FAR HILLS, N.J. — With the addition of five
players today by the United States Golf
Association, the 10-man squad of the 2015
United States Walker Cup Team for the 45th
Match against Great Britain and Ireland is
complete.
Scott Harvey, 37, of Greensboro, N.C.; Denny
McCarthy, 22, of Rockville, Md.; Mike McCoy, 52,
of Des Moines, Iowa; Jordan Niebrugge, 22, of
Mequon, Wis.; and Robby Shelton, 19, of
Wilmer, Ala., will represent the United States
Team captained by John “Spider” Miller at Royal
Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lancashire,
England, Sept. 12-13.
These five players chosen by the USGA’s
International Team Selection Committee join
those who were chosen on Aug. 10: 2015 U.S.
Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau, 21, of
Clovis, Calif.; Beau Hossler, 20, of Mission Viejo,
Calif.; Lee McCoy, 21, of Athens, Ga.; Maverick
McNealy, 19, of Portola Valley, Calif.; and
Hunter Stewart, 22, of Lexington, Ky.
RELATED:
First five players
selected to 2015 U.S. Walker Cup team
“The addition of these five outstanding
gentlemen to the 2015 United States Walker Cup
Team is a source of great pride for us,” said
Diana M. Murphy, USGA vice president and
chairman of the USGA’s Championship
Committee. “We are confident that this group of
10 who will represent the USA will form a
competitive and cohesive team in the true spirit
of the Walker Cup and prove to be an amicable
and formidable opponent for Great Britain and
Ireland.”
Following are biographies of each of the five
players chosen on Sunday by the USGA’s
International Team Selection Committee:
Harvey won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur
by defeating Brad Nurski in the final, which
earned him an invitation to the 2015 Masters,
where he missed the cut. He and partner Todd
Mitchell reached the semifinals of the 2015 U.S.
Amateur Four-Ball at The Olympic Club. He won
the 2015 Gasparilla Invitational, advanced to the
match-play quarterfinals in the 2015 Japan
Amateur and tied for sixth in the Porter Cup
earlier this month. Harvey, who is a property
manager for S&K Triad Properties, won the 2015
South American Amateur, in Lima, Peru, by two
strokes. He attended the University of West
Florida and High Point University. He won the
Carolinas Player of the Year Award in 2011 and
2012. Harvey has played in 17 USGA
championships, including five U.S. Amateurs.
Harvey’s late father, Bill, who taught him the
game, played in 18 U.S. Amateur
Championships.
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McCarthy, who recently completed his
senior season at the University of Virginia,
earned All-America honors for the third year in a
row and became the first Virginia player to be
chosen All-Atlantic Coast Conference four times.
McCarthy tied for 42nd in the 2015 U.S. Open at
Chambers Bay. At the 2014 World Amateur
Team Championship in Japan, he finished fifth in
the individual scoring at 19-under-par 267 to
lead the USA to the gold medal. He shot a final-
round 64. He won the 2015 Porter Cup by
defeating Carter Jenkins on the first playoff hole
after they tied at 11-under 269 for 72 holes. In
2014, he finished sixth as an individual at the
NCAA Championships. He has played in seven
consecutive U.S. Amateurs, advancing to the
semifinals in 2014 and to the Round of 32 in
2015.
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McCoy was low amateur in both the
2014 and 2015 U.S. Senior Opens, tying the
record for lowest 72-hole score by an amateur
(282) in 2015. McCoy won the 2013 U.S. Mid-
Amateur, becoming the second-oldest champion
at age 50. He played in the 2014 Masters, where
he missed the cut. He advanced to the
semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2005 and
2008. In 2015, he won the Crane Cup and the
Coleman Invitational. A 10-time Iowa Player of
the Year, McCoy works in the insurance business
and is an Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member
(2011). A collegiate golfer at Wichita State
University, he has played in 45 USGA
championships, including 16 U.S. Amateurs. He
has four children, one of whom, Nate, plays
professional golf.
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Niebrugge, who was a member of the
winning 2013 USA Walker Cup Team, tied for
sixth in the 2015 Open Championship at St.
Andrews. He won the silver medal and posted
the lowest score (11-under 277) by an amateur
in the championship’s 144 years. In 2015, he
was a quarterfinalist in the Western Amateur.
Niebrugge, a rising senior at Oklahoma State
University, won the East/New Haven NCAA
Regional with a score of 203 and was an
honorable mention All-America choice. Chosen
All-Big 12 Conference for the third consecutive
year, he had a stellar 2013 campaign, winning
the U.S. Amateur Public Links, Western
Amateur, Wisconsin State Amateur and
Wisconsin State Match Play. As the Public Links
champion, he played in the 2014 Masters, where
he missed the cut. He also tied for 27th in the
PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in 2014. He has
played in three U.S. Amateurs and seven USGA
championships.
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Shelton, who turns 20 on Aug. 25, is a
rising junior at the University of Alabama, where
he earned first-team All-America and first-team
All-Southeastern Conference recognition for the
second consecutive year. A semifinalist for the
2015 Ben Hogan Award, Shelton received the
2014 Phil Mickelson National Freshman of the
Year Award and helped the Crimson Tide capture
the 2014 NCAA Championship. He tied for third
in the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship in July
2015, becoming the first amateur to post a top-
three finish on Tour since Mickelson in 1991. He
was the medalist in the 2015 Western Amateur,
advancing to the semifinals. He was 4-0 in his
matches in the 2015 Palmer Cup to help the USA
defeat Europe. He has played in seven USGA
championships, including three U.S. Amateurs.
In 2015, he advanced to the Round of 16.
“It is an honor to be the captain for this group of
talented men as we represent our country in the
Walker Cup Match,” said John “Spider” Miller,
captain of the USA Team, who won two U.S.
Mid-Amateur Championships and played on the
1999 United States Walker Cup Team. “They are
all very team-oriented and also committed to
the spirit and tradition of the Match. I believe
they will compete to their maximum but also
develop friendships that will last for their entire
careers in golf.”
The alternates are Matt NeSmith, 21, of North
Augusta, S.C., and Scottie Scheffler, 19, of
Dallas, Texas.
The Walker Cup Match is a biennial 10-man
amateur team competition between the USA and
a team composed of players from Great Britain
and Ireland, selected by The R&A. It is played
over two days with 18 singles matches and eight
foursomes (alternate-shot) matches. The USA
leads the overall series, 35-8-1, and earned a
17-9 victory in the 2013 Walker Cup Match at
National Golf Links of America in Southampton,
N.Y.
The first United States Walker Cup Team, which
in 1922 defeated the GB&I side, 8-4, at the
National Golf Links of America, is considered
among the best teams ever and included Francis
Ouimet, Bob Jones, Charles “Chick” Evans and
Jess Sweetser. Many of the game’s greatest
players have competed in the Walker Cup,
including U.S. Open champions Jack Nicklaus,
Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth for the USA and
Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose
for Great Britain and Ireland.
View results for The Walker Cup