Stuart set for Walker Cup nerves but it is all about the players
Walker Cup captain, Stuart Wilson, should prepare for his most-nervous weekend ever on a golf course – and he won’t even hit a shot.
Those are the wise words of former captain, Peter McEvoy, as Great Britain & Ireland travel to Florida to take on the USA in this year’s match next weekend.
Wilson is steeped in the amateur game, having been part of a winning GB&I team at Ganton in 2003, as well as becoming the Amateur Champion a year later.
Now, having had experience as European captain in the Junior Ryder Cup and been on the R&A’s Boys’ selection committee, the managing secretary of Forfar Golf Club has the most-prestigious honour in UK amateur golf.
The 43-year-old will hope to follow in the footsteps of McEvoy, the last man to captain a winning GB&I team in the United States back in 2001.
McEvoy had also led them to victory at Nairn two years previously. But he was blessed with future stars like Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Scotland’s Marc Warren in his teams.
“Stuart’s played in the Walker Cup, and he’s been in and around teams many times before,” McEvoy told The Sunday Post.
“A lot of being captain is about preparation and management. Once the gun goes, it’s hard to make too much of a difference.
“But the nerves are at a totally different level. As a player, you’re nervous, but they subside a bit once you start playing.
“As captain, you are nervous all the way through. You’re basically an observer with a strong vested interest, which almost makes things worse.
“But it all comes down to the players. And there are two strong teams on show.”
Unfortunately, there will be no Scots in Wilson’s team at Seminole Golf Club, two hours north of Miami, as Nairn’s Sandy Scott had to pull out because of a wrist injury.
So other players will have to step forward as GB&I try to prevent a third-successive American victory.
But the matchplay nature of the two-day contest changes the dynamic for McEvoy.
“There is always pressure in this format,” he said. “And it’s who can play under pressure – that is the key.
“You can do well in a 72-hole strokeplay event without ever being under pressure, or really outside of your comfort zone.
“In matchplay, you win or you lose. There are winners, and some who are not so good at winning.
“Take Ian Poulter as a very good example. He has a way of strangling a point out of a match, and you have to recognise those types of players. You don’t pick a Walker Cup team as a reward for playing nicely. You pick a team to win the match.
“I was chairman of selectors for the 2003 match at Ganton. By modern standards, it was a short course and relatively narrow.
“I went for niggly players, who had a good short game and were annoying at holing out, ahead of maybe more naturally-talented players. “And against a good US team, it worked.” Whatever the outcome in Florida, one thing that is guaranteed is that many of these 20 players are stars of the notso-distant future.
McEvoy picks out Ireland’s Mark Power and Alex Fitzpatrick, younger brother of European Tour winner, Matt, as ones to watch from the GB&I ranks.
Only four years ago, the American team contained US PGA Champion Collin Morikawa, Masters runner-up Will Zalatoris and recent runner-up at the WGC World Matchplay, Scottie Scheffler.
Bob MacIntyre and Connor Syme were key components of the GB&I team.
It is all part of a trend which suggests today’s players are taking the express route from top amateurs to leading professionals.
“The standard of player in the Walker Cup now is very high, even though the average age of players is dropping,” said McEvoy.
“The amateur game has changed. It is now more pre-professional than amateur.
“When I played my first Walker Cup at Shinnecock Hills in 1977, I had never been to America before. Now there is a high number of college boys in the team, which is a very good route to the pro game.
“But the national unions also provide a great chance for young players to travel.
“In my time, the US almost had a mystique about them. They were like superheroes, based on what their pros were achieving.
“But that mystique has long disappeared, we know we can beat them. The fear factor has gone – but we could do with a win.”