Inside the GB&I's stunning Walker Cup comeback: 'We were all pumped'

In a thrilling finale to the 51st Walker Cup , GB&I's golfers completed a remarkable recovery to beat the USA by a single point and lift this mighty clump of silverware for the first time since 2015.

On the final green of the final match on the course, Englishman Josh Hill held his nerve over a knee-knocker of a must-make birdie putt and made it to pip the world No 2, Tyler Watts, by one hole and secure the point that gave the hosts a 13 ½ - 12 ½ win.

This engrossing Sunday became so unbearably tense, it was akin to watching somebody trying to defuse a bomb and sweating over which wire to cut as the clock ticked down to zero.

Talk about amateur dramatics. Dean Robertson's men will be getting a lifetime achievement award from NODA.

Check out the best photos from the 2026 Walker Cup at Lahinch

NODA, by the way, is an association for, well, amateur dramatics. Anyway, this was one heck of a triumph at boisterous Lahinch on Ireland's west coast. The Guinness would be flowing in giddy abandon.

Leading by a point heading into the final day, GB&I found themselves on the back foot when the USA, aiming for a sixth win in a row in this grand transatlantic tussle, swept the Sunday foursomes 4-0 to assume command.

It looked like GB&I's hopes had crumbled like the ruins of the nearby Dough Castle. Out of the ashes of that session, however, came a tremendous resurgence as GB&I completed something of an historic fightback.

The US required just three-and-a-half points from the 10 singles to cart the cup back over the Atlantic.

Given that America's formidable strength in depth tends to come to the fore in the head-to-head jousts – they won the final day singles 8 ½ - 1 ½ the last time the sides met – it looked like mission impossible for GB&I.

The hosts were having none of that defeatist talk, though. "We were all pumped," said Luke Poulter, who channelled the spirit of his Ryder Cup hero dad, Ian, and pitched in with a singles success that helped turn the whole encounter on its head.

In the end, GB&I won the singles 7-3. That kind of scoreline in the session is such a rarity; it'll be getting valued at Sotheby's.

Back in 2001, when Peter McEvoy's dream team romped to victory at Sea Island in Georgia, GB&I won the closing singles 6 ½ - 1 ½. There were only eight matches in those days.

Lahinch in 2026 will be remembered for a truly wonderful turnaround. For the well-known Scot, Robertson, who suffered a hefty defeat in his first stint as GB&I skipper on US soil last year, this was a triumphant and highly emotional moment.

"I was thinking about my dad," said Robertson, who lost his father earlier this year.

"The US team were great this morning. But it can be such fine margins. We were playing great. I told the team that. We had to bring some energy and we did.

"I believed in the team the whole time."

That belief was underlined early on as GB&I burst out of the singles traps like whippets and won the top four encounters.

Stuart Grehan, the Amateur champion and the sole Irishman on the team, led from the front and downed the world No 1, Preston Stout, by 2&1, while Jack Whaley , the Yorkshireman who won the U.S. Amateur , was six-under for the 11 holes it took him to thump William Jennings 8&7.

Wins for Poulter and Tyler Weaver kept the hopes alive while Scotsman Niall Sheils Donegan added a half-point to the cause.

It looked like things would swing in the U.S.'s favor at the bottom of the order, though, but GB&I kept fighting.

Blairgowrie teenager Connor Graham, making his third Walker Cup appearance at just 19, illustrated this never-say-die spirit as he birdied both the 17th and 18th to come from two holes down against Miles Russell to pinch another half-point.

"I looked at the score, I knew I needed a half to keep it going," said Graham.

The U.S. was still within touching distance of at least retaining the cup, but Eliot Baker birdied the last to beat Walker Cup veteran Stewart Hagestad in another hugely important moment.

The stage was set for Hill to be the hero. And he was. A brilliant up-and-down from the greenside bunker on 18 gave him a last-gasp win over Watts.

"I asked Dean before my bunker shot, 'do I need a win or a half'," said Hill. "He said, 'A win.' I said, 'All right, let's do it.'"