Sandy Scott says Walker Cup withdrawal was 'right thing' due to wrist injury

Sandy Scott insists he has done the “right thing” by withdrawing from Great Britain & Ireland’s team for next month’s Walker Cup due to a wrist injury that required surgery in January.

Sandy Scott celebrates a birdie against Brandon Wu during the afternoon singles matches on the final day of the 2019 Walker Cup at Royal Liverpool. Picture: David Cannon/Getty Images.

The 22-year-old from Nairn, the sole Scot named in a 10-strong side, had hoped he’d have been back to full fitness in time for the biennial clash against the Americans at Seminole Golf Club in Florida early next month.

It would have Scott’s second successive appearance in the event, having won both his singles matches at Royal Liverpool in 2019, but that will no longer be happening due to his recovery process taking longer than he had originally anticipated.

“This isn’t a sudden thing as it’s been a long process,” Scott, who secured the only automatic spot in fellow Scot Stuart Wilson’s side as the highest-ranked GB&I player - currently sitting seventh - in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, told The Scotsman from the US, where he has extended his spell at Texas Tech University.

Sandy Scott watches Bob MacIntyre during a practice round prior to the 120th US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, last September. Picture: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images.

“I’d been having hand and wrist issues throughout the fall season, from September onwards probably, and, at one tournament I played in October, I hit one shot and I knew I had done something to my wrist. I managed to play the rest of the round but couldn’t play the next day. I rested it up from there but it never really went away.

“I had been in contact with a hand specialist since I injured it and got some tests done. The specialist had a feeling it was an injury to a certain ligament in the wrist, so I decided to have an injection in my wrist at the end of December to see if that helped but it never really did.

“The next resort was surgery. It was kind of exploratory surgery, though he had a pretty good feeling what it might be and he was right. This ligament was over-stretched and, as a result, it was a little bit angry.

“So he went in there and tightened it back up and I have been recovering ever since, the surgery having been in the middle of January.

“I have been working my way back up to golf and was hoping to be ready to play by now, but, unfortunately, the recovery is taking a little bit longer than expected.

“It’s disappointing not to be ready for the Walker Cup and not to be ready to play competitive golf just yet, but we are on the road to recovery, so hopefully the latter won’t be too far away.”

Scott’s place has been filled by England’s Jack Dyer, who had been named as first reserve last month, leaving Alex Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of European Tour player Matt, as the only survivor from a 15.5-10.5 defeat in the last match on Merseyside.

“I tried to keep the selectors and the committee in the loop at all times,” added Scott, who teed up in last year’s US Open at Winged Foot along with Bob MacIntyre and Connor Syme. “I think I sent an email a month or a month and a half ago letting them know about my wrist.

“I obviously made that automatic spot off the World Amateur Golf Ranking and I had a good feeling about being ready to play in the Walker Cup when I sent that email.

“I said that I was back doing some short game stuff and hitting some half shots and I thought I’d be ready to compete by this time, for sure, but that’s ended up not being the case.

“I then let them know at the end of last week that I wasn’t going to be ready, so I withdrew myself to give them the best chance to prepare and let the other players know. It was certainly a hard decision, but it was the right thing to do and that’s the most important thing in my mind.”

Scott, a member of Europe’s winning Palmer Cup team in 2019, had been planning to turn professional last year before Covid hit and has now pushed that career move back again following this setback.

“I am going to stay amateur for a little bit longer and I might come out better on the other side,” he said. “It’s a little dependent on how quickly I get back playing, really. I plan on taking advantage of the medical red shirt and coming back to Texas Tech for another year.

“I expect to definitely be ready to go by the start of the college season, but I will be entering all the big amateur events in the hope that I’ll be ready fitness-wise.”

Scott and MacIntyre played together for Scotland in their amateur days and were part of a triumphant European Team Championship line up in 2016. They were reunited in the first two rounds of last year’s US Open and Scott is now enjoying watching MacIntyre go from strength to strength at the top level in the game.

“That’s just outstanding,” he said of the 24-year-old Oban sitting 44th in the world after finishing 12th on his Masters debut last week to secure a return ticket to Augusta National next April.

“Bob’s a good friend and a great player and what he’s doing is great for Scottish golf and great for guys coming through. I take a lot of motivation and inspiration from him playing the way he is. He has been fantastic for everyone in Scotland.”

Asked if his college buddies in Texas had been talking about MacIntyre after his recent exploits, which also included topping a group that had world No 1 Dustin Johnson in it in the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, he added: “Oh definitely.

“They see his name on the leaderboard and it’s great for Scotland because he is being talked about and should be talked about anywhere in the world, I guess, because he is turning heads and rightly so.”

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