THERE are strong West Cork connections to the two Irish golfers selected for the Great Britain and Ireland team to play the USA in the 48th Walker Cup at Seminole in Florida in May.
Kinsale golfer John Murphy (22) and Kilkenny man Mark Power (20), whose mother Eileen Rose Power (nee McDaid) is from Skibbereen, have both been named on the ten-strong GB&I team that is bidding to wrestle the trophy back off the USA.
Murphy becomes only the fifth Cork golfer to take part in the Walker Cup and follows in the footsteps of James Sugrue, Eoghan O’Connell, John McHenry and Jimmy Bruen.
After hearing the good news, Murphy tweeted: ‘A huge honour to be selected for the Walker Cup. Thank you to everyone for the kind messages of support. Can’t wait to take on the USA in May!’
The Kinsale man is a student at the University of Louisville and recently finished in second place at the V1 Sports General Hackler Championship in South Carolina.
In May 2020 he won the prestigious Byron Nelson Award in America and one of the big perks of that win is that he will get a PGA Tour start, at the AT&T Byron Nelson event in Dallas. Before that his focus will be on the Walker Cup at Seminole that will be played on May 8th and 9th.
This competition is the pinnacle of the amateur game as the best amateur golfers go head to head, as the United States take on Great Britain and Ireland.
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