Walker Cup

The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is organised by The R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA). In 1921 the Royal Liverpool Golf Club hosted an unofficial contest which was followed by official annual contests from 1922 through 1924. From 1925 they became biennial, held on even-number years. After World War II they switched to odd-numbered years. From 2026 it will be held in even-numbered years following the switch of the Eisenhower Trophy to odd-numbered years to avoid that event clashing with the Olympic Games. They are held alternately in the U.S., and Ireland or Britain. The cup is named after George Herbert Walker who was president of the USGA in 1920 when the match was initiated. Walker is the grandfather and namesake of George H. W. Bush and great-grandfather of George W. Bush, the 41st and 43rd Presidents of the United States. Unlike the Ryder Cup, which similarly began as a competition between the U.S. and the United Kingdom, the Walker Cup has never been expanded to include all European amateur golfers. As of 2025, the U.S. lead the Walker Cup series 40 to 9, with one match tied, but the two teams have been more evenly matched since 1989 when the Great Britain and Ireland team ended the U.S. team's eight-match winning run. The 1989 match and the three matches from 2003 to 2007 were all decided by a single point.