The three highest-ranked American players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking update last week received automatic selections from the USGA onto the 2023 U.S. Walker Cup team.
Gordon Sargent, Michael Thorbjornsen and David Ford, who rank Nos. 1-3 respectively, have been picked. This early selection will free them to pursue professional starts this summer without having to worry about Walker Cup consequences.
The 49th Walker Cup Match, pitting the top American amateurs against Great Britain and Ireland, will be played September 2-3 on the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. The biennial match will be played over two days, with eight foursomes matches and 18 singles matches.
The USGA’s International Team Selection Committee will name a second set of players to the Walker Cup team in mid-to-late July. The winner of the U.S. Amateur, set to take place August 14-20 at Cherry Hills Country Club near Denver, and the recipient of the McCormack Medal, should they be American, will earn the final automatic spots. The committee will name the final selections to the team and alternates immediately following the U.S. Amateur. The 10-man team will be captained by Mike McCoy, the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion and a 2015 Walker Cupper.
The mid-July group likely will include Ben James, a rising sophomore at the University of Virginia who is ranked No. 5 in the WAGR. He had an impressive freshman year, winning five times. Caleb Surratt, who finished second at the Northeast Amateur Invitational last week, is another rising sophomore (at Tennessee) who likely will be named next month.
That’s two youngsters with only one year of college golf under their belts who are likely to make their Walker Cup debuts. They represent a trend that is here to stay. With the advent of PGA Tour University, the average age of the American Walker Cup team members is declining. The opportunity to go straight to the PGA Tour or to the Korn Ferry Tour is too much for many eligible seniors to pass up. It will take a special person who will wait until September to play for his country before launching a professional career.
A third sophomore could join them. Nicholas Dunlap, a rising sophomore at the University of Alabama who is ranked No. 25 in WAGR, posted an impressive win at the Northeast after playing in the U.S. Open in Los Angeles. He clearly has placed his name in the mix for a Walker Cup berth.
Two others to watch are Maxwell Moldovan and Luke Clanton. Moldovan made the cut at the U.S. Open, an achievement admired by the USGA. As a result, Moldovan, an Ohio State senior, is up to No. 15 in the WAGR. Clanton, ranked No. 14, won an NCAA regional last month as a freshman at Florida State, and he posted a top-five finish at the Sunnehanna Amateur and a third-place finish at the Northeast.
And then there is the Austin Greaser situation. Ranked No. 4 in the WAGR, the University of North Carolina player recently had surgery on his left hand after a nagging two-year arthritis affliction. He hopes to recover fully before the U.S. Amateur in August, but he will be out of action until then. If he can hold on to his top-10 ranking in WAGR and at least advance to match play at the U.S. Amateur, his chances of making the team are good.
The days of having two mid-amateurs on the Walker Cup seem to be gone. Barring unforeseen circumstances, there will only be one mid-amateur on the American side at St. Andrews. Three-time Walker Cup veteran Stewart Hagestad has the inside track by virtue of his No. 10 WAGR ranking. However, Evan Beck intends to play most of the Elite Amateur Golf Series events this summer in a bid to make the team. He tied for 22nd at the Sunnehanna earlier this month and T49 at the Northeast Amateur last week.
Hagestad outplayed Beck at the Northeast, tying for 32nd. He likely will play the Southern Amateur, the Western Amateur and the U.S. Amateur this summer. Before the Northeast, Hagestad, now beginning a career in financial services, had played just once, posting a top-five finish at the Coleman Invitational in April.
An interesting eight weeks lies ahead for those who watch the amateur game in America.
E-MAIL JIM
Top: Caleb Surratt, a rising sophomore at Tennessee, is a likely pick for the U.S. Walker Cup team.
KATHRYN RILEY, USGA