PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Maybe the best get-the-feeling match-play quote ever came out of Nick Price’s mouth, talking to Ernie Els, at a long-ago Presidents Cup. They were partners in a tight match against the Americans. “This point might not mean much to you,” Nick told Ernie. “But it means a f*** of a lot to me!”
If Price’s goal was to light a fire under Els, he was successful. The beauty of match-play golf. That point you’re playing for has to be the most important thing in the world to you, right then and there.
Which brings us to the 15th tee at sunbathed Cypress Point on Saturday, in the first day of this two-day Walker Cup event, the 50th playing of it.
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Luke Poulter, of the Great Britain and Ireland team, won the 14th hole with a birdie and was now only 1 down to the hottest amateur golfer in the world, 18-year-old Mason Howell of the United States, a senior in high school committed to the University of Georgia for next year. Poulter, 21, who plays at the University of Florida, was in the match, against the hottest amateur golfer in the world, winner last month of the U.S. Amateur with a 7-and-6 whiplashing of Jackson Harrington. In an interview on Friday, Howell noted (in response to a question) that he had recently shot 59 at his home club, Glen Arven Country Club, in Thomasville, Ga. “Thirteen under par,” he said with a wicked grin, trying to conceal his glee. In other words, he did it on a par-72 course. Not all 59s are created equal.
So Luke Poulter, son of match-play savant Ian, had his hands full, but he knew he’d have his hands full. He was one shot away from changing the course of the day. He had the honor on the 136-yard par-3 15th, into the wind and hard by the Pacific. A draw pitching wedge — right in Poulter’s wheelhouse.
And if he could stiff one there? Well, then you don’t know. Then Mason Howell and his 7&6 Amateur win and his recent 59 and all the rest suddenly doesn’t matter that much. Because it’s not easy, for anybody, to knock it dead after the other guy does it first. It’s like that tiny ball on the green is eating up the square footage of a beach blanket.
But Poulter didn’t stiff the shot. He shoved his wedge into a greenside bunker. His trap shot was indifferent. It also didn’t matter. Howell made maybe a 10-footer for a birdie that made Poulter’s par putt moot. Howell’s fist pump wasn’t Tiger-in-his prime, but it was close. It told you everything you needed to know: That point he was playing for, to borrow from Nick Price, meant a f*** of a lot to him.
“I hit it horrendous today,” Poulter said later. “Absolutely horrendous, all day.” In other words, when he needed to turn on the switch on 15, the one marked I-can-stuff-this, he couldn’t find it. There was nothing to lean into.
He walked to the green with a sand wedge in hand. Depressing. All the advantage had come and gone with one bad swing.
“The kid’s just good,” Poulter said. “He’s playing good golf. He’s hard to beat.”
There are 28 points available in Walker Cup play. When you’re trying to get to 14.5 points, every point means the world. At the end of the day, the Americans had 6.5 points and GB&I had 5.5. One point. One point is a world.
