Team USA climbs to within 1 point of GB&I’s lead

The Americans had a daunting task ahead of them on Saturday night.

With a three-point deficit at the start of day two (7.5 to 4.5 against Team Great Britain and Ireland), the USA team would have to launch an epic attack if they were to have any hope of winning the Walker Cup title on Sunday afternoon . Team USA have won the last three editions of the Walker Cup, while GB&I’s most recent win came at the 2015 edition at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

With 14 points up for grabs on Sunday (4 points in the morning four-man competition and 10 points in the afternoon singles competition), the US team would need to earn 8.5 of those points to reach 13, the total points required to to keep the trophy. Team Great Britain and Ireland need 6 points to reach 13.5 and reclaim the trophy.

After suffering a 3-1 defeat in the foursome yesterday morning, the Americans knew they couldn’t do it again if they wanted a chance in the singles. And the team collected enormously. Battling strong gusts of wind on the Old Course at St. Andrews, the Americans won the morning foursome 3-1, taking the score to 8.5 to 7.5.

Americans Caleb Surratt and Ben James won 2-1 against John Gough and Matthew McClean, Americans Nick Dunlap and Gordon Sargent won 1-1 against Connor Graham and Calum Scott, Americans Preston Summerhays and Nick Gabrelcik won 2-1 against James Ashfield and Alex Maguire and the Americans Dylan Menante and Austin Greaser lost 4&3 to Liam Nolan and Mark Power.

With just one point between the teams there is an added element of excitement at St Andrews for the afternoon. In the final of the Walker Cup, all members of both teams compete against each other in 10 individual games. You can catch the action on Golf Channel starting at 8 a.m. ET. Check out the singles matches below.

Day Two Singles (Americans Right)

Calum Scott vs. Caleb Surratt
Barclay Brown vs. Nick Dunlap
Connor Graham vs. Stewart Hagestad
John Gough vs. Gordon Sargent
James Ashfield vs. Preston Summerhays
Matthew McClean vs. Dylan Menante
Jack Bigham vs Nick Gabrelcik
Mark Power vs Ben James
Liam Nolan versus Austin Greaser
Alex Maguire vs David Ford

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year-old member of Columbia’s premier class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can birdie anyone on the masthead. She can also outperform in the office, where she is primarily responsible for producing print and online features and overseeing large special projects, such as the first style issue of GOLF, which came out in February 2018. Her original interview series, A ‘Round With’, was released in November 2015 and appeared in both magazine and video form on GOLF.com.