Less than 36 hours after Alex Fitzpatrick struck the opening tee shot on Saturday morning, the winning team will lift the Walker Cup Trophy on Sunday evening. What transpires in between are some of the most frenetic, action-packed and emotion-filled moments in golf.
The United States leads Great Britain & Ireland, 7 to 5, in a tightly contested opening day where half of the 12 matches, including all four foursomes matches, went to the 18th hole.
Seminole Golf Club, which absorbed more than 2 inches of rain on Thursday, is now playing firm and fast, with winds expected to gust past 20 miles per hour on Sunday. Fans can enjoy six hours of live coverage on Golf Channel and Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, with four foursomes (alternate-shot) matches in the morning and 10 singles matches in the afternoon.
With GB&I needing 13½ total points to win the Cup, and USA needing 13 points to retain it, here are three things to know heading into Day 2 of the 48th Walker Cup Match.
Anatomy of a Comeback
It has been two decades since the GB&I Team has won on U.S. soil. To enjoy that long-awaited victory, they will need to earn 8½ points and win the Sunday session – something they have only done once (2015) in the last 18 years.
To do that, their top-ranked player, World No. 12 Alex Fitzpatrick, will need to play better. After winning his first two Walker Cup matches in 2019, he has now lost four in a row, including two on Saturday. Fitzpatrick was the only GB&I player to play both matches on Saturday while failing to earn a point. He will have to summon his best on Sunday for GB&I to have a chance.
Chasing Perfection
Three players, Ricky Castillo and Cole Hammer of the USA and Mark Power of GB&I, won two points on Saturday. Hammer trailed on just one of the 35 holes he played, while Power (3 down) and Castillo (2 down) both rallied in their respective foursomes matches.
They will look to join 17 players who have perfect 4-0-0 records in a single Walker Cup Match. Pulling off that feat is rare: only six players have accomplished that this century, including Rickie Fowler (2009) and Collin Morikawa (2017) of the USA and Jimmy Mullen (2015) of GB&I.
Gut Check
With 15 players and both captains having to go to the hospital this week because of a stomach virus, this Walker Cup has been a test of perseverance. While most of the players are getting healthier, it remains to be seen how they will hold up on Sunday with many of them needing to play two 18-hole matches under the hot Florida sun.
“We were kind of dropping like dominos there for a second and no one knew who was going to be next,” said Hammer. “We rallied around each other and told ourselves that we were going to do our best to get it done.”
U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci (USA) and Amateur champion Joe Long (GB&I) sat out both sessions on Saturday. They were both scheduled to play in the afternoon but were late scratches with Strafaci feeling so poorly he was taken to the hospital.
“It was tough, I wanted to go out and compete,” said Strafaci. “It's what I've been preparing my whole life for. Physically I just couldn't have walked 18 holes today. I was just really out of it, and three IVs in, I feel much better now, so I'm ready for tomorrow.”
Mike Trostel is the USGA's executive producer of content. Email him at mtrostel@usga.org.
