Billy Horschel (left), Jamie Lovemark (behind) and Colt Knost (right) of the U.S. Walker Cup team celebrate with Jonathan Moore after Moore sank a 4-foot eagle putt on the last hole to clinch the cup.  Photo © by John Mummert, USGA.

By Robert D. Thomas
Southern California Golf Association
In a dramatic finish before nearly 10,000 cheering fans, the United States swept the foursome matches this morning and then withstood a furious charge from Great Britain and Ireland to win the 41st Walker Cup at Royal County Down, 12 1/2 to 11/12.

In the end, the last two NCAA Division I individual champions turned the tied for the Americans. SCGA member Jamie Lovemark of Rancho Santa Fe, a rising sophomore at USC and last year's NCAA winner, rolled over England's Jamie Moul, 4 & 3, to give the U.S. its first full point in singles. Fifty nail-biting minutes later, Jonathan Moore of Vancouver, Wash., eagled the par-5 finishing hole to defeat Llewellyn Matthews of Wales, 1 up, and clinch the Cup for the United States.

The win marked the first time since 1993 that the U.S. has won consecutive Walker Cups and the first time since 1991 (ironically, at Portmarnock GC in Dublin, about 90 minutes south of Royal County Down) that Americans have won the cup on foreign soil. Overall, the United States now holds a 33-7-1 margin in the biennial matches, which began in 1921.

"It was wonderful golf and our guys hung in there," said U.S. Captain George "Buddy" Marucci. "We played very well this morning but I knew it would be tough this afternoon. The Great Britain and Ireland team played great and so did our kids. I'm can't tell you how proud I am of them."

The United States defeated Great Britain and Ireland, 12 1/2 to 11 1/2, to win the Walker Cup for the second year in a row. SCGA members Jamie Lovemark (second from right, standing) and Rickie Fowler (second from right, kneeling) played crucial roles in the victory. Photo by Robert D. Thomas/SCGA

With Murrieta's Rickie Fowler and Lovemark both playing superbly on winning teams, the U.S. swept the foursomes matches in the morning to take a 10-6 lead MORE and needed just 2 points to retain the cup and 2 1/2 points to win. However, everyone in attendance knew it would be a tough challenge, even with that cushion, and that turned out to be the case. "I told everyone on the first tee this afternoon that GBI would play extremely hard," said Marucci.

Hometown favorite Rory McIlroy kick-started the GBI team when he turned back University of Florida junior Billy Horschel, 4 & 2, in a match where he took the lead on the second hole and never relinquished it.

Horschel teamed with Rickie Fowler of Murrieta in all four sessions and for the first three rounds, it proved to be a giant impetus. Not so in the afternoon. The 18-year-old Fowler -- now a freshman at Oklahoma State -- had won two foursomes matches and a singles match yesterday but he could not complete a rare 4-0 sweep as he fell to Rhys Davies of Wales, 3 & 2.

The first nine was close with Fowler three times taking 1-up leads, but Davies squared the match when Fowler made double-bogey 6 on the ninth hole. The 23-year-old Davies, who played at East Tennessee State University, then seized control of the match by holing a 30-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole and another 30 footer, for an eagle 3, on the 12th hole, and then winning the 13th hole with a conceded birdie 3.

With blue flags (symbolizing GBI) popping up everywhere early, it seemed as if the Americans were about to suffer another disappointing loss on foreign soil.

That it didn't happen was due to several factors. First, U.S. Amateur and Public Links champion Colt Knost of Dallas, Tex., hung tough against 19-year-old English Amateur champion Danny Willett, finally squaring the match with a par 4 on the 17th hole.

Then, on the par-5 finishing hole -- after Willett had drained a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 finishing hole - Knost chipped from behind the green to within four-feet and sank the birdie putt to earn a half-point, the only point the U.S. earned in the first four matches.

Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Lovemark dominated throughout his match against Moul, sinking putts of nine, 35 and 45 feet on nos. 7, 10, and 14 (all par 3s) and moving on to his 4 & 3 victory.

"I looked at a leaderboard at the fourth hole and all I saw was blue flags," said Lovemark afterwards. "Then, of course, I went on and made double. All over the course, you could hear the cheers; the crowds would clap for us and roar for them. It was nerve-wracking; I had to back off a couple of times. But I tried my hardest to keep my focus, to stay in the moment and not let up. I'm a fighter; I hate to lose, and I proud of the way I played today."

That left the U.S. needing just half a point to retain the cup or a full point to win it outright again, but as was the case in 2005 at Chicago GC, the GBI team was making putts from everywhere as the holes ground on. "It was nerve-wracking," said Marucci afterwards.

In the end, it came down to the 22-year-old Moore, who will turn professional next week, to bring the cup back to the U.S. Needing to make a four-foot par putt on the 17th hole to give the U.S. the half-point and the cup, he fanned it right, which left his match against Edwards deadlocked.

On the 550-yard finishing hole, Moore's drive bounced right into light rough, 252 yards from the flagstick. "I hit a four iron," Moore said later, "but I never dreamed that it would get that close (four feet from the flagstick). It came off perfect." The shot hit about 50 yards in front of the green and, in true links-course style, tumbled and bounced forward before settling by the flagstick.

Matthews split the center of the fairway with his drive, but his approach came up short right in a swale and his 20-foot putt up and over a ridge was inches to the right. That left Moore with his four-foot eagle putt for the Cup. "I wouldn't wish that putt on my worst enemy," said Moore later. "You either a hero or a goat. But this is why you practice and practice and practice. This was the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm just really thankful."

In the end, it was left to mid-amateur Trip Kuehne of Dallas, twice a loser in Walker Cups on foreign soil, to sum up the weekend. "People never realize how closely knit the players on a Walker Cup team," he said. "I think we were more of a cohesive team than the other side. For me, this is the pinnacle of amateur golf and I'm thrilled to have been part of a team where my teammates believed in me.