When the Americans left Lahinch on Saturday night, they had just watched three of their best players — Preston Stout, Miles Russell and Tyler Watts — lose their singles matches to give GB&I a 6.5-5.5 lead heading into Sunday at the Walker Cup.
The message in the American team room was simple: the deficit was small, but they needed to come out Sunday and leave no doubt in Sunday foursomes. If the results 12 hours later were any indication, that message was received.
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For the first time since 2007, the Americans swept Sunday foursomes, turning a one-point deficit into a three-point lead and putting them just 3.5 points away from their sixth consecutive Walker Cup win.
“We kind of talked about it last night, we need to come out here and sweep every match this morning,” Stout, the No. 1 amateur in the world, said after he and Ethan Fang beat Stuart Grehan and Eliot Baker 3&2 to start the session.
Stout had a tough Saturday at Lahinch. He missed a short putt on 18 to win his and Fang’s foursomes match and then suffered a crushing singles defeat to Grehan, who erased a two-hole deficit with three holes to play, rolling in a 15-foot birdie putt on 18 to steal a point from Stout.
But the top amateur in the world shook it off and set the tone for the Americans on Sunday. He and Fang led from the opening hole, and when Stout nearly jarred his tee shot on the drivable par-4 13th, it was clear that Sunday was going to be different for No. 1 am.
“That was a good shot, probably the best shot of the week,” Stout said with a smile after he and Fang closed out Grehan and Baker.
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Next, Jay Leng Jr. and Kihei Akina closed out Luke Poulter and Sam Easterbrook 4&3. As was the theme on Sunday morning, Leng and Akina never trailed, putting another point on the board to give the Americans the lead.
“I think we all had kind of the mindset that we wanted to come out and sweep the morning,” Akina said. “We definitely needed to come in with some momentum, and I think we got that going into the afternoon.”
Ryder Cowan and William Jennings then knocked off Josh Hil and Niall Shiels Donegan 4&3 before the young duo of Russell and Watts closed out the sessions with a 3&2 win over Tyler Weaver and Connor Graham to put the Americans on the cusp of victory.
When the dust had settled on Sunday morning’s thrashing, the Americans never trailed in any match behind a birdie barrage that GB&I had no answer for.
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The last time the Americans swept a Sunday foursomes session, their team was filled with names of future PGA Tour stars, including Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk and Colt Knost. But on that day at Royal County Down in Ireland, the Americans needed a furious rally from Horschel and Fowler to defeat Rory McIlroy and Jonathan Caldwell. Fowler and Horschel were four down with five to play but came all the way back to knock off McIlroy and Caldwell as the U.S. went on to win the Cup 12.5-11.5
While no such heroics were needed Sunday morning at Lahinch, the Americans are hoping for a similar outcome in the afternoon, although hopefully with a little more room for error than the 2007 team had after their history-making sweep.
“This is one of the greatest sporting events in the world, and we’re going to find out why this afternoon,” U.S. captain Nathan Smith said, via Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine.
Twelve hours ago, GB&I had all the momentum after Grehan took down Stout and Poulter beat Russell. The Americans turned the tables with a historic foursomes bludgeoning, and now GB&I will need to find a way to claw back momentum early and try to steal the cup from the Americans.
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“The morale is still good,” GB&I captain Dean Robertson said, via Romine. “We’ve got to give credit where credit is due; the U.S. team were outstanding this morning and played world-class golf. The margins are fine. This afternoon will be really difficult, and opportunities are going to present themselves and we just have to take those moments and get some momentum on the board.”
After Sunday morning’s beatdown that saw a loaded American team play at their best, that task for GB&I is a lot harder than it sounds.
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