Rickie Fowler sank this crucial 23-foot par putt on the 13th hole that was a turning point in the U.S. winning the first foursomes match of the 41st Walker Cup. Photo by Robert D. Thomas/SCGA

By Robert D. Thomas
Southern California Golf Association
"Pars win holes, holes win matches" is an old adage in foursomes play and SCGA member Rickie Fowler of Murrieta and Billy Horschel of Grant, Fla. put it to good use today, getting the United States off to a fast start with a 4 & 3 win over Lloyd Saltman of Scotland and Rhys Davies of Wales in the first match of the 41st Walker Cup at Royal County Down.

It was the only full point for the American side, but the last team of Jonathan Moore and Webb Simpson rallied with a birdie 3 on the 17th hole and then saw Simpson sink an improbable 117-foot eagle putt up onto a ledge on the par-5 finishing hole to give the U.S. a 2-2 draw in the morning round.

In other matches, the Irish duo of Jonathan Caldwell and Rory McIlroy won two of the last three holes to escape with a halve against U.S. Amateur and Public Links champion Colt Knost and Dustin Johnson, while John Parry and David Horsey grabbed GBI's first full point by edging Kyle Stanley and Trip Kuehne, 2 & 1.

On a cool, misty morning, with fog shrouding the Mountains of Mourne that hang over this famous links, Fowler and Horschel made just one birdie and added an eagle in their match but also made nine pars to grind out the win over two GBI Walker Cup veterans. Fowler and Horschel lost just two holes, both par 3s that they butchered en route to victory in the alternate shot format.

The 18-year-old Fowler, the 2006 California State High School champion, was impressive with booming drives and crisp irons in the alternate shot format but, more importantly, sank several crucial putts en route to the victory. "We knew that we were going to have to make some putts if we were to beat Lloyd and Rhys," said Fowler later.

The first of those crucial putts was at the 440-yard 11th hole when Fowler rolled in a 15-foot that just tumbled in the hole on the last roll to earn the USA a halve on the hole.

Billy Horschel rimmed out this 50-foot birdie putt but moments later, the U.S. won the first foursomes match of the 41st Walker Cup. Photo by Robert D. Thomas/SCGA

The match essentially changed on the next two holes. Horschel's 30-foot eagle putt on the 12th hole extended the U.S. lead to 3-up, setting the stage for the the 444-yard 13th hole. Horschel's drive was in the fairway but far right, leaving Fowler with a totally blind shot to a rolling green. Fowler pulled that shot short and left of the greenside bunker and Horschel's chip rolled off a ledge 23 feet from the hole.

Meanwhile, Saltman hit driver, challenging the narrowest point of the fairway and Davies' approach shot stopped 15 away, but with a nasty slope intervening. Saltman left the approach short, Fowler rolled his par putt over a mound and straight into the cup, whereupon Davies lipped out his par putt.

"That hole was huge," said Fowler afterwards. "If I miss that putt, he probably makes his, but when I made mine it had his putt a lot longer than it measured. So we went from being just 2 up to leaving the hole with a 4-up lead. That's the beauty of match play.

Fowler and Horschel took a quick 2-up lead with a par 4 on the second hole and a birdie 2 on the third hole and never gave it up. GBI won the par-3 seventh hole when first Fowler and then Horschel hit chip shots up a steep slope that came back to their feet. However, the U.S. regained its 2-up margin when GBI three-putted the eighth green.

The biggest roar from the crowd came on the final shot of the morning when Simpson drained his cross-country putt. "The putt was pretty simple," said Simpson later. It broke right at the beginning and left at the end. It was such a cool thing -- I was surprised to get that big a roar from the crowd."