As the United States rallied to win the Walker Cup on Sunday for the fourth consecutive time, Gordon Sargent played up to his reputation as the top amateur in the world by winning all four of his matches at St. Andrews.
On the Old Course, Great Britain & Ireland led by three points going into the last two sessions. The Americans dominated the 10 singles matches, winning three of the four morning foursomes.
The Americans finished a Sunday rally in which they outscored GB&I 10-4 over two periods by winning six of the ten matches and drawing two others.
By a final score of 141-2–112, they won.
Capt. Mike McCoy of the United States commented, “They played hard to the bitter end.” “This one is going to be a great ride home.”
In the lead match, a 3-and-2 triumph over Calum Scott, Caleb Surratt never trailed, and at that point, U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap gained a crucial half-point. Barclay Brown had Dunlap 3 down with four holes left when he won the following two, tying the match with a birdie on the last.
When John Gough of England sent his drive too far right and out of bounds near the Old Course Hotel, Sargent and Gough were tied coming to the 17th hole. Sargent now had a one-up advantage. Sargent, a junior at Vanderbilt, then used a 3-wood to drive the 18th green, and Gough finally gave up the match as Sargent’s eagle putt came to rest close to the hole.
Dylan Menante’s 3-putt on the 18th hole, which he shared with Matthew McClean for a halve, dealt the Americans their important blow. With two further games still to play, they had 1212 points, which was enough to win the cup that has been around since 1922.
“All the momentum seemed to be on the U.S. side,” GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said. “Their players handled the conditions better than our guys.”
Sargent, who won the NCAA championship as a freshman, had a perfect week.
At Royal Lytham & St. Annes, GB&I was attempting to win for the first time since 2015, and they had the advantage thanks to a lead of 7½-4½ after the two Saturday sessions. Because the U.S. lacks strength in the early foursomes, McCoy expressed concern.
However, he combined his top two players, Sargent and Dunlap, and they won the second game by a score of 1–0. Ben James and Surratt, who finished the week with a record of 3-1, won the lead match, and Preston Summerhays and Nick Gabrelcik both earned a point.
The series is currently 39-9-1 in favour of the United States. For the 2025 matches, the Walker Cup will be played at Cypress Point Club on the Monterey Peninsula in California.