Those of us who were at Portmarnock nine years ago for the Walker Cup have good reason to remember the US team, not least for their 14-10 win over Britain and Ireland. Now, the team of '91 has gained a further distinction through Tom Sherrer's victory in the Kemper Open on Sunday.

Of course Phil Mickelson was already an amateur winner of the Tucson Open by the time he arrived here. And since then, David Duval, Jay Sigel, Allan Doyle, Franklin Langham and now Sherrer have all gained professional victories either on the regular, Senior or Buy.com tours.

After a sparkling amateur career, in which he won the 1990 North and South Championship and was runner-up to Justin Leonard in the 1992 US Amateur, Sherrer has taken longer than most of his contemporaries to make the breakthrough. And in keeping with the superstitious practitioners of his craft, he paid tribute to his partners in last Wednesday's pro-am.

One of them gave him a solid-gold ball marker as a good-luck charm. And another reminded Sherrer of the tradition of the Kemper Open producing first-time winners, most notably Fred Couples in 1983 and Greg Norman a year later. Indeed Sherrer has become the ninth first-time winner in the history of the event.

He did it in style, as the only competitor to break 70 in all four rounds. A closing 67 gave him a 13-under-par aggregate of 271 for a two-stroke victory and a cheque for $540,000, which now accounts for a third of his career earnings since turning professional in 1992.

After being presented with the Waterford Crystal trophy, Sherrer said: "Where we ate during the Players' Championship in March, there was a trophy room of all the trophies from all the tournaments. I remember looking at them and thinking that the one for the Kemper Open was really nice. `That's one of the better-looking ones,' I thought. So, here I am a few months later and I've got it."