Great Britain & Ireland Captain Dean Robertson poses with his players & the trophy following their victory during the Sunday Singles on Day Two of the Walker Cup at Lahinch Golf Club on September 6, 2026 in Lahinch, County Clare. (Photo by Ross Parker/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
TEAM GREAT BRITAIN and Ireland won the fifty first Walker Cup with Lahinch and golf among the big winners.
Josh Hill, the twenty two year old from Fox Den in England had the winning putt on the par-4 18th to see Team GB&I win the international match for the first time since 2015 on a score of 13 1/2 to 12 1/2.
Lahinch witnessed the biggest ever comeback in the history of the Walker Cup. Great Britain and Ireland came from three points behind going into the final
singles session to win the Walker Cup by one point, no team had ever before come back from three points down going into the final session.
GB&I won the final singles session by 7 points to 3, their biggest win in a singles session since 2001 (final session 6½-1½).
Only four teams previously had come from behind to win and the biggest margin was two points behind going into the concluding singles. In 1971, GB&I were two
behind, in 2003 GB&I were two behind, in 2019 USA were one behind and in 2023 USA were one behind.
This is the tenth victory for GB&I in the Walker Cup and makes the overall record in the match 40-10-1 to the USA.
During the Sunday morning foursomes, America dominated but a strong start to the singles on a windy Clare day sealed the way for the side captained by Dean Robertson.
Tullamore native, Stuart Grehan, the only Irish golfer in action, for the second day in a row, topped the world’s number one amateur Preston Stout while Jack Whaley recorded a historic, 8-and-7 runaway victory over William Jennings.
Further wins from Luke Poulter over Ethan Fang and Tyler Weaver against Jay Leng Jr turned the game on its head and had GB&I up 10 1/2 to 9 1/2 with six more matches left.
