"Brainless of me": Early scooped putt sparks Walker Cup rules drama

The opening foursomes session of the 51st Walker Cup at Lahinch Golf Club was full of drama. The United States entered as clear favorites on paper, but faced a determined Great Britain and Ireland side seeking to end Team USA’s five-match winning streak.

In the opening match, world No. 1 amateur Preston Stout and Ethan Fang faced Stuart Grehan and Eliot Baker. The teams traded blows for 15 holes, with Grehan and Baker holding a 1-up lead with three holes remaining. The Americans won the 16th and 17th to reach the final hole with a chance to put the first point on the board.

GB&I made a birdie four on the par-5 18th. Stout then had a short birdie putt that would have tied the hole and won the match for the Americans, but his attempt slid past. The sides halved the hole, giving each team half a point.

The next two matches also went to the final hole. Tyler Weaver and Connor Graham defeated Jay Leng Jr. and Kihei Akina, 1 up, putting the first full point on the board for GB&I. The United States responded when Tyler Watts and Miles Russell defeated Luke Poulter and Sam Easterbrook with a birdie on the par-5 18th.

“It was huge,” Watts said of the point he and Russell secured. “I was looking at that leaderboard on the 18th tee, and we kind of knew we needed to win that match just to see some red on the board. Yeah, that putt was pretty big.”

With both sides at 1.5 points, the fourth and final match would decide who landed the first blow in Ireland. Niall Sheils Donegan and Josh Hill quickly moved 4 up through eight holes against Ryder Cowan and Josiah Gilbert.

Then came the drama on the par-4 ninth. Sheils Donegan had a makeable birdie putt but missed on the high side. Assuming the putt had been conceded, he picked up his ball and moved to replay the putt. Cowan and Hill had not confirmed the concession, however, and Cowan immediately pointed out that the putt had not been conceded when Sheils Donegan picked up the ball. A rules official was called, and the hole was awarded to the Americans.

The mistake did not cost GB&I. Sheils Donegan and Hill went on to win the match 4 up, giving GB&I a 2.5-1.5 lead after the morning session.

“Those were massive holes for us,” Sheils Donegan said of the birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 that came before the incident. “Unfortunately, I had a little bit of brainlessness from me on 9, but those two birdies were massive for us to build a good margin where nine could happen and it wouldn’t really punish us too much. We did a great job in defense of that.”

“It was completely on me,” Donegan added in comments relayed by Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine. “I hit the 6-footer and missed it like an idiot. I had a foot back, and I just dragged it away like I’m in a Sunday bounce game, but those aren’t the rules of golf. And you screw up, but it’s not about how you screw up, it’s about how you bounce back—and we bounced back amazingly.”

GB&I has not won the Walker Cup since 2015, but captain Dean Robertson’s team made the kind of start needed to upset a loaded American side. Even Sheils Donegan’s early scooped putt could not derail what was nearly a dream start for GB&I.