Greens key to Walker Cup battle

Paul McGinley gave the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team the benefit of his knowledge at Seminole on Wednesday

Kinsale’s John Murphy reckons super-quick greens can level the playing field as Great Britain and Ireland seeks its first Walker Cup win on US soil for 20 years.

The match starts at classic Seminole n Florida tomorrow and with the temperatures topping 30C and firm greens already running at 14 on the stimpmeter — faster than Augusta National — the visitors are looking to cause an upset and grab only their third away win in the event’s 100-year history.

“It's certainly going to add an element of excitement,” Murphy (22) said of the conditions. “None of us are used to it. I'd say a lot of tour pros aren't even used to it, and then adding wind on top of that slope and green quickness is going to be pretty interesting. 

"Might be a bit of carnage out there at times, so looking forward to that, as well, and hopefully we can manage it to the best of our ability.”

Having fully recovered from a bout of suspected food poisoning that kept him in bed until Paul McGinley gave the side a talk on Wednesday afternoon, Murphy is expected to partner Kilkenny’s Mark Power (20) at some stage. 

“I know Mark pretty well,” said skipper Stuart Wilson, who twice captained Power in the Jacques Leglise Trophy. “I know his game, and it just gets better and better as the years pass by, and he's a great guy to have around the team room. I met John for the first time this week and instantly hit it off with him on a relationship basis. He has a really mature, good golfing head on him.”

As for winning on US soil for only the third time, Wilson declared: “Nothing is impossible. We know it's always a very difficult match and the history books tell us so, but it's not impossible.”