Ryder Cup Task Force Members Put On High Alert As U.S.A. In Danger Of Losing The Walker Cup

We don’t know how the super secret Ryder Cup Task Force coordinated their first two meetings, but it’s not hard to imagine the signals going out to members for a Sunday night teleconference or all-out raid on Golf House should the U.S. lose the Walker Cup. I can easily see Phil, Tiger, Rickie and Derek Sprague being dropped onto the Golf House lawn and demanding to learn names of the Walker Cup committee with snipers trained on Mike Davis!

Something that seems so simple—sending twelve of America’s finest amateurs to play some foursomes and singles matches—has no one particularly impressed or happy with the USGA's recent handling. From the secretive selection process, to the two automatic mid-amateur selections, to Saturday’s Tom Watson-esque decision by Captain Spider Miller to sit the hottest amateur golfer on the planet Bryson DeChambeau, it’s little wonder the U.S. is down 7-5 heading into Sunday.

And this, while the Great Britain and Ireland team lost a top player to a college tournament, where Sam Horsfield is T-5.

The real shocker though is DeChambeau, who recently dominated the U.S. Amateur in remarkable fashion and yet sat presumably so that a pairing of two McCoys could be made (he halved his afternoon singles match). A headline writer’s dream no doubt (Real McCoys, etc...), assuming there might be headlines coming out of this event.

Alex Miceli with the lowdown on that match.

And Alistair Tait with the summary of day one, where he says home course advantage was crucial for GB&I.

A live scoring link to Sunday's matches.

For American viewers, you can try to watch the BBC on ESPN3 (app) or the highlight show at 2:30 pm ET. I explained those options in last week's Forward Press.