Georgia’s Davis Thompson and his United States teammates defeated Great Britain & Ireland 14-12 to retain the Walker Cup on Sunday at Seminole Golf Club.
The Walker Cup is the amateur version of the Ryder Cup. The United States now leads the overall series 38-9-1.
“This is the pinnacle of amateur golf, and it was such an honor to be a part of it,” Thompson said. “It was such a tremendous weekend of golf. You could really see how much pride there was on both sides. I was blessed to have this opportunity. To be a part of the winning United States team is very special. This is a moment I will never forget.”
Thompson, a senior for the Bulldogs, went 1-2-1 in his matches on Saturday and Sunday.
He picked up a win with Cole Hammer in the Saturday foursomes as they topped Alex Fitzpatrick and Barclay Brown 1 up. In the Saturday singles, Thompson fell to Mark Power 3 and 2. On Sunday, Thompson and Hammer produced a tie against Fitzpatrick and Brown. Thompson dropped a 2 up decision to Matty Lamb in Sunday singles.
Georgia has a longstanding history of Americans playing for the Walker Cup: George Hamer (1947), Arnold Blum (1957), Vinny Giles (1969, 1971,1973, 1975), Allen Miller (1969, 1971), Jimmy Gabrielsen (1971), Griff Moody (1979), Danny Yates (1989, 1993), Franklin Langham (1991), Nick Cassini (2001), Erik Compton (2001), Brian Harman (2005, 2009), Chris Kirk (2007), Adam Mitchell (2009), Harris English (2011), Russell Henley (2011), and Lee McCoy (2015). In addition, Gabrielsen was the U.S. captain in 1981 and 1991, Giles served as the captain in 1993, and Yates captained the 1999 and 2001 squads.
Thompson is a two-time All-American, including First-Team designation for 2019-20. He has been named both All-Southeastern Conference and All-Southeast Region. Thompson leads the SEC with a 69.75 scoring average, including 13 rounds in the 60s. He won the Tiger Invitational earlier this season for his third career victory. Thompson recently was chosen as Georgia’s male nominee for the SEC’s H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship. With a 3.65 GPA in Sport Management, Thompson was picked as the male recipient of the 2020-21 Joel Eaves Award and he earned a Ramsey Scholarship for Academic & Athletic Excellence.
In December, Thompson also wore the Red, White, and Blue as he went 2-1-1 for Team USA in the Arnold Palmer Cup. Thompson joins Cassini, Compton, Harman, Henley, McCoy, Kirk, and Mitchell as the only Bulldogs to play in both the Walker Cup and the Palmer Cup.