U.S. Hard-Pressed to Win Walker Cup

U.S. Amateur champion Scott Verplank scored a 1-up victory over Colin Montgomerie Thursday as a hard-pressed United States team won the Walker Cup for the seventh straight time with a 13-11 victory over a team from Great Britain and Ireland.

Verplank’s victory clinched at least a tie for the Cup, and 40-year-old Bob Lewis won the trophy for the United States minutes later when he finished off Cecil Bloice of England, 4 and 2, by parring the 16th hole.

The two teams started the final day of competition at the par-70, 6,691-yard Pine Valley Golf Club tied, 6-6. But the United States took command, winning three of the morning foursome matches and halving the other to lead, 9 1/2-6 1/2.

The victory marked the 27th time the United States has defeated a team from Great Britain and Ireland in the world’s oldest international golf competition. Great Britain has won twice, and one match in the biennial event ended in a tie.