Scott the solo Scot for Walker Cup

AMATEUR champion Joe Long is one of seven English players named in the 10-man Great Britain and Ireland team for next month’s Walker Cup.

Long, who beat practice partner Joe Harvey to lift the title at Royal Birkdale in August, is joined in the side by compatriots Barclay Brown, Alex Fitzpatrick, Angus Flanagan, Ben Jones, Matty Lamb and Ben Schmidt.

Scotland’s Sandy Scott and the Irish pair of John Murphy and Mark Power make up the team which will attempt to win back the trophy at Seminole in Florida from May 8-9. England’s Jack Dyer and Jake Bolton are the travelling reserves.

The US won by five points at Royal Liverpool two years ago, the first away victory in the biennial contest since their 2007 success at Royal County Down.

Scott and Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of European Tour player Matt, are the only survivors from the 2019 defeat.

Elsewhere, Masters champion Dustin Johnson has apologised for withdrawing from this week’s Valero Texas Open, just days after making a late entry into the event. Johnson committed to the tournament at TPC Antonio on Friday, the same day he was eliminated from the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

However, the world No.1 has changed his mind and will work on his game at home ahead of the defence of his Masters title at Augusta National next week.

“I now plan to spend the week at home in preparation for next week’s Masters,” Johnson said in a statement. “I sincerely apologise to the sponsors at Valero and all my friends in San Antonio.”