Walker Cup back in U.S. hands

Cal’s Collin Morikawa and Stanford’s Maverick McNealy each went 4-0 over the weekend and the United States on Sunday completed a 19-7 victory over Britain and Ireland at the Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course to win the Walker Cup.

It was a big turnaround from two years ago, when Britain and Ireland won 16½-9½ at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. The 19 points for the Americans matched the most ever in Walker Cup history. That came in 1993 when the United States won 19-5 at Interlachen.

On Sunday, Morikawa beat British Amateur champion Harry Ellis 2 and 1 to cap his weekend.

“It’s something special and you can’t really explain what it is,” Morikawa said. “You just kind of are excited and thrilled that you can get out there and hit a tee ball for your country.”

“It’s been unbelievable,” said McNealy, who was on the U.S. roster two years ago. “I’ll never forget this week. It’s the end of my amateur career, but it means so much more than that to me.” Champions Tour: In Chiba, Japan, Colin Montgomerie made all the putts he needed on Narita Golf Club’s huge greens to win the Japan Airlines Championship.

Montgomerie, 54, two-putted for par from 50 feet on the par-4 18th, hitting his first to 1½ feet, for a 5-under-par 67 and a one-stroke victory over Billy Mayfair and secondround leader Scott McCarron. European Tour: Matthew Fitzpatrick made a par on the third extra hole to beat Scott Hend in the European Masters at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, after firing a 6-under 64 to force a playoff.

Both players carded 14-under totals of 266.