Britain and Ireland take Walker Cup

The amateur Walker Cup is back alongside the Ryder Cup on this side of the Atlantic after a shock 14-12 victory for Britain and Ireland at Royal Aberdeen.

Britain and Ireland managed to win even though their star man Tom Lewis – he of the record 65 in The Open in July – lost both of his singles and only halved from four up with six to play in one of his foursomes.

Irishman Paul Cutler would have joined 17-year-old Welsh starlet Rhys Pugh with a 100% record if only he had not lost the final four holes for a half with Cantlay when overall success was already in the bag.

The United States had won the previous three matches and contained six of the world’s top 10 amateurs.

But they were behind from the time Lewis and Scot Michael Stewart won the opening game on Saturday morning.

Come the 10 concluding singles Britain and Ireland needed to win only three of them. Stewart beat Rodgers, Jack Senior halved with Nathan Smith and Pugh’s victory meant English champion Steven Brown’s half against Blayne Barber could get the celebrations going.