Men’s Golf: James, Team USA storm back to claim Walker Cup

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Posted on Tuesday, Sep. 5, 2023, 6:04 am

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photo: UVA Athletics

Virginia second-year men’s golfer Ben James helped Team USA rally on Sunday to win the 49th Walker Cup at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland as part of the United States Golf Association’s 10-man team.

Great Britain & Ireland had a three-point lead going into Sunday’s final two sessions on the Old Course. The Americans won three of the four morning foursomes, and they poured it on during the 10 singles matches.

The Americans won six of the 10 matches and halved two others to complete a Sunday rally in which they outscored GB&I 10-4 over two sessions for a 14.5 to 11.5 victory.

James and Tennessee’s Caleb Surratt won their foursomes match 2&1 during Sunday morning’s play.

In the afternoon singles, James fell to GB&I’s Mark Power by 1 hole. Power, a senior at Wake Forest last season, held a slim lead for much of the match but James brought it back to all-square with a victory on the 16th hole. Power took a 1-up lead with a birdie on the fabled No. 17 Road Hole and won the match when both players finished with par on the Old Course’s final hole.

Team USA won the Walker Cup for the 39th time and it marked the seventh time the USA have won at St Andrews and the overall series record is now 39-9-1. This is the fourth consecutive win for the USA. This is the fourth time the USA have overturned a GB&I first-day lead to win the Walker Cup (also 1923, 1963 and 2019) and the second time they have overturned a GB&I lead after the third session (also 2019).

Virginia, ranked No. 13 in the preseason Bushnell/Golfweek poll, opens its season Saturday at the Valero Texas Collegiate played at TPC-San Antonio.