Thompson Named To U.S. Walker Cup Team

ATHENS, Ga. --- Georgia’s Davis Thompson has clinched a spot on the 2021 United States Walker Cup Team based on the current World Amateur Golf Rankings.

The USGA announced in December that the three highest-ranked American players as of the Feb. 10 update would receive automatic exemptions onto the U.S. Walker Cup Team. Thompson is the top-rated American (and is second overall behind Japan’s Keita Nakajima), followed by Ricky Castillo of Florida and John Pak of Florida State. United States Amateur champion Ty Strafaci of Georgia Tech was named previously to the U.S. roster.

The 48th Walker Cup, which is the amateur version of the Ryder Cup, will be held May 8-9 at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. The Walker Cup will pit 10 men from the United States against 10 men from Great Britain and Ireland.

The United States leads the overall series 37-9-1.

“It really is an honor to have this chance to represent my country and my school in the Walker Cup,” Thompson said. “This has been a goal of mine, and I have worked extremely hard to get here. I’m both humbled and appreciative to be named to the team. I can’t wait to compete with my United States teammates later this year.”

Georgia has a longstanding history of Americans playing for the Walker Cup: George Hamer (1947), Arnold Blum (1957), Vinny Giles (1969, 1971,1973, 1975), Allen Miller (1969, 1971), Jimmy Gabrielsen (1971), Griff Moody (1979), Danny Yates (1989, 1993), Franklin Langham (1991), Nick Cassini (2001), Erik Compton (2001), Brian Harman (2005, 2009), Chris Kirk (2007), Adam Mitchell (2009), Harris English (2011), Russell Henley (2011), and Lee McCoy (2015). In addition, Gabrielsen was the U.S. captain in 1981 and 1991, Giles served as the captain in 1993, and Yates captained the 1999 and 2001 squads.

Thompson is a two-time All-American, including First-Team designation for 2019-20. He has been named both All-Southeastern Conference and All-Southeast Region. Thompson enters the spring with an SEC-leading 68.67 scoring average and top-6 decisions in all three fall tournaments. He represented the United States in the Arnold Palmer Cup in December and has appeared in four professional events, including the 2020 U.S. Open. Thompson was chosen as a 2020 All-America Scholar, he earned UGA’s Joel Eaves Award as the senior student-athlete with the top grade point average, and he was awarded a Ramsey Scholarship for Academic and Athletic Excellence. He has been named to the SEC and J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics academic honor rolls, is a member of UGA’s Student-Athlete Leadership Academy, and was chosen for the SEC Community Service Team.

Thompson and the Bulldogs will open the spring portion of their schedule on Friday in the Gators Invitational presented by VyStar in Gainesville, Fla.

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