Americans hold slender Cup lead

Great Britain & Ireland found themselves just behind their American counterparts after the opening foursomes session of the 40th Walker Cup at the Chicago Golf Club.

Garth McGimpsey’s side, aiming for an historic fourth-successive win in the biennial contest, are 2 1/2 – 1 1/2 behind going into the afternoon’s eight singles encounters.

Welsh duo Nigel Edwards and Rhys Davies were left kicking themselves as they surrendered a commanding three-hole lead in the day’s opening tie against Anthony Kim and Brian Harman and were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.

Edwards, making his third Walker Cup appearance, and former British boys’ champion Davies had forged into their three-hole advantage after 10 but Kim and Harman hauled themselves back into contention with successive birdies at 11 and 12 before restoring parity with another birdie at the long 16th.

The GB&I pair had a chance to pinch the match on the 18th after Harman’s approach trundled through the back of the green.

But after Kim recovered superbly with a delicate pitch to within three feet, Edwards’ birdie attempt from 20 feet for the match came up short and the match was halved.

The English pairing of Gary Lockerbie and Robert Dinwiddie went down to a one-hole defeat against Matthew Every and Lee Williams, the only player in the US ranks with any past Walker Cup experience.

Lockerbie, the Lytham Trophy winner, and Scottish and Welsh Open strokeplay champion Dinwiddie fell behind to a birdie at the first hole and never managed to claw thmeselves level in a nip-and-tuck encounter that also went the full distance.

Matthew Richardson, the European champion, and Essex 16-year-old Oliver Fisher, the youngest-ever Walker Cup competitor, were two-under the card in their match against US duo Jeff Overton and Michael Putnam but the English pair still went down by a 2 & 1 margin.

In a high-quality contest, the match was evenly poised through 12 holes but Overton and Putnam produced a significant late thrust, rolling in consecutive birdies at 13, 14, 15 and 16 to ease to a narrow victory.

The Scottish pairing of Lloyd Saltman and Richie Ramsay, the GB&I anchormen, kept the visitors within touching distance of their hosts however thanks to a convincing 4 & 3 win over Kyle Reifers and Billy Hurley.

Saltman, the Open Championship silver medal winner, and Irish Open strokeplay champion Ramsay made a flying start as Reifer and Hurley slumped to consecutive three-putt bogeys on the opening two holes to gift the Scots duo an early lead.

Ramsay rolled in an 18-footer for birdie at the short third and Saltman holed a 20-foot birdie putt at the fifth as they cruised into a four-hole lead at the turn, an advantage the US pairing never looked like threatening.