sargent lived up to his status as the No. 1 amateur in the world by winning all four of his matches at St. Andrews as the United States rallied to win the Walker Cup on Sunday for the fourth straight time.
Great Britain & Ireland had a three-point lead going into the final two sessions on the Old Course but the Americans won three of the four morning foursomes, and triumphed in six of the 10 singles matches to win 14½-11½ overall.
Sargent, who won the NCAA title as a freshman, went 4-0 for the week as the US won four of the last five singles ties with Preston Summerhays, Stewart Hagestad and Caleb Surratt also all successful to complete an impressive comeback in which they outscored GB&I 10-4 over two Sunday sessions.
“They played hard to the bitter end,” U.S. captain Mike McCoy said. “This one is going to be a great ride home. It’s pretty special, it’s certainly the pinnacle of my golfing life. After the morning session I felt a lot better, like we were really back in the tournament and had a chance to win this thing.
“Last night I was pretty concerned as the mornings are historically not our strong suit, but the guys played great and I think the morning was what made the day.”
U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap picked up a vital half-point despite being three down with four to play against Barclay Brown before he won the next two holes and then halved the match with a birdie on the 18th in the singles.
Sargent and John Gough of England were all square going to the 17th when Gough sent his drive too far right and out-of-bounds. That gave Sargent a one-up lead before he then drove the 18th green with a three-wood and Gough conceded the match as Sargent’s eagle putt trickled to a stop by the hole.
The final blow was Dylan Menante’s halve with Matthew McClean to give USA 12 ½ points with two other matches dormie on the course, assuring them enough to win the cup that dates back 100 years to 1922.
USA leave St Andrews with the Walker Cup
(Image credit: Getty Images)
GB&I captain Stuart Wilson reflected: “We’re obviously disappointed. We had a nice lead this morning that we kind of let slide quite a bit in the foursomes, but I think where the guys…
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