Manley, Edwards clinch Cup glory for home side

BRITAIN and Ireland’s amateurs snatched a brilliant third successive Walker Cup victory over the United States at Ganton yesterday.

Two points behind going into the concluding eight singles Welshmen Stuart Manley and Nigel Edwards completed a fantastic fightback by Garth McGimpsey's side, taking them to a nail-biting 12½-11½ victory.

They were the last two home players on the Yorkshire course and with the teams locked at 11-11 Manley beat one of America's stars Trip Kuehne three and two to ensure the cup was retained.

As he did that Edwards rolled in a dramatic 60-foot birdie putt on the 17th to draw level with Lee Williams and then made a rock-solid half on the last to make it a first-ever hat-trick of wins all of them after they had trailed at the halfway stage. "I don't know why we leave it so late," said McGimpsey. "I was a shattered man yesterday and not in my wildest dreams did I think we could pull it off. I put Nigel and Stuart out last, because we thought they were real streetfighters and they produced the goods."

Edwards, aged 35, finished unbeaten with two wins and two halves and to be Britain and Ireland's top scorer meant so much, because in the victory at Sea Island in Georgia two years ago he played just one game and lost it.

"I was down all the way and just kept digging in," said Edwards, who had Ryder Cup hero Phil Price as best man at his wedding and now has something very special in common.

Chairman of selectors Peter McEvoy, captain of the last two sides, commented: "It's not very often you have the chance to make some history in your life and this was the hardest of the lot."

Needing five points from the singles, Britain and Ireland were given a brilliant start from Oliver Wilson, Gary Wolstenholme and 19-year-old Michael Skelton.

British champion Wolstenholme was first over the line, his three and two victory over an increasingly ragged and angry Casey Wittenberg giving him the ninth Walker Cup win of his career, one more than previous Britain and Ireland record-holder Sir Michael Bonallack.

The 43-year-old might have to do a little bit more in his life for a knighthood, but on the course where he won the first of the British titles in 1991, he said: "This feels as good as anything I've ever done. Casey (25 years his junior) is a marvellous player, but he's still got a lot to learn."

In the top game Wilson produced a brilliant closing par four to beat Bill Haas, son of US Tour star Jay. In deep rough off the tee the Mansfield player smashed it over trees just short of the green, chipped to seven feet and made it for the half he required.

Middlesbrough teenager Skelton, the baby of the side, made it 10-9 with a three and two success over Adam Rubinson, making a whole sequence of crucial putts.

Scot Stuart Wilson was thrashed five and four by Matt Hendrix and Ireland's Colm Moriarty lost three and one to unbeaten Brock Mackenzie, but Wilson's compatriot David Inglis was a spectacular seven under par in beating Ryan Moore four and three.

Now it was all-square again with two games left and the Welsh dragon roared.

Earlier Wolstenholme, despite needing treatment for a neck strain, and Oliver Wilson had hammered top American pair Haas and Kuehne five and four, but Irish duo Noel Fox and Moriarty were trounced six and five by Mackenzie and Hendrix.

America still lead 31-7 in the series, with one tie, but Britain and Ireland have now seized victory in five of the last eight matches.