Meet the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team
Bryson DeChambeau, 21, Clovis, Calif.
DeChambeau became the fifth player to win the U.S. Amateur and NCAA individual championships in the same year by defeating Derek Bard, 7 and 6, in the 2015 Amateur final at Olympia Fields (lll.) Country Club. He joined Jack Nicklaus (1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1996) and Ryan Moore (2004) in accomplishing the feat. DeChambeau earned first-team All-America honors and was the American Athletic Conference Players of the Year as a member of the Southern Methodist University team in 2014-15. He is a senior majoring in physics. He qualified for this year’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay and reached the Round of 16 with partner Austin Smotherman in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at The Olympic Club. DeChambeau, who wears a Ben Hogan-style cap while playing golf, also helped the USA to victory in the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship in Japan. He fired a third-round 61 that established an 18-hole scoring record. DeChambeau has played in 10 USGA championships, including five U.S. Amateurs. He advanced to match play in all five Amateurs played, including the Round of 16 in 2014, and was a 2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links quarterfinalist.
Scott Harvey, 37, Greensboro, N.C.
Harvey is one of two mid-amateurs on the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team. He won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur by defeating Brad Nurski, 6 and 5, in the final, which earned him an invitation to the 2015 Masters. 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 with a 72-hole score of 278 (2 under). Harvey, who is a property manager for S&K Triad Properties, won the 2015 South American Amateur, in Lima, Peru, by two strokesKim . He attended the University of West Florida and High Point University. He has won the Carolinas Player of the Year Award four consecutive years, from 2011-14. Harvey has played in 17 USGA championships, including five U.S. Amateurs. Harvey’s late father, Bill, who taught him the game, played in 23 USGA championships, including 15 U.S. Amateurs.
Beau Hossler, 20, Mission Viejo, Calif.
Hossler, who is a junior at the University of Texas, earned first-team All-America honors and was chosen 2015 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. He helped the USA win a silver medal in the 2015 Pan American Games, in Toronto, where he was sixth as an individual with a four-round total of 281 (7 under). At 17 years and 3 months old, he became the youngest player to make the cut at a U.S. Open since World War II, finishing in a tie for 29th at The Olympic Club in 2012. Hossler, who has played in three U.S. Opens and tied for 58th at Chambers Bay this year, helped the USA win the 2014 World Amateur Team Championship in Japan. In 2015, he tied for second in the Pacific Coast Amateur with USA Walker Cup teammate Maverick McNealy and was a member of the winning USA Palmer Cup squad. Hossler has played in 11 USGA championships, including five U.S. Amateurs. He advanced to the Round of 64 in 2015 and reached the quarterfinals in the 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur.
Denny McCarthy, 22, Rockville, Md.
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 UVA 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 shot a final-round 64 to finish fifth in the individual scoring at 19-under-par 267 and helped the USA to the gold medal. 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 in the NCAA Division I Championship and was chosen second-team All-America. He has played in seven consecutive U.S. Amateurs, advancing to the semifinals in 2014 at Atlanta Athletic Club and to the Round of 32 in 2015 at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club. His older brother, Ryan, played golf at Loyola (Md.) University.
Lee McCoy, 21, Athens, Ga.
McCoy, who is a senior at the University of Georgia, earned first-team All-America and first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors in 2014-15. McCoy, who qualified for this year’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, helped the USA earn a silver medal in the 2015 Pan American Games, in Toronto. He finished fourth as an individual with a 72-hole score of 10-under-par 278. McCoy was a member of the winning 2015 USA Palmer Cup Team. He tied for 69th in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in July. McCoy was co-medalist in the 2014 U.S. Amateur at Atlanta Athletic Club before losing in the Round of 64 to three-time USA Walker Cup competitor Nathan Smith. McCoy qualified for match play in both the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Junior Amateurs. He lost to 2015 USA Walker Cup teammate Hunter Stewart in the Round of 64 in this year’s U.S. Amateur.
Mike McCoy, 52, Des Moines, Iowa
McCoy will become the third-oldest Walker Cup competitor at 52 years, 9 months, 11 days. Honorable Michael Scott of Great Britain and Ireland (55 years, 8 months in 1934) and the USA’s William Hyndman (55 years, 5 months in 1971) were older. 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) this year at Del Paso Country Club, in Sacramento, Calif. McCoy won the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur, becoming the second-oldest champion at age 50. His victory earned him a spot in the 2014 Masters. He advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2005 and 2008. In 2015, he won the Crane Cup, in a playoff with Patrick Christovich, 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.
Maverick McNealy, 19, Portola Valley, Calif.
McNealy, who is a junior at Stanford University, received the 2015 Jack Nicklaus Award and Fred Haskins Award as NCAA Division I’s top college player. He was chosen Pacific 12 Conference Player of the Year and won the conference title by 10 strokes after shooting a course-record 9-under 61 in the final round. He recorded six victories in 2014-15 and shared the Olympia Fields/Fightin’ Illini Invitational title. McNealy has competed in six USGA championships. He advanced to the Round of 16 in this year’s U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club and the Round of 16 with partner Viraat Badhwar in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. He qualified for the 2014 U.S. Open and was a 2012 U.S. Junior Amateur quarterfinalist. McNealy tied for second with USA Walker Cup teammate Beau Hossler in the 2015 Pacific Coast Amateur and was a member of the victorious USA Palmer Cup Team. He twice made the cut at a 2015 PGA Tour event, tying for 60th in the Greenbrier Classic and tying for 78th in the Barbasol Championship. McNealy was a defenseman for the San Jose Junior Sharks, an AAU ice hockey team.
Jordan Niebrugge, 22, Mequon, Wis.
Niebrugge was a member of the winning 2013 USA Walker Cup Team, posting a pair of singles victories at the National Golf Links of America. He tied for sixth in the 2015 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, at St. Andrews, winning the silver medal and posting the lowest score (11-under 277) by an amateur in the championship’s 144-year history. In 2015, he was a quarterfinalist in the Western Amateur and advanced to match play in the Amateur Championship at Carnoustie. Niebrugge, who is a senior at Oklahoma State University, won the NCAA New Haven Regional with a 54-hole score of 203 and was an honorable mention All-America selection. 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 Amateur Public Links champion, he played in the 2014 Masters. 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.
Robby Shelton, 20, Wilmer, Ala.
Shelton is a 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, becoming the first amateur to post a top-three finish on Tour since Mickelson in 1991. He was the stroke-play medalist in the 2015 Western Amateur, where he advanced 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. Shelton, a 2014 U.S. Open qualifier, advanced to the Round of 16 in this year’s U.S. Amateur before losing to Sean Crocker in 20 holes.
Hunter Stewart, 22, Lexington, Ky.
Stewart earned first-team All-America honors and became the first player from Vanderbilt University to be chosen Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, in 2014-15. He won three individual titles and tied for third at the NCAA Championship. He helped the Commodores qualify for match play in the NCAA team competition. Stewart shared the school’s 2014-15 Male Athlete of the Year Award. He was the first player to sweep his matches (4-0) in three years, in the 2015 Palmer Cup and led the USA to victory. Stewart, who qualified for the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, won this year’s Northeast Amateur by four strokes with a 72-hole score of 10-under-par 266. Stewart competed in his fourth U.S. Amateur, at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club, and reached match play for the first time. He defeated current USA Walker Cup teammate Lee McCoy in the Round of 64 before losing to eventual runner-up Derek Bard, 2 and 1, in the Round of 16.