Two-points adrift overnight and still one-point behind going into Sunday afternoon singles at Royal Liverpool, the visitors eventually overwhelmed a game but ultimately toothless Great Britain & Ireland team to successfully defend the cup won at the Los Angeles Country Club two years ago. The victory takes America’s all-time record in this 97-year-old event to 37-9-1.

The final, and ultimately convincing, score of 15½-10½ also made the Americans the first Walker Cup side to win away from home since 2007. That U.S. team, containing the likes of Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson, Billy Horschel, Jamie Lovemark, Rickie Fowler and Kyle Stanley, triumphed by a single point at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland.

It remains to be seen if those on the current American squad will go on to anything like individual successes of their already prolific predecessors. What is known, however, is that this was truly a team effort, a proper collaborative endeavour. Points came from nine of the team’s 10 members (Steven Fisk the unfortunate exception), although just one, John Pak (matching earrings and all) emerged unbeaten, walking off with a 3-0-0 record.

Every other golfer on the winning side lost at least once, a “feat” repeated by all 10 players on the GB&I team. Scotsman Sandy Scott (2-1-1) was the best of the Old World bunch, at least statistically, with British Amateur champion James Sugrue the only home player to leave pointless.

John Augenstein gets a high-five from U.S. Walker Cup teammate Akshay Bhatia. Augenstein’s Sunday singles victory gave the U.S. its clinching point at Royal Liverpool. (Richard Martin-Roberts/R&A)

It was clear from the start of the fourth and final session that the Americans were imbued with an uncommon level of determination. Where the golf during Sunday morning foursomes (won 2½-1½ by the Americans) had been less than stellar on both sides, post-lunch the visiting squad was quick to make its collective mark. Six of the 10 won their opening hole. Only the previously unbeaten Brandon Wu lost the 424-yard par 4 (to a birdie), en route to a 4-and-3 loss at the hands of Scott.

“I played very well today,” said Scott, a Texas Tech student by way of Scotland. “I started well and made a few birdies and just had a rough patch in the middle but managed to hold on for the win. On the three holes in a row [9-10-11] that I lost, it was just poor decision making. But I knew I wasn’t playing bad golf, so I just had to get back on track and concentrate a little harder.”

But Scott’s play was the exception for GB&I, the scoreboard an almost exclusive sea of red until eight of the 10 contests concluded in favour of the U.S. Amidst that avalanche, the winning point arrived when U.S. Amateur runner-up John Augenstein shook hands with Thomas Plumb on the 15th green, the American a 4-and-3 winner of Match 7. But it had long been simply a matter of time before the arithmetically unassailable number of 13½ was reached.

All in all, the final score represented something of an anti-climax, especially so in the wake of three sessions that, although lacking in the area of solid course management on both sides, never ceased to be intriguing. Few things in golf are more exciting to watch than a closely fought team competition, even if the play falls short of the level one might expect from some of the best amateurs on the planet. Disappointingly, way more holes were lost rather than won.

Anyway, at close of play, the moods of the respective captains accurately reflected how their respective afternoons developed. Where Crosby’s smiling demeanour captured his mixture of delight and relief, GB&I captain Craig Watson’s habitual deadpan expression was the outward manifestation of an inward despondency. Yes, the home team had pushed its opponents hard for a day-and-a-half. But in the end, as so often over the years, the American’s greater strength-in-depth clinched the victory.

“I am very excited,” Crosby said. “We were a crazy mix of personalities, but all blended well. It was almost too much fun, but after yesterday we sobered up and really focused today, and it was an amazing afternoon. I let them just go play. They are very talented guys who believe in themselves. Their talent came to the surface. I could not be more excited for them and me. I’ve not won anything in about 38 years.”

Akshay Bhatia sits on Stewart Hagestad’s shoulders as the U.S. team begins to celebrate their Walker Cup victory on Sunday at Royal Liverpool. (Jan Kruger/R&A)

Watson, British Amateur champ in 1997, can beat that period of futility by a decade-and-a-half or so, but that now far-off victory over future Masters champion Trevor Immelman at Royal St. Georges was little consolation for the 53-year-old Scot.

“It’s been a fantastic week,” Watson said, displaying a rare burst of enthusiasm. “The lads will probably learn a lot from this disappointment today. It was a tough course the way it was set up. If you were ahead, early pars were enough to stay ahead because birdies were going to be few and far between, and the American boys did that very well. I don’t think playing in more wind would have made too much of a difference. I don’t think the conditions had anything to do with the fact that the Americans outplayed us today.”

No, in the end, for the winning side this was a result built on greater ball-control, both off the tee and around the greens. A combination that ultimately led to their own little bit of history-making.

The post Walker Cup 2019: Team effort propels U.S. to rare comeback win at Royal Liverpool appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

What a time to be alive for Golf Digest’s taste buds! Although, collectively, our cholesterol, weight and blood-sugar levels have spiked (Who is eating the apples, by the way?). The situation also has led to some serious hoarding of snacks (hence, why there were no mini cans of Pringles in that photo) at various desks, so if any co-workers are looking for some Famous Amos chocolate-chip cookies, whatever you do, do NOT open my top drawer. Anyway, let’s pop open a fresh bag of these delightful treats and talk about everything happening in golf.

WE’RE BUYING

Justin Thomas: And just like that, Thomas is poised to more than salvage what had been a frustrating—and disappointing for his high standards—season. JT picked a great time to pick up his first win of 2019 at the BMW Championship, cruising to a three-shot win after building a six-shot cushion through 54 holes thanks to a course-record 61 on Saturday at Medinah.

Icon Sportswire

Now Thomas is in the pole position for the Tour Championship thanks to the tweaked format that gives the FedEx Cup leader a two-shot lead heading into the season finale. Thomas will stand on the opening tee at East Lake at 10 under par before hitting a single shot. That means if he plays as well as he did last week, he’ll end up at 35 under! He’ll also be more than $15 million richer.

Andy Ogletree: Meanwhile at Pinehurst, golfers were only playing for the love of the game. And this Georgia Tech rising senior overcame a field of 312, two courses, and a large deficit in the final to claim the 119th U.S. Amateur Championship. With the win, Ogletree took home the Havemeyer Trophy and will get to take a crack at Augusta National next April.

Copyright USGA/Chris Keane

That is going to be one memorable final semester.

Kyle Berkshire: On back-to-back days in the office, a group of us were drawn into watching World Long Drive competitions featuring this freewheeling and free-flowing (Seriously, Tommy Fleetwood has nothing on this dude’s luscious locks) bomber. And both days, Berkshire, ranked No. 1 on the Long Drive circuit, delivered with easy victories. Count me as a new, big fan of this specimen:

And how about these stats? A career-long competition drive of 492 yards. A career-best ball speed of 229 mph (We go nuts about Cam Champ cracking 190)! What a monster. I just wish I had Googled the results while we were watching and bet on Kyle because I’m pretty sure my co-workers thought the events were live. Oh well.

Tiger’s entrances: Even during weeks in which he posts forgettable finishes, no one makes memorable entrances to a golf course like Tiger Woods:

Ready to rumble. @TigerWoods arrives @BMWChamps. pic.twitter.com/9CnGcZNSSb

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 15, 2019

But as we know, backward hat Tiger is beatable. Backward hat AND tank top Tiger? Good luck, everyone.

WE’RE SELLING

Tiger’s season coming to an end: It’s true, Tiger hasn’t done much since winning the Masters in April. In fact, he’s hardly even played. But again, he won THE MASTERS! How is that not worth enough FedEx Cup points to automatically earn him a trip to the Tour Championship?! Forget about the wacky Tour Championship leader board, this is the craziest part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs system! (And for the record, yes, Shane Lowry not getting in as the Open champ is also ridiculous.) Then again, we shouldn’t be surprised. Check out this stat from the AP’s Doug Ferguson:

11 players who didn't win a tour event this season are at East Lake. 22 who did are not at East Lake. Such are the FedEx Cup playoffs. …

— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) August 19, 2019

That’s pretty wild. But again, nothing is as wild as the fact that one of those 22 winners is the reigning MASTERS champ. Absurd.

Paddy’s streak coming to an end: Hats off to Padraig Harrington for going more than three decades without having his golf clubs lost in transit.

1st time in 32 years of traveling that my clubs have failed to arrive on the way to a tournament. Strange as it was a direct flight and I checked in 3 hours early. How lucky am I @EuropeanTour

— Padraig Harrington (@padraig_h) August 12, 2019

That might be more impressive than Tiger’s record 142 consecutive cuts made. Welcome to the real world, Paddy. Actually, Harrington got them back the next day so he’s still living a pretty charmed life.

Four-putting to end a tournament: Poor John Augenstein on the 35th hole of the U.S. Amateur final. That’s a rough way to finish after playing so much great golf throughout a week-long marathon.

Streeter Lecka

On the bright side, at least he’ll still be joining Andy Ogletree at the Masters next year. Better work on that putting, though, John. Augusta National’s greens aren’t exactly slow, either.

ON TAP

The final 30 remaining in the FedEx Cup Playoffs advance to the Tour Championship, AKA the last event of the season before a new season starts less than three weeks later. Actually, the two-week gap between events is double what the break in the action was last year. Golfers might be able to read an entire book AND clean out the garage this off-season.

Random tournament fact: Remember this?

Yeah, that was awesome. In fact, re-live that incredible day with this fantastic oral history of Tiger’s historic march to the 2018 Tour Championship title compiled by our Joel Beall. Not surprisingly, the Roger Maltbie quotes are the best.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—Tiger Woods will be toiling away at the range this week: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Justin Thomas will win the Tour Championship: 9-to-4 odds

—The Tour Championship’s TV ratings will be down from last year: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

It’s nice to see Andre Iguodala’s recent trade to the Grizzlies hasn’t kept him from playing golf with former Warriors teammate Stephen Curry:

#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/GJuNfaAbHT

— andre (@andre) August 20, 2019

That's my dawg ?. 320yd down the center https://t.co/G7LFw4vwpm

— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) August 20, 2019

Golf buds forever.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“[It was] very special to win my 15th major and get my fifth jacket. Those are special moments and to be able to have an opportunity like that, and the rest of the tournaments I didn’t really play as well as I wanted to, but at the end of the day, I’m the one with the green jacket.” —Tiger Woods

Damn straight you are, Tiger.

THIS WEEK IN TOUR PRO PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

It was nice of Justin Thomas to win in girlfriend Jillian Wisniewski’s neck of the woods so she could also be there:

Andrew Redington

Again, JT is the last of the SB2K crew to get engaged … Just saying. … Speaking of relationships with golfers …

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Things my husband will do for Golf, but not for me:
1. Wake up early
2. Improve his flexibility
3. Watch instructional videos to improve
4. Buy clothes
5. Spend 5 hours outside

I am stuck in a love triangle.

— Molly McGrath (@MollyAMcGrath) August 13, 2019

I have no clue what Molly is talking about … kidding! Nailed it.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

It turned out to be Phil Mickelson’s final event of the season, but Lefty sure went out with a, um, bang. First, he got all feisty PHEISTY with a golf writer:

Thanks for noticing. I did a pro am dinner last night for 100 dealers and customers instead.

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 14, 2019

And Luke Donald:

We agree one one thing at least

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 14, 2019

If you come at the (Content) King, you best not miss.

Then Phil doled out dating advice to a Twitter follower, earning the nickname Dr. Phil:

Noooooo!
Take her to a suspenseful movie,hold her hand during scary parts. Physiological response is same for fear and arousal. She will displace fear for attraction towards you. Back in the game. You’re welcome.

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2019

Hey, that’s not bad. … And last, but not least, he live-tweeted being evacuated from his hotel after a lightning strike caused a fire:

How’s this for crazy? My hotel was struck by lighting, I was on top floor,we were evacuated and the place is on fire(only thing of mine on fire this week.) I can’t get back into my room and may miss my tee time because I am without clubs and clothes.

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 18, 2019

EMT’s were awesome! I’m going to make it. Turns out my clubs acted as a fire retardant. Lucky me?

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 18, 2019

Never a dull moment with this guy. Phil, I already named you the PGA Tour’s Content King. You can relax now!

THIS AND THAT

Congrats to Joe LaCava for being inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame. Now get back to work at the Tour Champions—oh, right. Never mind. . . . Stephen Curry made a seven-figure donataion to re-start the men’s and women’s golf programs at Howard University. I often joke about Steph setting a bad example for “the kids” by throwing his mouthpiece during games, but this is freaking awesome for the kids. Well done. . . . Also well done to the European Tour for announcing a plan to address slow play. Although, if we eliminate slow play from the game, what will everyone have to complain (and write) about? . . . And finally, co-worker Joel Beall got (literally) the worst break on a golf course over the weekend when a playing partner shanked a drive off his golf bag:

It reminded me that the only time I’ve broken a phone was when a pocket in a rental golf bag/set filled up with water. The morale of the story: Do NOT put your phone in your golf bag. At least there were plenty of snacks for Joel to enjoy in the office while he waited for a replacement.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

What will Phil do happen to Phil next?

Is Tiger looking for a game this weekend?

Are we getting another Famous Amos delivery soon?

The post Justin Thomas’ unusual spot, Phil Mickelson’s dating advice, and the most entertaining golfer you aren’t watching appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.