Great Britain and Ireland captain Stuart Wilson ready for Walker Cup challenge

Great Britain and Ireland captain Stuart Wilson believes his players can defy the odds to win the Walker Cup for just the third time on US soil.
The home side are prohibitive favourites to win the biennial contest for the third time in succession at Seminole Golf Club in Florida, with just one of their 10 players ranked outside the world’s top 20.
In contrast, world number 12 Alex Fitzpatrick is the only GB&I player in the top 20 after Scotland’s Sandy Scott (eighth) was forced to withdraw through injury, with the visitors having an average ranking of 68.7 compared to 12 for the United States.
They’re not just good at golf😂 #WalkerCup https://t.co/MJjJcWJHMk
— The R&A (@RandA) May 6, 2021
It took a team featuring the likes of Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Nick Dougherty and Marc Warren to secure the last away win at Ocean Forest in 2001, but Wilson wants his players to embrace the challenge of following in their footsteps.
“We know there’s only been two teams that have been successful over here, which shows it’s not impossible,” said Wilson, who was part of the winning side at Ganton in 2003 and won the Amateur Championship at St Andrews the following year.
“But we’ve had a look at the numbers, and yeah, there’s been 310 Walker Cup players; 84 of those have played on winning sides but only 20 have played on a winning side in America. We’re trying to make that 30. The guys are up for it, without a doubt.
“We’d never say we’re outsiders because certainly with the format of the match and 18 holes of match play, everybody knows anything can happen at any time.

“As far as being up against it, you’re always up against it when you come. America is always going to be strong. When we had the Walker Cup at Ganton the home crowd was a big advantage to us, getting behind us and spurring us on.
“We’re going to have very few GB&I spectators here cheering us on, so we can use that to our advantage as well, to spur the guys on. Not so much prove a point, but use it as a motivation to do as well as they can.”
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and world number 17 Matt Fitzpatrick have both given advice to the team this week, although Fitzpatrick’s younger brother Alex was not giving anything away.
Former @RyderCupEurope winning captain @mcginleygolf dropped in to give the boys some words of wisdom ahead of their match against The USA this weekend 🔮 pic.twitter.com/Kw8GzkWZxM
— The R&A (@RandA) May 6, 2021
“I’d like to think I have more experience in the Walker Cup than my brother does, seeing as he only played one,” joked Fitzpatrick, who played in the 2019 contest at Hoylake.
“But we had some interesting information from Paul yesterday (Wednesday), which I can’t share the information so the Americans don’t hear, but it was very valid information and something that the whole team had an interest in.
“And we can use that, I guess, to our advantage, and that’s going to be our plan set in stone come Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully we can act on it and bring home a trophy.”
Play gets under way on Saturday with four foursomes matches followed by eight singles, with four more foursomes and 10 singles on Sunday.
Latest
-
News
On this day in 2008: Ryder Cup misery in Louisville for Nick Faldo’s Europe
Faldo was heavily criticised for his tactics in the closing singles.
-
Lucas Glover edges past Patrick Cantlay to claim back-to-back Tour wins
Glover, 43, ultimately claimed victory with a par on the 18th hole playoff after Cantlay found water off the tee.
-
Lilia Vu wins second major as Charley Hull comes up short despite stunning eagle
American Vu added the Women’s Open title to her Chevron Championship.
-
Lucas Glover holds onto lead in Memphis with Tommy Fleetwood two strokes behind
Glover said it was a scrappy day but he got ‘a lot out of’ what he had.
-
Charley Hull shares lead with Lilia Vu heading into final day of Women’s Open
The pair are nine under for the tournament.
-
On This Day in 2007 – Tiger Woods claims 13th major with victory in Oklahoma
The world number one successfully defended his US PGA Championship title.
-
Ally Ewing out to emulate Brian Harman with Open win
The pair share their southern roots, passion for hunting and college teams named the Bulldogs.
-
Ally Ewing storms clear during second round of AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath
At 10 under par Ewing enjoyed a five-shot lead over compatriot Andrea Lee and Japan’s Minami Katsu.
-
Jordan Spieth leads by one after first round of FedEx St Jude Championship
England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai are the best of the British contingent, closing out Thursday on four under par.
-
Rory McIlroy delighted with Tiger Woods’ role on PGA Tour’s policy board
Woods, 47, has not played since withdrawing from April’s Masters and concedes his playing opportunities will be extremely limited going forward.