Breaking down the 'electric' finish at the 51st Walker Cup
Golf Channel's Steve Burkowski and Emilia Doran break down the final day at the Walker Cup and Great Britain and Ireland's historic comeback win.
Video Transcript
Yeah, it's a comeback for the ages, and Amelia was out first with Stuart Grahan and Preston Stout.
Give us your overview, because it didn't start well for Stuart, and GB&I kind of needed him to set a tone.
It started extremely shaky for Stuart Grahan.
He had 50 yards short of the green at the first.
He proceeded to flub it in the bunker, and then shank that bunker shot.
His third shot in the first match in Sunday singles was a shank, and he came back from two down to win the match.
It showed so much resilience, and it was exactly what Great Britain & Ireland needed, what they didn't get from the foursums, the crowd able to get behind him.
After a couple of silent holes from Stuart Grahan and Preston Stout, he was able to find a way to hit better golf shots and make putts under pressure, and it was the perfect momentum from Great Britain & Ireland to just have an amazing singles Sunday.
Go back to yesterday's single.
These two squared off.
Preston Stout was two up with three to go.
Stuart won 16, 17 and 18.
How much do you think that was in the back of his mind, that, "Hang around, I know I can do it again"?
It's huge.
In match play, when you know you have a stretch of holes that you play well, especially the finishing stretch here at Lahinch, it is not easy.
The fact that Stuart was able to play so well yesterday in that difficult stretch, holes 15 through 18, it gives you so much confidence, and he proved us all correct.
You, you started there.
You ended with the last match on the course.
What was your perspective of how Hill and Watts played 18 with everything on the line?
Well, it started out pretty scrappy.
I joined them on 13.
Josh Hill missed a short putt for par on 14, and the match was tied with a, with a few holes to play.
And then we were in 18 fairway when Connor Graham made his putt to give Great Britain & Ireland a chance.
The entire crowd, they were asking me, "What happened?
Did he make it?
Did he make it?"
Everyone's racing down there.
It was so electric.
And for Josh Hill to do what he did, hit it in the bunker, that was not an easy bunker shot.
Yes, it's on the upslope, but the s- steep face of the bunker is right there.
For him to hit it cleanly and to get it so close, it was unbelievable, the most electric scene I've ever been around at an amateur tournament.
Brentley Romine joined me a short time ago, and we talked about that finish, and maybe what the Walker Cup needed here in 2026 to have it come down to that very last hole with that match.
To sort of say, you know, tell the world G- GB&I can compete.
You and I were at Sunningdale a couple years ago for the Curtis Cup broadcast, and it was a similar vein.
What are some of the parallels you remember from two years ago to what we saw here this weekend?
Well, it reminded me that Great Britain & Ireland needed this win.
They needed this win here at Lahinch and in Sunningdale, and also, how much it can change a player's career.
I remember my teammate, Mimi Rhodes, at Wake Forest, she was the final half-point to clinch the win for Great Britain & Ireland.
She's now a multiple time winner on the LET.
She's playing in the Solheim Cup.
For Josh Hill, the lowest ranked player, to come in here and be the clinching point on the final hole with 5,000 people around the 18th green, this moment will change his life, and it already has.
Great job this week, and as the celebration continues all around us, a lot of fun.
Safe travels.
Thanks so much.
Hailey, that's gonna be a wrap for us from Lahinch.
A lot of fun out here at the 51st Walker Cup
