Live updates
1 update · newest first- UpdateSep 4, 12:21 AM UTC
Making a loop around Lahinch 🇮🇪
🔴 LIVE — Lahinch, County Clare. The 51st Walker Cup is here. We'll update this hub all weekend with tee times, scores and the story as it unfolds. Below: Saturday's opening foursomes draw, how to watch, the full rosters, the course and the history. Let's play.
Saturday morning foursomes draw
Captains Nathan Smith (USA) and Dean Robertson (GB&I) have set their opening alternate-shot lineups — and it's a heavyweight start: the world's No. 1 amateur out first. Here's the Day 1 morning draw (times local Irish / ET in parentheses), per The R&A:
Match 1 — 8:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. ET): Stuart Grehan & Eliot Baker (GB&I) vs. Preston Stout & Ethan Fang (USA)
Match 2 — 8:40 a.m. (3:40 a.m. ET): Connor Graham & Tyler Weaver (GB&I) vs. Jay Leng Jr. & Kihei Akina (USA)
Match 3 — 8:50 a.m. (3:50 a.m. ET): Luke Poulter & Sam Easterbrook (GB&I) vs. Miles Russell & Tyler Watts (USA)
Match 4 — 9:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. ET): Niall Sheils Donegan & Josh Hill (GB&I) vs. Josiah Gilbert & Ryder Cowan (USA)
The tone-setter is a beauty: Grehan and Baker — reunited from Cypress Point, with Grehan the local hero who has won at Lahinch before — draw world No. 1 Preston Stout alongside 2025 Amateur champion Ethan Fang. Behind them, GB&I sends out another returning pairing in Graham and Weaver (the home side's top-ranked player) against U.S. Amateur finalist Jay Leng Jr. and freshman-of-the-year Kihei Akina. Afternoon singles (eight matches) begin at 2 p.m. local. We'll post the afternoon draw and running scores as they land.
The essentials at a glance
Event: The 51st Walker Cup Match (USA vs. Great Britain & Ireland — England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales)
Dates: Saturday, September 5 & Sunday, September 6, 2026 (Opening Ceremony Friday, Sept. 4)
Venue: Lahinch Golf Club, County Clare, Ireland — hosting for the first time
Course: Par 72 (36-36), set up at 6,914 yards
Format: Two days of match play — 8 foursomes (alternate shot) and 18 singles, 26 points total
To win: USA needs 13 points to retain the Cup; GB&I needs 13½ to reclaim it
TV: Golf Channel — at least 18 hours of live coverage (full times below)
Captains: Nathan Smith (USA) and Dean Robertson (GB&I)
All-time series: USA leads 40-9-1 and has held the Cup since 2017
How to watch the 2026 Walker Cup
Good news for the golf insomniacs: the broadcast is locked in. Golf Channel will carry at least 18 hours of live coverage across the two days. Here's the U.S. schedule (all times Eastern):
Saturday, Sept. 5: 3:30–8 a.m. ET (foursomes) · 9 a.m.–2 p.m. ET (singles)
Sunday, Sept. 6: 3–7:30 a.m. ET (foursomes) · 8:30 a.m.–2 p.m. ET (singles)
Yes, those are the numbers you think they are. When the morning foursomes go off in Ireland, it'll be the small hours on the U.S. East Coast and the middle of the night out West. Set an alarm, make the coffee strong, and treat it like a major championship that happens to start before sunrise. UK and Ireland viewers can typically find coverage on Sky Sports.
If you'd rather follow it live in Irish time, here's the order of play (local):
Friday, Sept. 4: 5 p.m. — Opening Ceremony
Saturday, Sept. 5: 8:30 a.m. — foursomes (4 matches); 2 p.m. — singles (8 matches)
Sunday, Sept. 6: 8 a.m. — foursomes (4 matches); 1:30 p.m. — singles (10 matches); 6 p.m. — Closing Ceremony
The course: welcome to Lahinch
They call it the "St Andrews of Ireland," and Lahinch has the eccentric, century-old soul to back it up. Tucked into the dunes of County Clare, this Old Tom Morris and Alister MacKenzie classic will play to a par of 72 over 6,914 yards — proof that on a proper links, raw length matters far less than nerve, imagination and the ability to control a golf ball in the wind coming off the Atlantic.
Yardage will shift session to session with the setup and conditions, but the bones are a par-36 front (3,311 yards) and par-36 back (3,603). Expect blind shots, humpback fairways, and greens that reward the player who can bounce the ball in as readily as fly it. GB&I's lone Irishman, Stuart Grehan, knows the ground better than anyone in the field — he won the South of Ireland Championship right here at Lahinch in 2015. That kind of local knowledge is exactly the sort of edge a home team dreams about.
Meet the 2026 USA team
Captain Nathan Smith is bringing a juggernaut to Ireland. Nine of the top 10 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking are in the field — and seven of them are Americans, led by world No. 1 and Mark H. McCormack Medal winner Preston Stout. It is, on paper, exactly the kind of roster that has made the U.S. so hard to beat.
Behind Stout sits a wave of ranked firepower: world No. 2 Tyler Watts, an 18-year-old Tennessee signee who became the youngest Northeast Amateur champion in history; No. 4 William Jennings; and No. 5 Miles Russell, the 17-year-old lefty who is the youngest player in the entire match. The steadying veteran presence is Stewart Hagestad, making a sixth Walker Cup appearance with a glittering 7-1 singles record and a perfect 5-for-5 in team results.
The complete USA roster (with world ranking)
Preston Stout (No. 1) — reigning McCormack Medalist and NCAA individual champion (Oklahoma State)
Tyler Watts (No. 2) — 18; youngest-ever Northeast Amateur winner and 2024 U.S. Junior runner-up
William Jennings (No. 4) — 2026 NCAA stroke-play runner-up (Alabama)
Miles Russell (No. 5) — 17; youngest player in the match, U.S. Junior runner-up, PGA Tour experience
Ryder Cowan (No. 6) — low amateur at the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills (Oklahoma)
Josiah Gilbert (No. 7) — two-time NCAA champion at Auburn
Ethan Fang (No. 9) — 2025 Amateur champion; Cypress Point returnee (Oklahoma State)
Kihei Akina (No. 11) — Phil Mickelson Award winner as the nation's top freshman (BYU)
Jay Leng Jr. (No. 12) — 2026 Western Amateur champion and U.S. Amateur runner-up (Stanford)
Stewart Hagestad (No. 25) — sixth appearance, 7-1 in singles, three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champ
First alternate: Max Herendeen. Second alternate: Logan Reilly.
A fun wrinkle: Ethan Fang isn't just a returnee — he's the reigning Amateur Championship winner, having become the first American in 18 years to lift that trophy at Royal St. George's in 2025. And Watts, Russell and GB&I's Tyler Weaver and Jack Whaley all share Florida State ties, setting up some genuinely awkward "see you at practice" matchups.
Full details: Final six selections complete the 2026 USA Walker Cup team · Stout, Watts, Fang & Russell named as the first four
Meet the 2026 GB&I team
Dean Robertson — who once beat U.S. amateur legend Jay Sigel in singles as a 1993 Walker Cup player, and who guided GB&I past the Continent of Europe in the 2024 St Andrews Trophy — captains the home side for a third time. His roster blends scar tissue from Cypress Point (six players return) with a burst of debutant firepower, and it is anything but short on credentials.
The headliner is Jack Whaley, who became just the third Englishman ever to win the U.S. Amateur — after Harold Hilton and Matt Fitzpatrick — when he beat Jay Leng Jr. 4&3 at Merion. Add reigning Amateur champion Stuart Grehan, the Lahinch specialist, and world No. 3 Tyler Weaver, the highest-ranked player on the team, and GB&I has real teeth. Connor Graham, still just 19, is already making his third straight appearance after debuting as the youngest Walker Cup player ever at 16.
The complete GB&I roster (with world ranking)
Tyler Weaver (No. 3) — First Team All-American at Florida State; team's top-ranked player
Luke Poulter (No. 8) — Florida standout and son of Ryder Cupper Ian Poulter
Niall Sheils Donegan (No. 18) — 2025 U.S. Amateur semifinalist (North Carolina)
Eliot Baker (No. 18) — 2026 European Nations Cup individual champion (England)
Connor Graham (No. 26) — third straight appearance; once the youngest player in Walker Cup history (Scotland)
Stuart Grehan (No. 28) — 2026 Amateur champion; won the South of Ireland at Lahinch in 2015 (Ireland)
Jack Whaley (No. 45) — reigning U.S. Amateur champion; debutant (England)
Sam Easterbrook (No. 76) — debutant; first Purdue Boilermaker selected in 43 years (England)
Ben Bolton (No. 86) — debutant; top-three at the Lytham Trophy (England)
Josh Hill (No. 93) — debutant; at 15 was the youngest to win an OWGR-ranked pro event (England)
Reserves: Thomas Higgins and David Howard, both of Ireland.
Full details: Great Britain and Ireland team announced for the 51st Walker Cup at Lahinch
The captains
Nathan Smith (USA), 48, of Pittsburgh, is back after leading the U.S. to victory at Cypress Point. One of the great mid-amateurs of his era, Smith played on three Walker Cup teams (2009, 2011, 2013) and owns a record four U.S. Mid-Amateur titles among his five USGA championships. In 2004 he played his first of four Masters — paired, fittingly, with Arnold Palmer in Palmer's final Masters.
Dean Robertson (GB&I), 56, of Scotland, captains for a third time. A former DP World Tour winner (1999 Italian Open) who now serves as high-performance golf coach at the University of Stirling, Robertson has the one line of Walker Cup résumé every captain wants: as a player in 1993, he took down American icon Jay Sigel in singles.
Last year: the fog rolled in, and so did the USA
To understand the stakes at Lahinch, rewind 12 months to Cypress Point — one of the most private and beautiful stages in all of golf. The Americans didn't just win the 50th Walker Cup; they buried it. Final score: USA 17, GB&I 9.
The U.S. carried a slim 6½-5½ edge into Sunday, split the morning foursomes 2-2, and then, as fog draped the Monterey Peninsula, tore through the final singles session 8-1-1 — its best closing margin since the format expanded in 2009 to send all 10 players out on Sunday. Jackson Koivun went 3-1 and beat Tyler Weaver twice; Jase Summy also finished 3-1; and 17-year-old Mason Howell matched Jordan Spieth as one of the youngest to post a 2-0-1 mark, capping it with a walk-off eagle from 147 yards alongside Jacob Modleski. Fittingly, Hagestad closed out Eliot Baker 4&3 to run his singles record to 7-1. Of that group, three men are back for more in Ireland: Fang, Hagestad and Stout — and six GB&I players who lived through that Sunday would love nothing better than to repay it on home turf.
Relive it: FINAL RESULTS: USA wins the 2025 Walker Cup at Cypress Point
How the Walker Cup actually works
If you're new to the format, it's simple and gloriously old-fashioned. Two teams of 10 amateurs. Two days. Every match is worth exactly one point — win it and you get a full point, halve it and each side takes a half.
Saturday: four foursomes in the morning, eight singles in the afternoon
Sunday: four foursomes in the morning, 10 singles in the afternoon, then the Closing Ceremony
That's 26 points up for grabs. Because the U.S. holds the Cup, a 13-13 tie means the Americans keep it — so GB&I must reach 13½ to pry it loose. Foursomes (alternate shot) is the great equalizer: it rewards partnerships, nerve and local links know-how far more than a shiny world ranking, which is exactly why a windswept Lahinch could be the leveler GB&I has been praying for.
A little history (and why it matters)
The Walker Cup is one of the oldest international team events in the game, and its origin is a genuinely charming bit of golf lore. In the years after World War I, the USGA and The R&A were meeting to hash out a unified set of Rules of Golf. Among the attendees was George Herbert Walker, the USGA president in 1920, who proposed an international team match and offered to donate a trophy. When the press promptly dubbed it "the Walker Cup," the name stuck.
The first official match was played in 1922 at the National Golf Links of America, where a U.S. side led by playing captain William C. Fownes Jr. — and considered among the greatest ever assembled — beat GB&I 8-4. More than a century later, the alumni roll call reads like a hall of fame: Bob Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth wore the Stars and Stripes; Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick came up through GB&I.
The U.S. leads the all-time series 40-9-1, but the recent run is more dramatic than the streak suggests. GB&I's last triumph came in 2015 at Royal Lytham & St Annes (16½-9½), and two of the five American wins since were nail-biters — a two-point margin at Seminole in 2021, and a Sunday comeback after trailing at St Andrews in 2023.
Recent results
2025 — Cypress Point: USA 17, GB&I 9
2023 — St Andrews (Old Course): USA 14½, GB&I 11½
2021 — Seminole: USA 14, GB&I 12
2019 — Royal Liverpool: USA 15½, GB&I 10½
2017 — Los Angeles CC: USA 19, GB&I 7
2015 — Royal Lytham & St Annes: GB&I 16½, USA 9½
2013 — National Golf Links of America: USA 17, GB&I 9
2011 — Royal Aberdeen: GB&I 14, USA 12
Where it goes next
Starting with this match, the Walker Cup moves to even-numbered years. The 52nd Walker Cup will be played in 2028 at Bandon Dunes in Oregon, followed by Prince's in Kent, England (2030) and Oakmont (2032) — with future stops already booked at storied grounds like Chicago Golf Club, National Golf Links and Cypress Point down the line.
The storyline everyone's arguing about
Five straight American wins have reopened an old, uncomfortable question: should the Walker Cup follow the Ryder Cup's lead and turn GB&I into a full Europe team? It's a genuinely great debate — and there's one inconvenient result that complicates the obvious answer. We dug into it here:
USA has won five straight Walker Cups. Is it time to invite Europe?
Full coverage hub
Everything we've published on the road to Lahinch, in one place:
Stay with us all weekend — we'll update this hub with draws, running scores and reaction from County Clare as the 51st Walker Cup plays out.
