Team USA is looking to defend the Cup
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-By Alistair Tait
LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — Spider Miller has
decided to sit Bryson DeChambeau, the reigning
NCAA
and U.S. Amateur champion, from the opening
session
of the 45th Walker Cup.
DeChambeau, an SMU senior, will be
benched for
the opening foursomes along with mid-amateur
Scott
Harvey. The strong Scottish pairing of Grant
Forrest
and Ewen Ferguson will be out for the Great
Britain
& Ireland team.
DeChambeau and Harvey will play in the
afternoon singles, with Lee McCoy and Mike
McCoy
(unrelated) dropping to the bench. Likewise,
Forrest
and Ferguson will see singles action for the
home
team, replacing Cormac Sharvin and Jack
McDonald.
If any U.S. player was expected to play all
four
sessions of this Walker Cup, it was
DeChambeau.
After all, he’s one of only five men – Jack
Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ryan
Moore
being the others – to win the NCAA and U.S.
Amateur
championships in the same season.
Miller claims he has taken something of a
back
seat approach to his captaincy, letting the
players
have a greater say than perhaps previous
captains.
It will be interesting later to see whether
Miller
made this call, or perhaps DeChambeau
influenced the
decision.
Nigel Edwards, Great Britain & Ireland's
captain, won’t be quizzed on his opening lineup
to the same extent as Miller, but some will
wonder
why Edwards dropped Forrest and Ferguson.
They are
regular playing partners for Scotland, and played
a
vital role as a pair to help Scotland win this
year’s European Amateur Team
Championships.
DeChambeau is handed a modicum of
responsibility in the afternoon. He will lead the
U.S. in
the singles draw against strong Englishman
Chesters.
Saturday foursomes (U.S. team
first)
9 a.m. Maverick
McNealy and
Hunter Stewart vs. Ashley Chesters and Jimmy
Mullen
9:10 a.m. Beau Hossler
and
Denny McCarthy vs. Paul Dunne and Gary
Hurley
9:20 a.m. Jordan
Niebrugge
and Robby Shelton vs. Cormac Sharvin and Jack
McDonald
9:30 a.m. Lee McCoy
and
Mike McCoy vs. Jack Hume and Gavin
Moynihan
Saturday singles
1:45 p.m. Bryson
DeChambeau vs. Ashley Chesters
1:55 p.m. Hunter
Stewart vs.
Paul Dunne
2:05 p.m. Scott Harvey
vs.
Grant Forrest
2:15 p.m. Denny
McCarthy
vs. Jimmy Mullen
2:25 p.m. Maverick
McNealy
vs. Ewen Ferguson
2:35 p.m. Robby Shelton
vs.
Gary Hurley
2:45 p.m. Beau Hossler
vs.
Jack Hume
2:55 p.m. Jordan
Niebrugge
vs. Gavin Moynihan
View results for The Walker Cup
ABOUT THE The Walker Cup
The Walker Cup Match is a biennial 10-man
amateur
team competition between the USA and a team
composed of players from Great Britain and
Ireland
and selected by The R&A. It is played over two
days
with 18 singles matches and eight foursomes
(alternate-shot) matches.
The first United States Walker Cup Team, which
in
1922 defeated the GB&I side, 8-4, at the
National Golf
Links of America, is considered among the best
teams
ever and included Francis Ouimet, Bob Jones,
Charles
“Chick” Evans and Jess Sweetser. Many of the
game’s
greatest players have taken part in Walker Cup
competition, including U.S. Open champions
Jack
Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth for
the
USA
and Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Justin
Rose
for Great Britain and Ireland.
View Complete Tournament Information