Team USA seized control of the Walker Cup at Lahinch on Sunday morning, sweeping all four foursomes matches to overturn a 6.5-5.5 deficit and move within 3.5 points of a sixth consecutive victory. The Americans now lead Great Britain and Ireland 9.5-6.5 heading into the afternoon singles session.
Preston Stout and Ethan Fang set the tone with a 3-and-2 victory over Stuart Grehan and Eliot Baker. Stout, the world’s No. 1 amateur, rebounded emphatically after losing both a foursomes match and a late singles heartbreaker to Grehan on Saturday. He and Fang never trailed, with Stout nearly driving the par-4 13th, a shot he later called “probably the best shot of the week.”
Jay Leng Jr. and Kihei Akina followed with a 4-and-3 win over Luke Poulter and Sam Easterbrook, while Ryder Cowan and William Jennings defeated Josh Hill and Niall Shiels Donegan by the same margin. Miles Russell and Tyler Watts completed the clean sweep with a 3-and-2 victory over Tyler Weaver and Connor Graham. The U.S. pairs never trailed in any match and overwhelmed GB&I with a sustained run of birdies.
The sweep was the Americans’ first in a Sunday foursomes session since 2007, when a team featuring future stars including Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson went on to win the Cup by a narrow 12.5-11.5 margin. “We kind of talked about it last night, we need to come out here and sweep every match this morning,” Stout said. U.S. captain Nathan Smith called the event “one of the greatest sporting events in the world,” while GB&I captain Dean Robertson acknowledged that the Americans had played “world-class golf” and said his team must create momentum quickly in the singles.