Sugrue struggles in Walker Cup defeat
THERE was no be no fairytale win for Great Britain and Ireland’s top amateur golfers at the Walker Cup last weekend as America came roaring back from a tough start to blow the European players aside in the most impressive of fashions.
Two days of glorious sunshine greeted the sides at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club but it was the standard of the USA play that would generate most of the comment and not the superb surroundings or weather.
Mallow’s James Sugrue was the star attraction from a Munster standpoint, as the Amateur Champion looked to once more take on and beat the best in the world, but an untimely back injury hindered the young star’s chance of making a big impact, and the hugely talented and powerful player had to settle for just two singles’ rounds with neither proving fruitful.
On Saturday, Sugrue, in front of over 60 of his fellow Mallow golf club members that made the trip across the Irish Sea as well as thousands more golf fans, battled brilliantly to lead American star John Pak heading to the latter stages, but losses on the two final holes meant that Sugrue had to accept a difficult and harsh 2&1 loss.
Sugrue came out again on day two but again he was unable to affect the overall result losing 4&2 to the left-handed golfing sensation Akshay Bhatia – with Bhatia racking up just one bogey during what has to be described as a brilliant round of golf.
Sugrue may not have got what he wanted from the event but will take plenty positives from another week where he got to test his wares against the best in the world.
“It was a good week, and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t play great all week,” Sugrue said on Sunday evening, after the US took the spoils. “I just wasn’t comfortable with my game, and I was pretty sore yesterday and a couple of times today.”
GB&I looked in great shape after the opening exchanges and looked like a side that had all the attributes to bring the Walker Cup back home but even though the Americans were on the back foot after day one, trailing by 7-5, an incredible full course blitz saw them take 10.5 of the next 14 points on offer to romp to a fully deserved victory (15.5-10.5).
Sugrue will now look to rest up and heel his struggling back for a short while before heading back into action prior to starting out on what will be a very busy off season for the player as he begins to set his sights on a trip to Augusta for next season’s US Masters.