View From The Fairway by Derek Clements
As the Ryder Cup looms and we get ready for what has become one of the biggest sporting events on the planet, the leading amateur golfers of Great Britain and Ireland will still be licking their wounds after yet another hammering on American soil in the Walker Cup.
The result should have surprised nobody. The American team contained the top six players in the amateur world rankings. In fact, the home team was so strong that the US Amateur champion was not even one of the automatic selections – he had to rely on a captain’s pick!
That golfer is Mason Howell, an 18-year-old who won the US Amateur Championship in August 2025, beating Jackson Herrington 7&6 in the 36-hole final and who recently shot a 59 at his home course, Glen Arven Country Club.
Being thrashed in the Walker Cup is nothing new for our players. This was a fifth successive defeat.
The 10 singles matches on the Sunday afternoon finished 8.5-1.5 in favour of the Americans. Dean Robertson’s team were not just beaten, they were hopelessly outclassed.
It all began in 1922. This was the 50th encounter. The USA have won 40 times, with GB&I triumphing just nine times, with one match tied.The tone was set early on, with the USA winning the first nine clashes.
There was a brief purple match, with GB&I winning in 1999, 2001 and 2003. They also won in 2011 and 2015.
But the worrying thing for anybody who cares about this contest is the margin of American victory in each of the past five contests. The American team have, quite simply, been in a different class.
We should be under no illusions. With the exception of Stewart Hagestad, who is a career amateur golfer, each and every single member of the American team is a professional in everything but name. The vast majority of them are going through the college system and spend their entire lives doing little other than hitting golf balls.
You only need to look at the way these young men swing a golf club to realise that you are looking at several stars of the future.
The visitors had high hopes of ending their run of four straight defeats as they went into the singles session trailing by just one point.
But Gavin Tiernan was the only GB&I player to put a point on the board, his 2&1 win over Michael La Sasso the only highlight for Robertson’s team.
The morning foursomes finished 2-2 as Luke Poulter, son of Ryder Cup legend Ian, partnered Charlie Forster to victory over Ethan Fang and Preston Stout, while Cameron Adam and Niall Shiels Donegan won the final match of the session.
Everything that followed was entirely predictable. It was a bit like watching a full-strength Liverpool team taking on Port Vale.
The women’s equivalent is the Curtis Cup and it is almost as one-sided, with the USA winning 31 times, GB&I winning nine and three ties. GB&I actually won last time out, beating the Yanks 10.5-9.5 in a thrilling contest at Sunningdale in 2024. This came on the back of three successive hidings.
And once again, US dominance should surprise nobody. Many members of the American Curtis Cup teams have gone on to achieve wonderful things in the paid ranks.
The Ryder Cup was revived with the inclusion of Continental Europe while the Solheim Cup sees the cream of European women’s golf tackle the United States. Every two years excitement builds to fever pitch ahead of these two contests.
Inevitably, there will be those who call for a revamp of the Walker Cup, who believe that the time has come for Great Britain and Ireland’s finest to be joined by the rest of Europe. I hope this never happens.
Why? The Ryder Cup was in danger of dying through apathy until Jack Nicklaus suggested expanding the GB&I team to include Europe. Every two years, the USA would give our boys a good thrashing. And nobody cared. Most American golfers were pretty reluctant to take part and there was little or no interest among fans.
That has all changed, but this is professional sport, an event that generates massive sums of money.
The Walker Cup and Curtis Cup are the purest forms of amateur golf, the way sport was meant to be played. So what if the Americans dominate it?
I can tell you for nothing that every golfer who teed it up at Cypress Point will have considered representing their country in front of TV cameras and sizeable galleries to be the highlight of their amateur careers.
Quite apart from anything else, an endowment scheme involving the USGA ensures the financial future of the event without the need for any changes or gimmicks. So just leave well alone please.
