Golf: American superiority is insurmountable

(First Edition)

THE 19-5 defeat suffered by Great Britain and Ireland here, the worst in Walker Cup history,, was not hard to explain, but it was difficult to articulate. 'I'm at a loss for words,' George Macgregor, the Great Britain and Ireland captain, said.

'In everybody's opinion this was the best team we could bring. The team didn't play their best, but they faced some amazing golf. We were simply outclassed.' Some blamed the team's youth and inexperience, an argument Macgregor countered with: 'Who would you have brought? All but four of the last 18 players (from the two previous Walker Cups) have turned professional.'

Iain Pyman, whose loss to John Harris in the singles on Thursday gave the United States the win, pointed out other disadvantages the away team faced. 'The greens and the heat. We aren't used to greens where a 20-foot putt might have six feet of break. And we don't have heat like this.'

If the heat was a problem for the players this week, then they will really struggle next week during the United States Amateur Championship in Houston, which is about 1,000 miles south of here, and about 15 to 20 degrees hotter.

The American Allen Doyle said: 'No one could have predicted this. It was a slaughter.'

The United States captain, Vinny Giles, summed it up: 'Unless the Great Britain and Ireland team had played awfully well, they could not have beaten this team. I had 10 great horses and they ran great races. We had some great pairings and the chemistry was great. It's as fine a Walker Cup team as has ever been put together.'

WALKER CUP (Interlachen, Minn) Thursday's results: Foursomes: (US names first): A Doyle and J Leonard bt I Pyman and S Cage 4 and 3; D Berganio Jnr and T Demsey bt M Stanford and P Harrington 3 and 2; J Sigel and K Mitchum bt B Dredge and V Phillips 3 and 2; J Harris and T Herron bt R Russell and D Robertson 1 hole. Foursomes result: United States 4 Great Britain and Ireland 0.

Singles: (US names first): Doyle bt Robertson 4 and 3; Harris bt Pyman 3 and 2; D Yates bt Cage 2 and 1; Sigel bt P Page 5 and 4; B Gay halved Harrington; Herron bt Phillips 3 and 2; Leonard bt Stanford 5 and 4; Mitchum bt Russell 4 and 2; Demsey bt Dredge 3 and 2; Berganio Jnr lost to Burns 1 hole. Singles result: United States 81 2 Great Britain and Ireland 11 2 .

MATCH RESULT: United States 19, Great Britain and Ireland 5.