McEvoy may go for the hat-trick

Perhaps Peter McEvoy can be, as he put it, "seduced" by the R & A to serve an unprecedented third term as captain of the Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team - for the match in Ganton in 2003 - but the man with the Midas touch acknowledged that such a move, if it were ever to come, would be "unprecedented".

"I'm already yesterday's man," said McEvoy. While convention deems that a two-term posting is the norm, what McEvoy has achieved has been far from usual. In steering B & I to a history-making second successive Walker Cup win at Ocean Forest Golf Club, with a winning total of 15-9 that equalled the record margin set at Nairn in Scotland two years ago, he has overseen a shift in power away from the United States in the strength of amateur golf.

Sunday's win was only the sixth for a B & I team in 38 stagings of the event, but it was the fourth victory in the past seven and, more pointedly, the third from the last four that they have won. "I'd consider this to be the best team ever to represent Great Britain and Ireland," remarked McEvoy, adding: "We have better players than we have ever had. I believe our amateur golfers match the US in standard, and right at the top end, we are better. But the talent thing is cyclical, and right now we have a thick stream."

Indeed, an indication that modern-day amateur golfers don't tend to hang around too long once they believe they are ready for the professional game is that Luke Donald, Nick Dougherty and Steven O'Hara - and America's number one player Bryce Molder - hit their last shots as amateurs in the match and are already looking ahead to careers in the paid ranks.

Donald, who has reputedly signed contracts worth around $2 million with sponsors, will commence his professional campaign in next week's Reno-Tahoe Open on the US Tour - where he aims to attend end-of-season qualifying school if he hasn't earned enough from his anticipated seven invites to win his card - while Dougherty's first outing will be in next week's Scottish PGA on the European Tour. I believe there are three of four players from this team who will go on to play Ryder Cup golf," insisted McEvoy.

"Players are getting better younger. They're physically stronger than in the past, better coached and, because they play international tournaments, are more experienced."

Certainly, that international experience, with players who had proven they could win tournaments abroad (Michael Hoey, for example, had won in Dubai and Argentina as well as in England and Ireland), stood to the B & I players.

However, it was apparent that McEvoy's motivational abilities - vastly different from the more laid-back approach of US captain Danny Yates - was a factor.

"He's a great motivator, he succeeds in getting you to play from the heart," claimed Dougherty.

Indeed, the all-round contribution from the team - particularly in the final day singles, when B & I won six and a half points from a possible eight - confirmed the resilience that was in-built in them. Donald, who was put out at number one in the final day foursomes and singles, delivered wins on both counts. It gave him a three from four points total and brought his career record in Walker Cup matches to seven from eight, beating the previous percentage win record held by Philip Walton who had a six from eight win count.

The two Irish players in the team - Hoey, from Shandon Park, and Rathmore's Graeme McDowell - also contributed significantly, particularly with their 100 per cent win record in the foursomes. Hoey, who also took three points from four, has delayed his move into the professional ranks until after his appearance in next year's US Masters (one of the perks for his British Amateur championship win) but was signalled out by McEvoy as one of the key influences on team morale.

"He's a flair player, with a way about him that is just inspirational. If I had to pick any player out who was the central hub of the team, it would be Michael.

"Everyone just loved him, he is a real character. He has got this difference about him that really is inspirational," remarked McEvoy.

While the likes of Donald, Dougherty and Molder - who described McDowell, his victim in the two singles as "a real quality player, who doesn't get the recognition he is due" - aim to play on the professional tours, the two Irish players will stay on to play in the US Amateur championship which takes place at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta next week.