Cole Hammer – Syndication Server

Cole Hammer ‘almost blacks out,’ shoots career-low 64 to lead RSM Classic

“I saw some cameras show up, I knew I was doing something right.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — After making his first cut on the PGA Tour as a professional last week in Houston, Cole Hammer is taking advantage of a sponsor’s exemption into the RSM Classic, grabbing the first-round lead by carding nine birdies for a career-low 8-under 64 at the Plantation Course at Sea Island Resort.

“I almost blacked out there for a little bit,” Hammer said. “It went by in a heartbeat, but at the same time was a long day.”

And an unseasonably cold one at that. The temperature at the Seaside Course barely broke 50 degrees on Thursday. Having previously played in the Jones Cup, an amateur tournament held at nearby Ocean Forest, Hammer had experienced the wind whipping off the water in these parts and bundled up in four layers and a beanie.

“When I played the Jones Cup, it was 35 degrees, blowing 30 and raining so I told myself I’ll never play in weather like that again,” he said. “I was ready for it.”

RSM Classic: Watch PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ | Friday tee times

What Hammer wasn’t ready for was six consecutive missed cuts to start his pro career, an unexpectedly sharp learning curve after a decorated amateur career topped off by leading University of Texas to a national championship in June.

“It was a really dark period and I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “I just was putting so much pressure on myself early in the tournament that I’d get behind the 8-Ball.”

After missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship in August, he did a deep dive on his swing with instructor Bruce Davidson and is starting to see the fruits of their labor. Ten days ago, he narrowly missed securing guaranteed starts at the final stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School — he’ll have conditional status — and then opened with a 74 at the Cadence Houston Open.

“I just had about zero patience. As soon as I made a bogey, I felt like the world was ending,” he explained. “In Houston I just relaxed, took a deep breath and I made some bogeys. I basically just told myself that I can come back and nobody plays perfect golf and that’s what I was trying to do.”

Hammer shot 65 in the second round to make the cut and finished T-27. It gave him a jolt of confidence, especially when he found out after his final round that he had secured a sponsor invite into the RSM Classic.

“I was batting zero on the PGA Tour. I needed to get that monkey off my back,” he said. “To do that in my hometown event in Houston was huge for me.”

Hammer noted that he didn’t sleep well Wednesday night and started his round with low expectations.

“I hit my best drive of the day on No. 1, my 10th hole, and that swing gave me some confidence going into the back nine. I hit a wedge like two feet and knocked that in,” Hammer said.

That was his fifth birdie of the day and before long he looked up and spied his last name atop the leaderboard.

“I saw some cameras show up, I knew I was doing something right,” he said.

Hammer’s opening-round 64 was a stroke better than rookie Ben Griffin, who also played the Plantation Course. England’s Callum Tarren, who said the weather reminded him a little too much of home, and Beau Hossler tied for the low round of the day at the Seaside Course with 6-under 64s.

Hossler, a 27-year-old Texas grad who is still seeking his first victory on Tour, said he could relate to Hammer’s slow start in the pro ranks and expects him to turn the corner — perhaps even this week.

“He’s probably struggled a little bit since he’s been a pro, but tell you what, I don’t care what level you’re playing at, it’s ups and downs. I’ve had it in my career, every player out here’s had it,” Hossler said. “I think there’s a learning curve and once he gets comfortable at this level, just like I did, I think you start to say I can compete with these guys. He certainly has the ability and the competitive nature to do that. It’s just a matter of him getting experience, getting comfortable, getting confident and then frankly just playing well and popping off at the right time.”

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Ping signs three young pros to contracts: Cole Hammer, Logan McAllister and RJ Manke

The trio finished among the top five in the PGA Tour U standings to earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Ping announced Tuesday it had signed three young professionals – Cole Hammer, Logan McAllister and RJ Manke – to multiyear equipment contracts. Each of the trio earned status for the rest of the Korn Ferry Tour season after finishing in the top five of this year’s PGA Tour University, which gives college players opportunities on various tours.

Hammer helped lead the Texas Longhorns to the 2022 NCAA Division I team championship, and he was medalist at the 2021 Big 12 Conference Championship. The Houston native has played on two winning Walker Cup teams and was awarded the 2019 Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top amateur golfer. He finished on Golfweek’s Third Team All-Americans list for the 2021-22 season.

McAllister, a native of Oklahoma City, had four wins in his college career at Oklahoma. As a senior, he was named to the Ping All-America first team and All-Big 12 first team. He finished on Golfweek’s Second Team All-Americans list for the 2021-22 season.

Manke in 2021-22 was a fifth-year senior transfer from Pepperdine to the University of Washington in his home state, where he was the Pac-12 men’s player of the year while earning Ping All-America first-team honors. He won four times in college, twice at Washington and twice at Pepperdine. He finished on Golfweek’s First Team All-Americans list for the 2021-22 season.

“Our college program continues to identify and build relationships with some of the top young players in the game,” Ping President John K. Solheim said in a release announcing the signings. “To have three of the top five from the 2022 PGA Tour U class is a testament to that commitment. Cole, Logan and RJ all had exceptional records throughout their college careers and are ready to take the next step into the professional game. We’re excited to be aligned with these talented players and look forward to supporting them as they transition to the pro ranks.”

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Cole Hammer ready for PGA Tour debut as a pro after amateur career ended with title at Texas

Hammer lived up the hype as an amateur and is playing on a sponsor’s exemption this week at the Travelers.

Seven years ago at Chambers Bay in Seattle, Cole Hammer had one of the great coming out parties in golf. Not only did he qualify for the 2015 U.S. Open at age 15, the third youngest at 15 ever to do so, but he shot 77 in the first round and beat Tiger Woods by three strokes that day. With his boyish grin and precocious game, Hammer Time was born.

“I was a kid, I didn’t know what I was doing. It was like a circus. Walking out on the range with guys like Tiger, Rory and I was in complete awe. There was a few fairways I couldn’t reach. So it was just all about the experience,” he recalled. “When I was 15 I was like, you know, I could win this thing. But I think I quickly realized or now I do realize that I didn’t have a fighting chance.”

Despite lofty expectations, Hammer, 22, has achieved a decorated amateur career, including being awarded the Mark H. McCormack medal as the top amateur golfer in the world in 2019; a two-time U.S. Walker Cupper; winner of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (with Garrett Barber); Big-12 conference individual champion in 2021; and recently contributed to Texas winning the NCAA men’s team championship. He more than lived up to the hype.

Cole Hammer celebrates making a birdie putt on the 18 hole to win his Foursomes match at the 2021 Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida on Saturday, May 8, 2021. (Photo: Scott Halleran/USGA)

Now it’s time for the next step in his burgeoning career. Hammer turned professional and is playing on a sponsor’s exemption this week at the Travelers Championship.

“I’ve been watching the PGA Tour on TV for a long time,” he said. “I mean it’s been my dream to one day compete out here and this is one of the earliest tournaments that I remember watching. I remember thinking, man, that golf course looks absolutely perfect. And the atmosphere, I mean somehow there’s always dramatic finish here.”

Hammer played in the U.S. Open three times as an amateur as well as the British Open once among a total of eight PGA Tour starts, including at the Vivint Houston Open, his hometown event, last fall. He made his professional debut last week on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Wichita Open and missed the cut. He started inauspiciously with a double bogey on his first hole but bounced back with a pair of birdies.

“I’m glad I got that start under my belt before coming here. I feel like I’ve gotten myself into pressure situation now so I’m excited to use that experience,” he said. “I learned a lot about myself and how I need to prepare for tournaments. I’ve been in college for four years and basically been told how to prepare every week. And now that I’m on my own I need to, well last week was a good way for me to figure out what works for me and what doesn’t.”

Hammer is part of the second class of college seniors to earn status to play this summer through PGA Tour University. He finished fifth in the standings and earned Korn Ferry Tour status for the remainder of the season and is also exempt into the final stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament. Hammer said he felt pressure to finish in the top 5 to give himself more options at the outset of his pro career.

“I haven’t been in Q-School before but it felt like it a little bit, considering I was jockeying with a few other guys at NCAAs. Luckily I snuck into the top 5 and have those Korn Ferry starts,” he said. “It’s just so hard to get out on Tour and to have a place to play directly coming out of college is so nice. The Tour’s, I think this program is going to keep flourishing over the next few years and giving the top college players a place to play right away is incredible.”

Ready or not – he sure looks ready – it’s about to be Hammer Time.

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U.S. Open: Cole Hammer gets the call after Mikko Korhonen’s withdrawal

Cole Hammer, the 21-year-old Texas junior, earned his spot when Mikko Korhonen withdrew on Wednesday.

May was a marathon for Cole Hammer, and June is picking up steam now too. The 21-year-old junior at the University of Texas earned his spot in the U.S. Open on Wednesday a day after the completion of Final Qualifying.

Hammer left his qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday morning as the first alternate, but earned a spot when Mikko Korhonen, who was one of 10 players who earned an exemption in the three-event U.S. Open 2021 European Tour Qualifying Series, withdrew.

Hammer opened a 36-hole day on Monday at Brookside Golf & Country Club with a 73. After clawing back with a 65 at The Lakes Golf & Country Club, he was part of a 5-for-4 playoff the following morning that determined the final spots from that site. Hammer lost out to Texas teammate Pierceson Coody, Peter Malnati, Tom Hoge and Jhonattan Vegas and instead earned alternate status.

U.S. Open Final Qualifying: Final results

Although he struggled a bit in the NCAA Tournament, his coach at Texas, John Fields, said Hammer has found a happy place heading into a crucial stretch that includes this week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree — a replacement event for the RBC Canadian Open — the U.S. Open and then the British Open. Hammer tees off in the first round at Congaree at 1:16 p.m. on Thursday.

“Cole made some really good decisions in the fall,” Fields said. “He was really struggling with his golf swing. He went back and worked with Bruce Davidson, and went back to his home base at River Oaks, and started working through things.

“He was in a bit of a slump for almost 18 months, but I really think he has righted the ship. He had a few putting issues — and he’s a really good putter — but he’s hitting the golf ball as well as he ever has.“

Hammer’s trip to Torrey Pines next week will mark his third U.S. Open start, including his first at age 15 in 2015 at Chambers Bay. In the time between, Hammer has been a member of two winning U.S. Walker Cup Teams (2019, 2021).

Last month at the Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, Hammer holed the clinching putt and earned three and a half points for the Americans after playing all four sessions.

Fields, of course, has seen plenty of great players come through in his 24 years at the helm. Many of those use their prowess on the greens as the path to success. Jordan Spieth, one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, is a prime example.

And in Hammer, Fields sees similar talent.

“I think the great putters, guys like Jordan and Scottie Scheffler and Cole, they sometimes put a lot of pressure on themselves to make everything,” Fields said. “But they figure it out. Cole is not unlike Jordan and Scheffler in that regard.”

Last month at the Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, Hammer holed the clinching putt and earned three and a half points for the Americans after playing all four sessions.

The world No. 17 ranked amateur was coming off individual medalist honors at the Big 12 Championship the week before, and after the Walker Cup immediately went on to play the AT&T Byron Nelson, NCAA Regionals and then the NCAA Championship.

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Great Britain & Ireland’s secret sauce, Tyler Strafaci’s grit and other Walker Cup takeaways

There was a lot to learn from the 48th Walker Cup.

JUNO BEACH, Fla. – Cole Hammer has long seemed destined for the kind of Walker Cup glory he found on Sunday at Seminole Golf Club. Hammer won his third match outright (after tying his morning foursomes match) to secure the Cup once again for the Americans. A few minutes later, 30-year-old Stewart Hagestad claimed the 14th and winning point.

“It means the world. I honestly had no idea that my match was going to be the clinching point but it is really special,” Hammer said. “Waited two years for this. It was really close going into this afternoon and to be able to be the one to clinch it is a cool deal.”

The Americans didn’t romp to a blowout victory the way many predicted they would this week. A stomach bug – which also affected the Great Britain & Ireland team – threw a wrench in the plans on both sides. Sickness aside, here are the major takeaways from the 48th Walker Cup:

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At the end of the day, WAGR is just a number.

There was never a head-to-head match at Seminole Golf Club where a GB&I player out-ranked his opponent. The Americans were wildly ahead according to the rankings, but if we’d all paid attention to those, and awarded points accordingly, this thing would have been over before it even started.

The closest Sunday singles match, according to the WAGR, was the one between Alex Fitzpatrick (No. 12) and Pierceson Coody (No. 2). Coody birdied the 17th hole to close out Fitzpatrick for the second day in a row.

Ranking doesn’t account for much in Fitzpatrick’s mind – especially not in match play. In fact, a better ranking might even create more pressure.

“The chances are that the higher ranked player is probably a better player, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to win,” he said.

Asked if talk of rankings discrepancies lit a fire under his team, GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said he was unaware of it.

“There were a lot of comments about us hanging in well and fighting really hard,” he said. “I was more of the opinion we were letting the Americans away with it. My mindset on the whole thing, the guys played well and played really well. I think on another day, the match would have been a totally different result.”

Stuart Wilson, L-R, Mark Power and John Murphy watch the action on the 18th green during Foursomes at the 2021 Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. on Sunday, May 9, 2021. (Scott Halleran/USGA)

What was GB&I’s secret sauce?

Windy conditions with firm, fast greens seemed to play a bit into GB&I’s hands this week, but the close outcome wasn’t so much about what GB&I did surprisingly well, as Wilson noted, but where they played solidly. There was no keep-it-close mindset, and GB&I displayed that all week.

Ultimately Wilson felt a few loose shots cost his team the victory, and took that all the way back to the foursomes sessions.

“Maybe let the Americans get away with a little but too much and a few slack shots here and there,” he said.

His plan was to win foursomes on Sunday (check) then frontload the singles lineup to try to pull it off. At times, it looked as if the math would work in their favor.

Wilson highlighted preparation and on-site practice early week, even if it was interrupted by illness, as being key in GB&I’s success.

“I felt like we were bonding really well all week, had some great team morale, some great advice from Paul McGinley, just felt good out there,” GB&I player Joe Long said.

The Walker Cup - Previews — The United States Walker Cup team, with only one player (John Pak) not pictured. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

What if the alternates were always in play at the Walker Cup?

As a Walker Cup alternate, it would be hard to bring a better disposition to the occasion than the one Cooper Dossey brought to Seminole. He found out three weeks before the matches that he would serve as an on-site alternate, a decision made in light of COVID.

As a stomach bug ripped through the team, Dossey had a real chance of playing. Ultimately, his fellow alternate Mac Meissner got into the opening four-ball session, but Dossey only spent the week outfitted with an earpiece. He appeared on the first tee with the team and walked most of Sunday afternoon with an ailing Tyler Strafaci.

“I got here on Saturday and that’s what really intrigued me was they have treated me like I was on the team from the get-go,” he said. “I’ve played every practice round with them, I’ve gotten every piece of gear they’ve gotten, my own hotel room. It’s been pretty sweet.”

Only eight players compete in the first three sessions as it is and choosing who sits among the core 10 players is already a hard decision. Interestingly, in 2019 Crosby had all four lineups decided before the matches ever started – that meant he ended up sitting some of his hottest players, notably John Pak. Crosby indicated he’d have done that again but for have to deal with so much sickness.

While alternates were certainly necessary this week, it seems unlikely they’ll be in the mix again anytime soon.

“I’m not so sure we really need traveling reserves in a regular year,” Wilson said. “I think the 10-man squad is quite good as it is because you’ve kind of got natural two reserves naturally for the first three sessions as it is. I think the 10-man squad is quite good as it is because you’ve kind of got natural two reserves naturally for the first three sessions as it is.”

The Walker Cup - Day 2 — Jack Dyer of Team Great Britain and Ireland (L) meets with Tyler Strafaci of Team USA after Dyer won their match during Sunday singles matches on Day Two of The Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club on May 09, 2021 in Juno Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Applaud Strafaci simply for staying on his feet.

Strafaci, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, took himself out of Saturday singles at the last minute. The 22-year-old said later, after a trip to the hospital for IV fluids, that he was seeing two golf balls while he was trying to warm up. In close matches such as these, it was arguably the most heroic move he could have made – Strafaci’s withdrawal allowed William Mouw to step in and score a point against Ben Jones.

On Sunday, a slightly-recovered Strafaci appeared in two sessions and by late afternoon was bending over slowly and walking gingerly. Strafaci failed to put a point on the board on the final day – though he did nearly hole his final bunker shot on the closing hole – but the sheer strength it took just to stay on his feet will be a lasting memory from these matches.

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U.S. pulls off a close Walker Cup victory amid a dazzling Seminole backdrop

The U.S. team got the win everyone predicted. Captain Nathaniel Crosby received the proper curtain call. And Seminole Golf Club dazzled.

JUNO BEACH – The U.S. team got the victory everyone predicted Sunday.

U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby received the proper curtain call.

And Seminole Golf Club dazzled like everyone expected.

That’s how the 48th Walker Cup Match will be remembered: For the golf, the drama and the incredible beauty that is Seminole.

Florida sophomore Ricky Castillo went 4-0 for the U.S. and Cole Hammer scored the deciding point as the heavily-favored Americans held off a valiant effort by Great Britain-Ireland for a 14-12 victory. It was the fifth consecutive victory for the U.S. team on home soil and improved its series lead to 38-9-1.

“It means the world to me,” said Hammer, who went 3-0-1. “I had no idea I was the clinching putt. Living up to expectations are hard. We looked great on paper, but winning is still a difficult deal.”

Castillo defeated Joe Murphy, 2 and 1, and Hammer easily beat Ben Schmidt, 4 and 3. Castillo and Hammer were a combined 7-0-1.

“It’s a pretty cool experience for my first Walker Cup,” Castillo said. “This is the pinnacle of amateur golf.”

Stewart Hagestad, at 30 the oldest player on the U.S. team, struggled while losing his first two matches and lost his first two holes to Ben Jones. But Hagestad won five consecutive holes, starting at No. 9, to coast to a 4-and-2 win and give the U.S. its 14th point.

“I feel very lucky to be a part of it,” Hagestad said. “These guys are so talented and they are going to go on and have great careers.”

Paced by Austin Eckroat’s 7-and-6 trouncing of previously undefeated Mark Power and Pierceson Coody’s 3-and-1 victory over Andrew Fitzpatrick, the Americans got an early boost to gain the 4 ½ points they needed in singles.

“I had the momentum the whole round,” Eckroat said. “It was one of those days where I made all the putts and he missed them all.”

GB&I had closed the U.S.’s advantage to 8 ½-7 ½ after Sunday’s foursomes, but never could gain the lead.

“There’s been a lot of chatter about us hanging in there,” said GB&I captain Stuart Wilson said. “But we let the Americans away with too much.”

GB&I’s Joe Long, who was playing for the first time after being sidelined by the stomach virus, took advantage of John Pak’s shot into the penalty area and a chunked trip on the 18th hole to keep the visitors alive with a 2-up victory.

GB&I got more late heroics from Matty Lamb, who won the 17th hole to beat Davis Thompson, 2 up, but the U.S.’s Quade Cummins won the 18th to get a halve over Barclay Brown.

Reigning U.S. Amateur Tyler Strafaci finally got a chance to play in the Walker Cup after also being sidelined by stomach issues and taken to the hospital for fluids on Saturday. He lost both matches Sunday, however.

Seminole certainly didn’t disappoint

With dignitaries such as the 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush – his great-grandfather George Herbert Walker donated the Walker Cup – and legend Jack Nicklaus on hand, the Donald Ross gem amazed and confounded some of the world’s best amateurs with its ridiculously quick greens.

It’s the first time Seminole has hosted a Walker Cup, which was probably overdue considering the membership includes nine former players and 11 former captains. Seminole president Jimmy Dunne decided it was better late than never.

“Seminole is a really special place,” Dunne said as the final pairings teed off Sunday. “It was always our dream to open it to the amateur world.”

Crosby, a longtime Seminole member who first visited the club with his father Bing in the mid-1970s, is glad he decided to serve another captaincy after leading the team to a victory in 2019 at Royal Portrush. He originally hesitated after the thrill of two years ago.

“This is full circle for me,” Crosby said. “It was a miracle beyond miracles we had the event when everyone started getting sick. The Walker Cup is a spectacle. To win at Seminole is a dream for me.”

Crosby pointed out the Walker Cup, without spectator ropes, provides a rare chance for golf fans to walk among some of the game’s top players before they become famous. It’s not like that in other sports.

“Fifty percent of these guys will go on to become Tour stars,” he said. “People understand college basketball, but I think they really miss seeing these guys before they become marquee.”

The Walker Cup is so special that Bob Ford, Seminole’s head professional since 2000, waited until the event was held before he retired after a brilliant career that included 37 years as head pro at Oakmont Country Club. It proved to be a fitting curtain call.

“It exceeded my expectations,” Ford said. “The members are so proud. I don’t think anything could have gone better.”

Golf fans were treated to a more competitive Walker Cup than most imagined. The U.S. never trailed the last two days and finally found a way to win the Cup.

Sure, there was a pesky stomach virus that altered pairings, made life miserable for the players and complicated for the captains. But in the end, it was all about the golf.

As it should be.

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The Walker Cup has become the ultimate endurance match as the U.S. leads GB&I by only two points

So many variables are in the mix at the Walker Cup, not the least of which is a stomach bug, that Sunday’s finale proves to be a thrill.

JUNO BEACH, Fla. – The war stories from the 48th Walker Cup will be told for years. On a crusty, dehydrating day at Seminole Golf Club, players came in and out of both lineups – one even went to the hospital (for the second time this week) – and yet when the light turned golden on the edge of the Atlantic, all men were still on their feet.

“We’ve been thrown a bunch of punches from different directions,” said American Cole Hammer, who bookended the day with a pair of points for the U.S., “and we’ve handled it pretty well.”

Nothing has gone as scripted in these matches, from the stomach ailment that has swept through both teams to the tight score after the first day. The Americans are on favorable turf and a favorable spot on the calendar, yet after the first two sessions GB&I only trails 5-7.

“I was a nervous parent all day is what it felt like to me,” U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby said.

Sitting next to Hammer while speaking to media in the setting sun, Crosby truly did get a bit parental. He insists he’s not known for nagging or pep talks. Grabbing a player by the ears is more his style.

When you’re 5 up (as Hammer was after nine holes), take it to 6 up (Hammer rather let opponent John Murphy back into the match before closing him on out on No. 17), Crosby preaches. And definitely carry the 62-degree wedge around a place with lies as tight and greens as fast as Seminole (to this, a Hammer wince).

The Walker Cup - Day 1 — Cole Hammer of Team USA celebrates with captain Nathaniel Crosby after winning his match against John Murphy during Saturday singles at the Walker Cup. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

It’s the kind of humor you need on a week when 18 of 24 combined players (made up of each 10-man team plus each team’s two alternates) are going down like flies. Crosby and opposing captain Stuart Wilson weren’t spared in that.

“It hit me really hard yesterday,” Crosby said when asked how difficult it might be to tee it up after being down for the count. “But I think it probably varies from person to person.”

Hammer is one of few who haven’t been afflicted. On the other side of the coin, reigning U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci hasn’t actually played a match yet, having turned over his afternoon singles spot to William Mouw with just a few minutes to spare.

It’s truly unfortunate for Strafaci, who coveted a spot on this team perhaps more than anyone. It was the chapter left unwritten by his grandfather Frank Strafaci, the 1935 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion.

After Strafaci returned from his second hospital visit this week, he walked around the back nine gingerly with his team – a cotton ball still taped to the inside of his right arm.

“It was tough. I mean, I wanted to go out and compete,” he said. “It’s what I’ve been preparing my whole life for. It wasn’t easy at all. Physically I just couldn’t have walked 18 holes today. I was just really out of it, and three IVs in, I feel much better now, so I’m ready for tomorrow.”

Mouw was ill early week but has recovered, and on short notice scored a point for the U.S. against Ben Jones. In Mouw’s mind, being prepared for long hot days at the start of the week will help them all get through another day.

“It takes a lot out of you, 36 holes, but if you’re mentally prepared, I think you’ll be just fine.”

John Pak was the man of the matches for the U.S. in 2019 as the only player to go undefeated. But after coming off the bench – or rather, out of the sick bay – to tee it up in the afternoon, Pak experienced his first Walker Cup loss.

Pierceson Coody was in a similar situation, having slept in late to recover as much as possible before going out in the first match again GB&I stalwart Alex Fitzpatrick. After being sick for much of the past 24 to 36 hours, Coody was surprised how light the club felt when he returned.

“It was tough when about five of us, Thursday night we were all looking at each other like, we’re going to the hospital. We can’t even lay in our beds,” he said. “it was a really weird feeling, it was a really down feeling for sure. Once everyone started off this morning, I think that mojo and those feels went away really fast.”

The highlight of Coody’s round came mid-way through the back nine, where he made birdie on No. 12 to tie Fitzpatrick.

“It gave me a lot of freedom to play the par 5s,” he said. Coody made back-to-back birdies on the long holes (Nos. 14 and 15) and successfully closed out Fitzpatrick with another birdie on No. 18.

GB&I split morning foursomes 2-2 with the Americans. In the afternoon, Mark Power, Matty Lamb (like Mouw, a late sub-in for British Amateur champion Joe Long, who also hasn’t seen action this week) and Barclay Brown all got points.

GB&I captain Stuart Wilson was pleased with the morning result and feels his squad is still very much in this. The visitors need 13 ½ points to win the cup while the Americans just need 13 to retain. The last time GB&I won on foreign soil was in 2001 at Ocean Forest in Sea Island, Georgia.

“The singles this afternoon it was very, very close to finishing the day at 6-all, but unfortunately didn’t quite go our way towards the end there,” Wilson said, “but we’ve got an extra two points to play for tomorrow, and we still feel like we’re very much in it,” he said.

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As stomach virus rips through Walker Cup, feisty Great Britain and Ireland team hangs tough

As a stomach virus ripped through Walker Cup, forcing four alternates to play, a feisty Great Britain and Ireland team is hanging tough.

JUNO BEACH. Fla. – It takes a strong stomach to play in the pressures of a Walker Cup.

Unfortunately for the 48th Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club, that adage has proven to be true literally.

The gastro-intestinal issues that have hit more than 15 players on the U.S. and Great Britain and Ireland teams this week became more dramatic Saturday when reigning U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci had to withdraw from his singles match after he became sick on the range and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Strafaci, who plans on turning professional next week, had built his year’s schedule by concluding his amateur career at the Walker Cup. After receiving fluids and three IVs, Strafaci returned to Seminole and hugged his replacement, William Mouw, after Mouw’s 4-and-3 win over Ben Jones.

“It was tough,” Strafaci said. “I wanted to come out and compete. I’ve been preparing for this my entire life. But I just couldn’t walk 18 holes. (Mouw) got the job done and I feel a lot better about it.”

Strafaci’s withdrawal – one of four players to be replaced Saturday for health reasons – overshadowed a day when the heavily-favored U.S. struggled to a 7-5 lead over feisty GB&I. The Americans won 5-of-8 singles matches in glorious conditions at picturesque Seminole.

This is not the walkover most expected. The average world amateur ranking for the U.S. team is 15, compared to 66 for GBI.

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“I think the guys have a lot of self-belief, and I don’t see why that should change,” said GB&I’s Jake Bolton, an alternate who helped his team win a foursomes match after replacing star Joe Long. “We’re all good players, and we all deserve to be here, so we’re going to give it our best shot.”

Both teams had to go to alternates for the first time in the Walker Cup’s 99-year history. The only reason alternates were on site this year was due to COVID-19 precautions.

Alternates Mac Meissner of the U.S. also was subbed into Saturday morning foursomes matches and led his team to a win.

Because of the stomach virus affecting both teams, the USGA changed its rules so the captains could delay announcing their foursomes and singles lineup. USGA officials ruled out COVID-19 and food poisoning as the cause. Strafaci is expected to play Sunday.

“It’s been bizarre for a lot of reasons,” said U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby Jr., who also had to be hospitalized this week. “I think we have a one-up lead on guys who got sick this week (eight U.S. players to seven for GBI).

“Hat’s off to the USGA for being flexible. You don’t want to put guys out there who are sick and ask them to play 36 holes. It’s amazing we’re playing at all.”

The Americans dominated the morning foursomes matches and had a chance to take a 3 ½-½ lead until GBI roared back to flip a match and halve another one. The morning session ended in a 2-2 tie as all four matches went to the 18th hole for the first time since 1983.

The U.S. team, hoping to win on home soil for the fifth consecutive time, jumped to an afternoon lead. Florida sophomore Ricky Castillo won 5-and-3 over Ben Schmidt and Cole Hammer defeated John Murphy, 3-and-1, to both go 2-0 on Saturday.

“We were dropping like dominoes for a while,” Hammer said. “It’s not been easy. But we have handled adversity this week.”

Earlier, Hammer slammed home a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to help him and partner Davis Thompson eke out a 1-up victory over Alex Fitzpatrick and Barclay Brown. Castillo and Meissner, pressed into action because of John Pak’s illness, defeated John Dyer and Matty Lamb, 2-up.

Mark Power was the lone GB&I player to go 2-0 Saturday. He defeated Davis Thompson, 3-and-2, after teaming with John Murphy for a 1-up victory over Quade Cummins and Austin Eckroat.

Pierceson Coody, grandson of former Masters champion Charles Coody, edged Alex Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of world No.17 Matthew Fitzpatrick, 2-up.

GB&I’s Barclay Brown beat John Pak, 2-and-1 and U.S’s Eckroat won two late holes for a 1-up victory over Angus Ferguson.

The U.S. team, which leads the series 37-9-1, needs 13 points to retain the cup. GBI needs 13 ½ to win the Cup. There are four foursomes matches and 10 singles matches Sunday.

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He’s back: Renewed Cole Hammer puts big point on board for Americans to open Walker Cup

Cole Hammer is one of only three returners for the U.S. Walker Cup team at Seminole, and he’s already delivered in a big way.

JUNO BEACH, Fla. – First out for the Americans on Saturday morning at the Walker Cup, Cole Hammer effectively lassoed in the match that very easily could have gotten away. Hammer and partner Davis Thompson, both former No. 1-ranked amateurs in the world, were out to a big lead – 3 up on the 14th tee – but nearly let it slip away.

Alex Fitzpatrick had a hand in that drama, holing a big par putt at No. 15 that came in the middle of a three-hole Great Britain and Ireland back-nine run. Fitzpatrick horse-shoed out a par save at the par-3 16th, leaving the door open for the Americans to save the match. Hammer kicked that door closed with a 35-footer for birdie on No. 18 that gave the U.S. the first point on the board.

That turned out to be key an hour later, as the U.S. stood tied 2-2 with GB&I after the first session.

“It was a wild match,” Hammer said. “We tied 1 and 2, and we didn’t tie a hole after that I don’t think. It was a lot of up-and-downs, and we just had to stay in there and try to do our thing.”

That first point feeling!@cole_hammer6765 | #WalkerCup pic.twitter.com/O3XV2Gf7ve

— The Walker Cup (@WalkerCup) May 8, 2021

The golf world continues to get more and more glimpses of Hammer. After his U.S. Open debut at Chambers Bay in 2015 – when he was only 15 years old – his story has become less about his very memorable surname and more about his game. Hammer hysteria arguably peaked in the summer of 2018, after he won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (along with partner Garrett Barber) and the Western Amateur. He was a semifinalist at both the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur and a year later, ascended to world No. 1 for a total of 12 weeks.

Hammer, now a junior at Texas and the recent winner of the individual Big 12 title, easily made the 2019 Walker Cup team. His pick came courtesy of that No. 1 world ranking. But even before appearing in the matches at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England – as early as the spring of 2019 – Hammer felt his game slipping.

“I wasn’t hitting it well the last Walker Cup,” he said. “I can remember that vividly.”

He won only one point in Hoylake, and that came in Sunday singles. It left a bad taste.

Asked to assess his game on the eve of the 2021 Walker Cup, Hammer revealed a struggle to get back to basics. He was too shut and laid off at the top of his swing, which made it hard to hit the draw he wanted to hit. Hammer went back to work with Bruce Davidson at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, a man he worked with growing up.

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Hammer “wanted with everything in his body” to make another Walker Cup team. He felt behind the eight-ball last fall after missing the cut at the U.S. Amateur and falling in the first round of the Maridoe Amateur.

Selection to the 16-man Walker Cup practice squad in December was a good sign, but here’s a move that revealed his position on the bubble: When, during that week, U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby asked who was ending his year at the South Beach International Amateur (the last big men’s amateur event on the 2020 schedule), only Hammer’s hand shot up.

He ended up winning that event by five shots.

“I usually don’t play in the winter to take some time off from the college schedule,” he said. “It’s pretty rigorous; we play a lot of golf, but I decided I needed to. So I played in the Maridoe Am, did not play well, so I pretty much knew that I had to play well at the South Beach.

“Honestly it was probably the biggest win I’ve ever had in terms of confidence and in terms of showing myself that I can do it when it matters.”

Talking in late March about how his roster stacked up, Crosby went straight to Hammer.

“My hats off to Cole for having a stick-to-it attitude and coming back after an iffy summer for him,” he said, “and earning his way back onto the team when the last time he was the No. 1 amateur in the world and he was kind of a shoe-in.”

Part of Hammer’s struggles had to do with seeing a shot but not being able to hit it. Now, he said, he’s gotten more comfortable. The results certainly indicate that comfort.

“You know, if you had told me six months ago that I would be happy that I went through the process, I would have told you you’re crazy,” Hammer said the night before the first match, “but sitting here now I’m glad I did it.”

Here’s betting there are several other red-white-and-blue-clad compatriots at Seminole this week that are glad he did, too.

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Americans blow early advantage; Walker Cup all tied after Saturday’s foursomes

Just when it appeared the U.S. was going to take a healthy lead, Great Britain-Ireland rallied to earn a tie on Saturday morning.

JUNO BEACH, Florida – Just when it appeared the United States was going to take a healthy lead in the 48th Walker Cup Match after Saturday morning’s foursomes at Seminole Golf Club, Great Britain and Ireland rallied to earn a 2-2 tie.

The Americans had sizable leads in three matches and were tied in the other on the back nine, but GB&I found their form on Seminole’s devilish closing holes.

This Walker Cup may go the distance; it certainly did in the morning session. It’s the first time since 1983 that all four matches went to the 18th hole.

Both teams had to go to alternates for the first time in the Walker Cup’s 99-year history because of a stomach virus that ran through both teams the last few days. The only reason the alternates were on site this year was due to COVID-19 precautions.

GB&I alternate Jake Bolton made a 30-foot par putt on Seminole’s treacherous 17th hole to lift him and partner Angus Flanagan to a 1-up victory over Stewart Hagestad and William Mouw.

Bolton then hit an approach shot from Seminole’s range to 10 feet at the 18th hole to clinch the victory and enable GB&I to not lose any ground against the heavily-favored Americans who are trying to win on home soil for the fifth consecutive time.

“Obviously, our point is hugely important now,” said England’s Bolton. “I think the guys have a lot of self-belief, and I don’t see why that should change. We’re all good players, and we all deserve to be here, so we’re going to give it our best shot.”

As it was, one of the U.S.’s two wins came when Cole Hammer, well, hammered home a 35-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to help him and partner Davis Thompson eke out a 1-up victory over Alex Fitzpatrick and Barclay Brown. Hammer and Thompson had led by three with five holes left.

“What a wild match,” Hammer said. “It was a lot of up-and-downs, and we just had to stay in there and try to do our thing. I was just lucky enough to be able to roll in that putt.”

Irishmen Mark Power and John Murphy of GB&I fought back from a 3-down deficit after 10 holes to win four of the last five holes to win 1-up over Quade Cummins and Austin Eckroat. Power and Murphy didn’t lead until the 17th hole, squaring the Walker Cup at 1-1.

“We got a couple bad breaks early on, but we just had to not force anything,” Murphy said. This is a golf course of mistakes so let’s let them make the mistakes.”

Cole Hammer of Team USA putts on the 18th green as teammate Davis Thompson looks on during Day One of The Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club on May 08, 2021, in Juno Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

American alternate Mac Meissner, inserted because of John Pak’s illness, teamed with Ricky Castillo to help the U.S. to a 2-up victory over Jack Dyer and Marty Lamb.

“It’s been a whirlwind of emotions, from being sick on Thursday night to being able to play this morning,” Meissner said. “I was so nervous on that first tee ball that I hit on that second hole, but after that, we calmed down and we played some awesome golf coming in.”

Because of the stomach virus affecting both teams, the USGA changed its rules so the captains could delay announcing their foursomes and singles lineup until late Friday night and midday Saturday, respectively.

“It’s been bizarre for a lot of reasons,” said U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby Jr., a Seminole member. “I think we have a one-up lead on guys who got sick this week (eight U.S. players to seven for GB&I).

“Hats off to the USGA for being flexible. You don’t want to put guys out there who are sick and ask them to play 36 holes.”

There are eight singles matches Saturday afternoon. Seminole is hosting the Walker Cup for the first time in history.

Afternoon Singles

(All times ET)

2:30 p.m. – Alex Fitzpatrick, GB&I vs. Pierceson Coody, USA
2:41 p.m. – Mark Power, GB&I vs. Davis Thompson, USA
2:52 p.m. – Ben Schmidt, GB&I vs. Ricky Castillo, USA
3:03 p.m. – Ben Jones, GB&I vs. Tyler Strafaci, USA
3:14 p.m. – Joe Long, GB&I vs. Quade Cummins, USA
3:25 p.m. – Angus Flanagan, GB&I vs. Austin Eckroat, USA
3:36 p.m. – Barclay Brown, GB&I vs. John Pak, USA
3:47 p.m. – John Murphy, GB&I vs. Cole Hammer, USA