Mullen topples America’s best

JIMMY MULLEN defied his lowly world ranking to help Great Britain and Ireland take a 7-5 lead over the United States after day one of the Walker Cup at Royal Lytham.

Mullen, ranked 93 on the amateur list, teamed up with Ashley Chesters to beat the top-ranked American pair of Maverick McNealy and Hunter Stewart 3&2 in the foursomes.

And the 21-year-old from Devon, whose previous claim to fame was making the cut as an amateur at the 2013 US Open, then went on to beat Denny McCarthy two-up in his afternoon singles.

Gavin Moynihan, the reigning Irish amateur champion, was the other home player to take two points on day one of the biennial event.

Britain and Ireland got off to a flyer, winning the foursomes 3-1, but that came as no surprise to captain Nigel Edwards. He said: ‘We’ve got some strong pairings and it’s a format we’re probably more used to than they are.’

Edwards feared an American fightback in the singles so was delighted to come away with the series being shared 4-4. As well as the wins for Mullen and Moynihan, Ewan Ferguson beat McNealy, the world No 2, while Ashley Chesters and Gary Hurley halved their matches.

Today there are four more foursomes before 10 singles matches will decide the cup. The USA need to reach 13 points to retain the trophy.

‘The singles were a bit of a roller-coaster,’ said Edwards. ‘I’ll definitely take a 7-5 lead. This is a great opportunity now. The boys have been great all week and my message to them tomorrow will be to go out and enjoy it.’