USGA nominates four players for 2011 Walker Cup team
United States Golf Association (USGA) has finally decided to lean on the young brigade of golfers for this year’s episode of Walker Cup and has already nominated four players for the event. The leading amateur players on the tour Patrick Cantlay, Harris
English, Peter Uihlein and Russell Henley have made it into the coveted Walker Cup team solely by the dint of their performances so far for the year.
The event which primarily comprises of amateur players from the US and the Great Britain and Ireland, and is played every odd year, will be returning to full swing this year at the Royal Aberdeen Golf Club.
The group of four players selected has not only played quintessential golf on amateur circuit but came out to win events on the regular PGA sanctioned tours as well. English recently won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational last week, to become
the third amateur to ever win on Nationwide Tour.
Daniel Summerhays was the first amateur player to win an event on the tour in 2007 until Russell Henley won the Stadion Classic at UGA this year. Harris overtook the experienced players of the Nationwide circuit of the likes of Kyle Reifers to win the event
and the final round was closely contested between English and his fellow amateur player John Peterson.
Peterson was also one of the hopefuls to make it into the Walker Cup team after his stellar performance in the season but failed to make it against the stiff competitors.
Cantlay is the number one amateur golfer on the World Amateur Golf Rankings for the moment and is currently a sophomore at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Besides winning several accolades on the amateur circuit, Cantlay not only made the cut
at the US Open at Congressional this year but also finished for a stunning joint 21st which vaulted him to the top of the amateur rankings. He posted a back nine 30 which was the best nine-hole score of the event.
Cantaly also posted an amazing performance at the difficult course of RBC Canadian Open, finishing for a joint ninth. The 19-year-old prodigy from Los Alamitos, set a new course record of 60 at Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut
this year and also made the cut at the AT&T National.
Uihlein, the former number one amateur player, is coming out of a strong finish at the Open Championship where he settled for a joint 48th. Being the blue-eyed son of Wally Uihlein, the chief executive of Acushnet Company, the 21-year-old Uihlein
has a considerable support from the family to pursue a career in the sport.
Currently a junior at Oklahoma State University, Uihlein was also part of the 2009 Walker Cup team alongside Rickie Fowler which went over to win the tournament.
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