USA wins The Walker Cup

The USA team won its fourth consecutive Walker Cup against Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I) by a score of 14½-11½ at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. The Walker Cup is the most prestigious team prize in amateur golf, and the 49th edition of the biennial event did not disappoint players and fans alike.

The USA team entered the final day, in windy conditions, with a 7½-4½ deficit but staged a remarkable comeback by winning three out of four points in the morning foursomes session. The Cup was to be decided by the 10 afternoon singles matches, which the USA team swept 6-2-2. The USA’s dominance in singles matches mirrored similar performances by the USA’s professional counterparts in recent Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup events.

The star of the USA team was Gordon Sargent, a 21-year-old junior at Vanderbilt University, who became the seventh USA player to record four wins (4-0) in a single Walker Cup this century. He defeated John Gough of GB&I, 2 up, in his final singles match. Sargent, who won the NCAA title as a freshman, also partnered with Nick Dunlap, the U.S. Amateur champion, to win both of their foursomes matches. Sargant will certainly be one to watch as he heads towards a professional career.

The USA captain Mike McCoy praised his team for their resilience and spirit. He said: “They played hard to the bitter end. This one is going to be a great ride home.” The GB&I captain Stuart Wilson congratulated the USA team and expressed his pride in his own players, saying: “All the momentum seemed to be on the U.S. side today. Their players handled the conditions better than our guys.”

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Aberg’s stock rises

If you are buying golfer stocks, get on board the Aberg train as it’s gaining steam, quick! Ludvig Aberg, the 21-year-old Swede, claimed his first DP World Tour title in just his sixth start as a professional at the European Masters in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. He shot a brilliant final-round 64 to finish at 23-under-par, two strokes ahead of his compatriot Alexander Bjork.

Aberg, who just turned pro in June this year (after winning the NCAA title as a freshman at Texas Tech University), showed his talent and nerve by making four birdies in his last five holes, including a clutch putt on the 18th green to seal the victory. He became the youngest winner of the European Masters and the third Swedish champion after Alex Noren (2009) and Mathias Gronberg (1995).

Aberg has put himself in strong contention for a Ryder Cup spot. He moved up to 12th on the European Points list and 13th on the World Points list as Euro Team Captain Luke Donald is set to make his final selections over the next week. Aberg said he would be “over the moon” if he gets selected for the biennial event in Rome later this month and his prodigious length off the tee will be well suited to the Marco Simone course.

Ryder Cup Selections

Aberg’s European Masters win coincided with the drama of the Ryder Cup qualification, as Matt Fitzpatrick and Bobby MacIntyre secured their automatic places on Team Europe. Fitzpatrick, who led the European Masters by two shots after three rounds, faltered with three bogeys in his last four holes to end up three shots behind Aberg. MacIntyre, who needed to finish inside the top eight to guarantee his spot, scraped through by 0.2 points over Shane Lowry. The initial 6 auto-qualifiers for the Euro team were Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Bobby McIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton. That left 6 captain’s picks for Luke Donald to make, which went to Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose and Nicolai Hojgaard.

Across the pond, the USA team has also been finalised after Zach Johnson made his six captain’s picks on 29 August 2023. The six players who auto-qualified based on points were Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Max Homa, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler. That left ZJ to make his captain’s picks which were Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Burns and Morikawa are making their Ryder Cup debuts, while Fowler, Koepka, Spieth and Thomas have previous experience in the biennial event. Koepka is the only player from LIV Golf to make the team, but the majority of controversy was reserved for Justin Thomas’ selection - the out of sorts major winner was the subject of much hate on social media following his selection, with cries of “boys club” preferential treatment ringing loud and clear.

The Ryder Cup will be held at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome from 30 September 2023. If you want to get more familiar with the course, take a look at this deep dive from the boys at No Laying Up.

Quick Bites

Gary Woodland Brain Surgery - Former U.S Open champion Gary Woodland will have surgery next month to remove a brain lesion. The 39-year-old PGA Tour veteran announced his condition and his surgery date via Twitter (X). After initially trying to treat the condition with medication, further consultation with his doctors deemed the surgery necessary. He is said to be in good spirits and hopeful of a speedy recovery. We wish him all the best.

Cam Smith’s Aussie Summer - Cam Smith has confirmed he will be coming home for an Aussie Summer. In fact, he confirmed he might even be home earlier if the Broncos make the NRL Grand Final, saying that he is “99% sure” he will be headed to the big dance if Kevvie’s boys make it. Even if that doesn’t work out, Aussie golf fans will get to see Smithy tee it up at the Australian PGA Championship (23-26 November) and the Australian Open (30 November to 3 December).

Schedule for the Week

Your golfing schedule for the week, and how to watch is below:

• DPWT: Horizon Irish Open - The K Club (Kildare, Ireland), $6m purse, Thursday 7/9 to Sunday 10/9 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 10pm Thursday.

• Asian Tour: Shinhan Donghae Open - Ocean Course at Club72 (Korea), $1m purse, Thursday 7/9 to Sunday 10/9 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 2pm Thursday.

• LPGA: Queen City Championship - Kenwood Country Club (Cincinnati, OH), $2m purse, Friday 8/9 to Monday 11/9 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 6am Friday.

The Irish Open is certainly the pick of the events this week with a strong international field boasting Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Danny Willet, Billy Horschel and rising Aussie star Min Woo Lee (let him cook!!). If you are keen to see more Aussies in action, check out the Asian Tour event where 17 Australians will tee it up in Korea.

We’ll be back next week with our next issue, but we leave you with our “Shank of the Week” - a different type of “snap hook” on the Ladies European Tour.