Jack Whaley Named in GB&I Walker Cup Squad Days After Winning US Amateur
Two days after lifting the US Amateur trophy at Merion, Jack Whaley was named in the 10-man Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup squad for the match at Lahinch on 5 and 6 September.
Whaley, a 22-year-old Englishman and rising senior at Florida State, became only the third Englishman to win the US Amateur Championship since 1911 when he beat Jay Leng Jr 4&3 — closing out the match with three holes to spare — in the 36-hole final at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Ranked 90th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, he upset the form book: his opponent, a 20-year-old Stanford student from San Diego, sat 67 places above him at No. 23 and had earlier knocked out world No. 3 Tyler Watts (USGA).
The win earned Whaley an exemption into the 2027 US Open at Pebble Beach. It also changed his standing with the GB&I selectors. He told reporters at the US Amateur that he had not heard from the selection panel entering Friday's quarter-finals, adding that he was there to prove he belonged on the team (Golf Channel). The proof came on the course, and the call followed (BBC Sport).
Whaley is one of four new faces in the squad, alongside Ben Bolton, Sam Easterbrook and Josh Hill. Luke Poulter, son of Ryder Cup player Ian Poulter, earns a second successive selection. Dean Robertson, 56, captains the side for a third time, having led GB&I at Cypress Point in 2025 and guided them to victory over the Continent of Europe in the St Andrews Trophy in Madrid.
The Walker Cup — a biennial match between the leading amateurs of GB&I and the United States, featuring 18 singles and eight foursomes (alternate-shot pairs matches) — has shifted from its traditional odd-year schedule to an even-year cycle starting with this edition. The venue, Lahinch in County Clare, is one of Ireland's most storied links courses, and the home crowd will be hungry: GB&I have not won the Walker Cup since 2015.
The scale of that task is plain. The United States won the 50th staging at Cypress Point 17-9 and lead the overall series 40-9, with one halved match (BBC Sport). The 10-man American roster was announced on Sunday after the US Amateur concluded.
For GB&I, the addition of a US Amateur champion to the ranks is a timely lift. Whaley's run at Merion showed he can handle the match-play format the Walker Cup demands, and his calm closing of the final suggested a temperament built for the pressure of representing your side over 36 holes of head-to-head golf. Robertson now has just over two weeks to shape his 10 into a team capable of overturning a formidable American record on Irish soil.
