‘On home soil with home crowd, there’s nobody in the world who I fear playing’

IT WAS cold and wet on the eve of the 43rd Walker Cup but at least the cockles were warmed by the sight of the opening-day pairings, which have resulted in a confident claim from Scotland’s Michael Stewart that he won’t be intimidated by facing one of the strongest-looking American teams in the event’s history.

While Banchory’s James Byrne, the other Scot in the ten-man Great Britain and Ireland line-up for the biennial event, found himself left out of the morning foursomes, Troon Welbeck 21-year-old Stewart has been pitched in straight away by the home team’s Welsh captain, Nigel Edwards.

The world No 14 has been paired with Tom Lewis, the Englishman who shared the lead after the opening round of this year’s Open Championship at Royal St George’s, in the top match, facing Peter Uihlein and Harris English, ranked No 4 and No 6 in the world respectively.

Jim Holtgrieve, the US captain, is tipping that to be “one heck of a match” and also predicted a tough test for Stewart in the singles after the line-up for the afternoon session put him up against Patrick Cantlay, the world No 1, at the bottom of the order.

According to Edwards, Lewis is “not frightened of anyone” on the back of his performance in Kent, where the 20-year-old shot a 65 in the company of Tom Watson. No-one is scaring Stewart either over the next two days. “On home soil with a home crowd spurring me on, there’s nobody in the world that I fear playing,” said the Scot.

Edwards, a four-time Walker Cup player, described his pairings for the opening session as “natural”. Stewart and Lewis, for instance, had expressed a desire to be paired since a squad get-together here in July. “They gelled very well then,” said the GB&I captain. “Mikey’s a really good competitor, Tom is as well. ”

It has been left to Stewart and Lewis, who’ll have his Scottish gran cheering him on, to decide who hits the opening tee shot. On a weekend when the wind is expected to be gusting, perhaps as strong as 40mph tomorrow, all Edwards wants is a flying start and an early point on the board as GB&I bid to stop the Americans extending their recent run to four successive victories in the biennial event.

“They’re a strong partnership and can compete against anyone,” he added. “The US have a strong line-up, no matter who they put out. I’m not focusing on what the Americans are doing. We can’t control what they do, but we can control what we do. The idea is we get off to a strong start.”

Uihlein, last year’s US Amateur champion, recorded two foursomes wins in partnership with Nathan Smith as the Americans stormed to a thumping 16.5-9.5 win at Merion two years ago. Holtgrieve had that pairing in mind again when he arrived in the north-east but has plumped for English instead.

“I had my foursomes pairings together before I got here but, after watching them play together and watching how the wind affected some of the players on Tuesday, I made some changes,” said the US captain. “I’ve tried to put out a strong team to go out first and Peter and Harris are both strong wind players.”

Holtgrieve revealed he’d picked the brains of six former US captains to determine his “philosophy and strategy”. His decision to place Cantley in the anchor role in the singles, though, was influenced by a mistake he felt Corey Pavin made with his final-day order at last year’s Ryder Cup in Wales.

“When I watched Hunter Mahan in the last match at the Ryder Cup, I thought that was a problem as I wasn’t sure he had that much experience,” he commented of the American losing to Graeme McDowell at Celtic Manor. “In Patrick Cantlay, I think we’ve got somebody who can be the foundation at the end.

“He doesn’t seem to get excited about anything. He’s very focused. When I watch his eyes, I think of the times I played with Jack Nicklaus. I don’t think anything can faze the man.” Edwards is hoping Stewart can prove him wrong. “Mikey’s strong, a great competitor and under the cosh he’ll do very well,” predicted the Welshman.

Byrne is up against the aforementioned Smith in the afternoon session. With Welsh teenager Rhys Pugh also involved, it means Edwards is giving all his players a taste of the action on the opening day.

Tomorrow, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, Holtgrieve is hoping to inspire his players by reading out a special message that has been penned for them by President Obama. Last night, Edwards was hoping some welcome support he’d also received would have a similar effect on the GB&I players.

“I’ve had some special messages from some special people,” he said. “I haven’t relayed them to the team yet. I want to read them out tonight so that it is a special moment for these players. Hopefully, they’ll be inspired by some very successful golfers.”

The Americans lead the series 34-7, but GB&I came out on top the last time the match was held in Scotland, winning at Nairn in 1999. “I’ve done pretty well in Scotland as a player myself, so there’s no reason why I can’t be holding that trophy aloft on Sunday night,” insisted Edwards.

“That has been the goal from when we set out at the Celtic Manor some 18 months ago. The focus was on being successful and we are well on the way to doing that. I’ve got confidence in these boys. They’re driving well, some of them are putting really well and I have a lot of faith of their ability in a match-play contest over 18 holes. I think they’ll do great.”