Walker Cup 2025 Preview

The 10 golfers who will represent Great Britain and Ireland at the Walker Cup at Cypress Point this week have history very much against them - the last time they won the trophy was 10 years ago when they enjoyed a 16.5-9.5 success at Royal Lytham.

The team will be captained by former DP World Tour winner Dean Robertson and features former professional Stuart Grehan, who returned to the amateur ranks this year.

Robertson’s team will be boosted by an impressive 16½-8½ triumph over the Continent of Europe at the recent St Andrews Trophy in Spain.

Robertson said: "This talented team represents the very best in skill, unity, resilience and determination and each player is thoroughly deserving of the opportunity to compete in the Walker Cup for Great Britain and Ireland. I've been watching the players over a long period to understand their personalities and attributes to meet the demands presented by Cypress Point.

"We are underdogs but I’m confident we are equipped to compete at the highest level and will give it our best shot. We are travelling to Cypress Point to embrace the challenge, honour the legacy of the Walker Cup and aim to make history by reclaiming this famous trophy."

The top five players on the World Amateur Golf Ranking and five selections make up the GB&I side. The team includes all nine players who won the St Andrews Trophy, including Luke Poulter, son of Ian, and fellow Englishman Tyler Weaver, the top-ranked player in the side at 11th in the standings.

Scottish duo Cameron Adam and Connor Graham, who both qualified to compete in The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, are included with Graham the only returning player in the team that lost to the USA 14½-11½ at St Andrews in 2023. Countryman Niall Shiels Donegan is also included fresh from his impressive run to the semi-finals of the US Amateur.

It is hard to see any way that a hugely talented US team fails to retain the trophy. In the years to come you can be certain that many of their players will become household names in the paid ranks.

Take Mason Howell as an example. Just 18 years of age, he is fresh from a crushing victory at the US Amateur. He also played in the US Open after shooting bogey-free back-to-back 63s in Final Qualifying at Piedmont Driving Club, in Atlanta. He earned medalist at the 2025 US Junior Amateur at Trinity Forest Golf Club, but lost in the opening round to US National Junior Team member Henry Guan, and reached match play in the 2024 US Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills. Howell finished T-9 at the 2025 Junior PGA Championship. Howell won the 2025 Georgia High School Individual Stroke Play title and is committed to play collegiately at the University of Georgia in 2026. He is also part of the U.S. National Development Program as a member of Georgia’s State Junior Team, along with 2025 US Junior Amateur champion Hamilton Coleman. 

Oh, and he wasn’t even one of the automatic qualifiers!

Ethan Fang, 20, won the 130th Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s, becoming the first American in 18 years to win the oldest amateur competition. He helped Oklahoma State claim the 2025 NCAA Division I title, posting a 2-1 record in match play, including a 1-up victory over Bryan Lee, of Virginia, in the championship match. Fang advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2024 US Amateur at Hazeltine National and reached the Round of 16 at the 2022 US Junior Amateur at Bandon Dunes. He played one season at the University of California-Berkeley before transferring to Oklahoma State University in the fall of 2024.

Nathan Smith, captain of the USA Team, said: "This group of players has earned the opportunity to be part of this team and I’m thrilled to see their hard work rewarded. I am beyond excited to have our full team set as we begin to prepare for Cypress Point."

The cup is named after George Herbert Walker, who was president of the USGA in 1920 when the match was initiated. Walker is the grandfather and namesake of George H.W. Bush and great-grandfather of George W. Bush, the 41st and 43rd Presidents of the United States.

Unlike the Ryder Cup, which also began as a competition between the US and Great Britain, the Walker Cup has never been expanded to include all European amateur golfers.

The US lead the Walker Cup series 39 to 9, with one match tied, but the two teams have been more evenly matched since 1989 when the Great Britain and Ireland team ended the US team's eight-match winning run. The 1989 match and the three matches from 2003 to 2007 were all decided by a single point.

USA:

Jackson, Koivun, 20, World No. 1 Amateur

Ben James, 22, World No. 2 Amateur

Michael le Sasso, 21, World No. 3 Amateur

Ethan Fang, 20, British Amateur Champion

Preston Stout, 21, World No. 4 Amateur

Mason Howell, 18, US Amateur Champion

Stewart Hagestad, 34, Mid-Amateur Champion

Jacob Modleski, 20

Tommy Morrison, 21

Jase Summy, 21

GB&I:

Cameron Adam, Scotland, Royal Burgess, 22

Eliot Baker, England, Tiverton, 22

Dominic Clemons, England, Gog Magog, 23

Charlie Forster, England, Basingstoke, 22

Connor Graham, Scotland, Blairgowrie, 18

Stuart Grehan, Ireland, County Louth, 32

Luke Poulter, England, Woburn, 21

Niall Shiels Donegan, Scotland, Meadow Club, 20

Gavin Tiernan, Ireland, County Louth, 19

Tyler Weaver, England, Bury St Edmunds, 20

How to Watch:

Saturday, September 6, Sky Sports Golf,  5.30pm; Sunday, September 7, Sky Sports Golf, 5.30pm.