Rory shows stomach for a fight
THE 48th Walker Cup at Seminole in Florida might have begun on Saturday with both teams afflicted by a stomach virus but it ended last night in glorious rude health.
What an enthralling contest it proved to be as a Britain and Ireland team who began as heavy underdogs trailed the Americans by just a point going into the final series of ten singles matches.
Among those at the revered venue in Juno Beach were Lee Westwood, who might find himself captaining one or two of the players on view at the Ryder Cup in 2023, and Seminole member Gerry McIlroy, who was also keeping tabs on how his son Rory was doing at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina.
Rory had put himself in position to claim his first victory in 550 days with a third-round 68 that left him two shots behind the leader, American Keith Mitchell, going into the final round.
McIlroy was so out of form he had not so much as played at the weekend for 60 days, let alone win, while Mitchell had shot a final-round 81 at the Valspar Championship the previous Sunday, including an horrific 42 putts.
Mitchell began with a birdie to extend his lead but McIlroy struck back with birdies at the third and seventh, where he holed a 20ft putt. Two Mitchell mistakes allowed the Northern Irishman to nudge a shot ahead of him but he was soon joined in the lead by another American, Gary Woodland. Like McIlroy, he was looking to end a long drought, stretching back to his win at the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach.
With two holes to play, McIlroy was on 11 under, two shots ahead of Mitchell and clubhouse leader Abraham Ancer as Woodland faded out of contention.
At the Walker Cup, Irish pair
Mark Power and John Murphy claimed their second foursomes point of the weekend by defeating two opponents ranked in the top four in the amateur rankings. Are we witnessing the next great Irish combination after Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington?
‘We’ve known each other for so long and we’re determined to embrace it all,’ said Power, who went into last night’s singles with three points from three matches. ‘We know this is going to be a weekend we’ll remember all our lives and we want to enjoy it.’
English pair Jack Dyer and Matty Lamb romped to a 6&5 victory in the only foursomes game all weekend that did not go to the 18th. Then came the big bonus, as Englishmen Ben Schmidt, 18, and Angus Flanagan, 21, came back from four down after eight to snatch a half at the 18th.
At the Canary Island Championship there was more evidence that South Africa has unearthed a superstar, as 21-year-old Garrick Higgo lapped the field to claim his second title in three weeks and third in 26 European Tour starts.
A final-round 64 ensured a finishing total of 27 under, six clear of Australia’s Maverick Antcliff in second. Connor Syme and Calum Hill were top Scots on 17 under.