Great Britain and Ireland regained the Walker Cup, ending an 11-year wait and producing the largest comeback in the match's history. At Lahinch in Ireland, GB&I recovered from a 4-0 morning deficit in the foursomes to overhaul the United States and claim the trophy by 13-and-a-half points to 12-and-a-half.
The United States had appeared to be in control after sweeping the morning foursomes and moving within three-and-a-half points of a sixth consecutive victory. The hosts reversed that momentum in the singles, claiming seven of the 10 available points and turning the contest in their favour.
Josh Hill supplied the decisive moment, beating world number two Tyler Watts on the final hole of the eighth singles pairing to spark jubilant celebrations. Stuart Grehan, who twice defeated world number one Preston Stout during the week including in Sunday's singles, described the triumph in emotional terms, saying, "I'm close to crying and I'm not an emotional person," and, "It's unbelievable, it's the best feeling I've ever had on a golf course by a long stretch."
Other contributors to the comeback included Luke Poulter, who beat Ethan Fang, and Jack Whaley and Tyler Weaver, who won their matches for the United States hosts. Whaley's victory over William Jennings came by 8 and 7, the largest margin ever recorded by a GB&I player in the Walker Cup. Eliot Baker sealed his match against Stewart Hagestad on the final hole, while Conor Graham won the last two holes to halve with Miles Russell.
Ryder Cowan and Josiah Gilbert later beat Ben Bolton and Sam Easterbrook in the ninth and 10th pairings, but the overall turnaround had already been completed before those results. Captain Dean Robertson, who guided GB&I to their 10th Walker Cup, said he was overwhelmed, "It's been very emotional and I could not be more proud," and recalled a private moment as Hill negotiated the closing hole: "I felt quite calm when Josh was hitting his putt and my thoughts were with my late dad," Scot Robertson added. He compared Hill's bunker recovery to Matthew Fitzpatrick's famous shot that helped Alex Fitzpatrick at the Zurich Classic in April.
The victory hands the Walker Cup back to Great Britain and Ireland on home soil and denies the United States a sixth straight title, after a Sunday that will be remembered for one of the sport's most dramatic reversals.
