Monday 14 September 2015 10:35, UK
Great Britain and Ireland regained the Walker Cup with an emphatic seven-point victory over the United States at Royal Lytham.
Nigel Edwards' side led by two overnight, and they won three of the four Sunday morning foursomes before also dominating the single as they ran out comprehensive 16½-9½ winners to record their fifth win in the last six contests on home soil.
Ashley Chesters completed an unbeaten contest, making it three and a half points out of four when he cruised to a 3&1 win over Jordan Niebrugge in the lead-off singles match.
The defeat for the American was his third of the weekend, just two months after he finished sixth in the Open Championship at St Andrews to claim leading amateur honours.
Cormac Sharvin then crushed 52-year-old Mike McCoy 4&3 and Jimmy Mullen, who partnered Chesters to two foursomes wins, beat Denny McCarthy to become the first GB&I player to have a perfect 4-0 record since Paul Casey and Luke Donald at Nairn in 1999.
Victory was then secured just four matches into the singles when Irishman Paul Dunne clinched a hard-fought half against world amateur No 2 Maverick McNealy, who missed from five feet for birdie at the last to keep the visitors in the contest.
Beau Hossler got some red on the board when he held off Ewen Ferguson to win one up, but Grant Forrest beat Scott Harvey 2&1 and Gary Hurley made it five wins out of seven for the hosts as he edged Hunter Stewart at the last.
Edwards, who has now skippered GB&I to two wins in three attempts, said: "Gosh. It's great. At Royal Aberdeen [in 2011] we were up against it until the death, but the boys at the top of the order went out fast as we needed them to do.
"There were tremendous performances in every session. There were some matches where the players had to dig really deep and they proved crucial. At the start of the week we wanted to do something very special and this is it."
Asked about his perfect record, 21-year-old Mullen said: "It did not matter as long as the team won, but to win all my matches is the icing on the cake."
Dunne, who led the Open after 54 holes before fading on the final day, added: "I will take winning over 30th place every day. It's so much better to do it as a team. Nigel has been a fantastic captain and inspired us from start to finish."
United States captain John Miller controversially sent NCAA and US Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau out last in the singles, but he admitted his team had been outplayed from the start.
He said: "I am very proud of everyone. They played hard and fought hard and lost with grace and dignity, and that's not easy to do. Nigel and his boys outplayed us, simple as that. They earned it."
DeChambeau had been on the 10th hole when the contest was decided and went on to beat Gavin Moynihan 6&5.
