4. The U.S. can still win the Walker Cup abroad
Before the 2019 Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England, an American team hadn’t won on the road since 2007. With an 8 to 2 performance in Sunday singles, the U.S. pulled it off in September to take the Cup into the next decade.
So how did the U.S. do it? Increased attention to foursome preparation likely played some role. The Walker Cup has also become the carrot in men’s amateur golf, though that’s nothing new this decade. John Augenstein won the clinching point for the Americans in England, and he had boldly stated a month earlier during the U.S. Amateur that he cared first about making the team, and second about winning the Havemeyer Trophy. (He accomplished the former, but fell one win short of the latter.)