Andy DevaneyThe Walker Cup at Lahinch produced exactly the sort of opening day this format tends to reward: good golf, untidy nerves and a scoreboard that refused to sit still.
Great Britain and Ireland finished 6½-5½ ahead of the United States after winning the final three singles matches, a late recovery that transformed a two-point deficit into a one-point advantage before 8,000 spectators on the County Clare links.
GB&I turn the scoreboard around late
For a while, the afternoon had begun to look distinctly American.
Ethan Fang edged Jack Whaley by one hole, Jay Leng Jr beat Tyler Weaver 2&1 and William Jennings squeezed past Connor Graham by one hole. Stewart Hagestad then added another point, beating Ben Bolton 2&1 to extend his formidable Walker Cup singles record to eight wins from nine matches.
That sequence moved the USA 5½-3½ in front. On a day of small margins, two points suddenly looked rather large.
GB&I answered without fuss. Niall Sheils Donegan beat Tyler Watts 3&2, Eliot Baker defeated Josiah Gilbert by the same score and Luke Poulter completed the recovery with a 2&1 victory over Miles Russell.
Three matches. Three points. One thoroughly altered scoreboard.
Donegan finished as the hosts’ standout performer with two points from two matches, while Fang supplied 1½ points for the Americans.
Stuart Grehan delivers Lahinch’s loudest moment
The singles had opened with the sort of finish captains remember and spectators tend to improve slightly with every retelling.
Stuart Grehan was three down after five holes against world number one Preston Stout but worked his way back into the match and reached the 18th with everything still undecided.
A birdie four at the last gave Grehan the victory and produced the loudest cheer of the day around the 18th-hole arena.
It was a substantial point as well as a theatrical one. Stout had already contributed half a point alongside Fang in the morning foursomes, while Grehan had shared that match with Baker. Their afternoon meeting gave the home favourite another crack at the world number one. This time there was no sharing involved.
Foursomes give the hosts an early foothold
GB&I had started with a 2½-1½ advantage from the opening foursomes, although there was little comfort in the margins. Three of the four matches went to the 18th.
Donegan and Josh Hill provided the cleanest result of the session, beating Josiah Gilbert and Ryder Cowan 4&3.
Grehan and Baker halved with Stout and Fang, while Connor Graham and Tyler Weaver secured a one-hole victory over Jay Leng Jr and Kihei Akina, helped considerably by Graham’s putting.
The Americans collected their full point through Russell and Tyler Watts.
Luke Poulter and Sam Easterbrook had looked capable of denying them even that. Three down after the 10th, the GB&I pair won the 12th, 13th and 17th to draw level. Russell supplied the answer at the last, holing a birdie putt to secure the match.
It was the morning in miniature: nobody was being given much, and even less was staying settled.
Robertson enjoys the lead without mistaking it for safety
Dean Robertson described it as probably the finest day of golf he had been involved in, but the GB&I captain was equally conscious of how little an overnight advantage guarantees.
He pointed to the team’s previous experience at Cypress Point, where a strong foursomes performance was followed by a far less enjoyable singles session, and expects Sunday’s weather to add another variable.
The USA’s depth remains obvious. Nathan Smith’s side erased the morning deficit, moved two clear during the singles and showed little sign of being troubled by ending the day one point behind.
Smith remains confident in his pairings and expects tougher conditions. His immediate requirement is straightforward enough: a productive morning foursomes session before ten points become available in the afternoon singles.
Neither captain needs a calculator yet. Sunday will provide quite enough arithmetic of its own.
One point separates two sides with plenty left
The score is simple: GB&I 6½, USA 5½.
The more revealing detail is how Robertson’s side arrived there. They absorbed four successive American singles victories, found themselves two points down and then took every remaining match.
The Americans can look at precisely the same sequence and reach a different conclusion. They were good enough to wrestle control of the contest away from the hosts and have ample opportunity to do so again.
Sunday begins with foursomes before ten singles decide the match.
Live coverage is available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland and Golf Channel in the US, with coverage also carried on R&A TV and R&A YouTube.
Lahinch has already had one day of noise. The scoreboard suggests it has saved the argument for Sunday.
