U.S. Amateur champ Jack Whaley headlines final picks for GB&I Walker Cup team

U.S. Amateur champion Jack Whaley headlines Tuesday's selections that rounded out the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team. Whaley, along with Niall Sheils Donegan, Ben Bolton, Sam Easterbrook and Josh Hill are the final selections for the 10-man roster. The 51st Walker Cup is set for Sept. 5-6 at Lahinch in Ireland. "It is a tremendous honor to captain Great Britain & Ireland again, and I’m excited by the team we have selected for the match at Lahinch," captain Dean Robertson said. "We have a really exciting blend of players who have experienced the Walker Cup before and others who have earned their first opportunity through some excellent performances over the last year. We have players who have won important championships, performed at the highest level in amateur golf and demonstrated that they can deliver results in international match play." Whaley earned his spot on the team after claiming the 126th U.S. Amateur on Sunday at Merion. That essentially left four captain's picks, which went the way of Donegan, Bolton, Easterbrook and Hill. The quartet of players will join five others already announced on the team in British Amateur champion Stuart Grehan, the lone Irishman on the team, Connor Graham, Luke Poulter, Eliot Baker and Tyler Weaver, the No. 2 amateur in the world who has nursed a back injury in recent months. Graham is making his third Walker Cup start while Poulter, Grehan, Weaver and Baker all were on last year's team at Cypress Point. GB&I will have an age and experience gap on the U.S. team, which was finalized Sunday. However, the Americans lead the Walker Cup series, 40-9-1, and have won five straight competitions. Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan). This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. Amateur champ Jack Whaley headlines final picks for GB&I Walker Cup team