GB&I Surges to Early Lead at Walker Cup with Dominant Foursomes Session
GB&I has jumped to a 3-1 lead after Saturday morning’s foursomes at the Walker Cup, riding a wave of momentum that Ian Poulter had emphasized in his Wednesday night team talk.
The visitors’ dynamic duo of Tyler Weaver and Connor Graham delivered the statement win of the session, taking down world No. 1 Jackson Koivun and Tommy Morrison in the leadoff match at Cypress Point. Weaver and Graham, whose average world ranking of 26 was significantly higher than the Americans’ 6.5, caught fire on the back nine with three consecutive birdies starting at the 13th hole. They finished with nine birdies total, closing out the match with another at the par-4 17th.
“We talked about it the other night with Luke’s dad, with Ian, and he talked about Medinah was almost gone,” GB&I captain Dean Robertson said. “But for the guys it’s all about keeping their feet where they are, being in the moment and not getting ahead of yourself.”
The Americans actually led at various points in three of the four matches, but GB&I’s momentum proved too strong. Charlie Forster and Luke Poulter defeated Stew Hagestad and Ben James, 3 and 2, while Eliot Baker chipped close at the par-4 18th to seal he and Stuart Grehan’s 1-up victory over Oklahoma State teammates Ethan Fang and Preston Stout.
The U.S. managed to salvage one point when Michael La Sasso and Jase Summy defeated Cameron Adam and Dom Clemons in 16 holes in the anchor match.
This marks just the third time in the 26-point era (since 2009) that GB&I has led 3-1 after the opening session. They won the Walker Cup on the previous two occasions – at Royal Aberdeen in 2011 and Royal Lytham in 2015. That said, GB&I also led 3-1 two years ago at St. Andrews before the Americans rallied to win.
The American team’s struggles in opening foursomes continue – they’ve won just one first foursomes session since 2009, despite claiming victory in eight of the last Walker Cups.
“They really came out extremely hot, and I think before you knew it, a lot of our matches, the first couple matches were 2 down through three holes, a lot of birdies,” U.S. captain Nathan Smith said. “They just played well. We felt good about our matchups, our teams. We’ll have to look at that for tomorrow morning, see if we switch anything up.”
Eight singles matches are scheduled for Saturday afternoon, including another showdown between Weaver and Koivun in the leadoff spot. Sunday will feature four more foursomes before concluding with a 10-match singles session.
GB&I has been in this position before – leading after Day 1 in two of the last three Walker Cups – but ultimately lost both times.
“It’s been a good morning,” Robertson said. “We’re under absolutely no illusions in the task at hand. The goal is 13.5, and we’ve now made three points, so we’ve got 10.5 to go now.”
