The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Fitzpatrick to four on European Tour
Unfortunately, the Walker Cup proved to be a very disappointing event for Great Britain and Ireland.
A very strong American side regained the trophy with a comfortable 19-7 victory at Los Angeles Country Club.
I watched quite a bit of the coverage and the GB&I boys started well but their performance in the singles on both days let them down.
Unsurprisingly, the heavy nature of the defeat – the biggest winning margin in 24 years – has led to a few people calling for the biennial event to be changed to include the whole of Europe rather than just Great Britain and Ireland.
Personally, I’m not in favour of that.
The Ryder Cup format was changed to include the Europeans because the Americans were so dominant but that has not been the case with the Walker Cup.
The GB&I team has won six of the last 12 matches, so it is not as if one team is winning the event every year.
Eventually, it may be changed to include European amateurs but the Walker Cup has a brilliant history, so I would be against making that alteration for the foreseeable future.
However, the R&A is apparently keen to change the event from two to three days – and that is something that should be considered.
Both sets of players spend two years working hard to be selected for the match and then it is all over in a flash in an action-packed weekend. But there have been some suggestions the match could start on a Friday when the teams next meet at
Royal Liverpool in two years. I would like to see it copy the Ryder Cup format and playing foursomes and fourballs on Friday and Saturday and then end with singles on the Sunday.
At the moment they have a session of singles on both the Saturday and Sunday. With so many points up for grabs on the first day, the match can almost be over by the end of play on Saturday.
I’m sure it will still have been a great experience for the GB&I team, including Oban’s Robert MacIntyre.
He took 1.5 points from his three matches and was particularly impressive by defeating Cameron Champ 6 and 4 in the Saturday singles.
The fact the GB&I captain Craig Watson was forced to pull out of taking the team a week before due to a family illness must have had an impact. The match is a much bigger deal than was the case when I played in it in 1995 and it is great to have seen it gain so much prominence.
The Americans had the momentum from early on this time and home advantage is often one of the most important factors in deciding the match. That is because Great Britain and Ireland host the match on links courses, while the Americans play on big inland courses, so it is completely different. But the Americans were the superior team and worthy winners this time around. T he young Americans may have dominated 2017 but England’s Matt Fitzpatrick is proof there is also exciting talent on this side of the Atlantic.
Fitzpatrick claimed his fourth European Tour title by defeating Australian Scott Hend in a play-off at the Omega European Masters.
The only players ■
“GB&I team has won six of the last 12 matches, so it is not as if one team is winning”
younger than Fitzpatrick to have claimed four European Tour titles were Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sandy Lyle, Sergio Garcia and Matteo Manassero.
That’s certainly not bad company to be in. He is a very similar player to Jordan Spieth. He doesn’t hit the ball very far but he is a fantastic putter.
I
’m sure the spectators at the KLM Open will be understanding of Ernie Els’ decision to pull out of this week’s event. The Big Easy has travelled back to Florida as the school he built for children with autism was forced to close after Hurricane Irma battered the area.
I’m sure the spectators in Holland were looking forward to watching Els play but they will understand his reasons for skipping the event.
“He doesn’t hit the ball very far but he is a fantastic putter”