The pro was the surprise star of the US Walker Cup ‘best ever’ team

Back in 2007, a group of promising American novice golfers came together to form what might be the “best” Walker Cup team in history, at least according to GOLF Subpar host Colt Knost.

The biannual Walker Cup is a Ryder Cup-style event that brings together American novices and the best from Great Britain and Ireland. And many of the game’s pros played in a long-running event during their rise in the game.

But the 2007 team was completely loaded, featuring a full roster of golfers, many of whom would play on the PGA Tour. At least so far, none of their careers have been as successful as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, a former member of the team.

He is joined by current Tour pros Will Zalatoris, Maverick McNealy, Cameron Champ, Doug Ghim and Norman Xiong, to name a few. That year’s team presented the tournament at the Los Angeles Country Club with a final score of 19-7.

It also featured a player who just received his PGA Tour card this year: Braden Thornberry. Thornberry won this year’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship to earn a promotion to the major leagues in 2025.

Not long after the win, Thornberry joined Subpar GOLF for a wide-ranging interview with hosts Knost and Drew Stoltz.

Naturally, the 2007 Walker Cup came up during their conversation, and Thornberry offered a revealing look at the star-studded team. Knost couldn’t help but ask the newly minted Tour pro which Walker Cup teammate seemed to have the brightest future at the time.

“Who did you think would have the best job on the team?” Knost asked.

Surprisingly, Scheffler was not the man Thornberry had in mind. Instead, it was another great champion he thought would make big waves in the professional ranks: Collin Morikawa.

“That is a difficult question. Maybe Morikawa,” Thornberry replied. “He was an interesting one in college as well, because he didn’t win as good as he was. But he finished in the top 5 at every major tournament imaginable, and just obviously a good golf swing, everything felt right. He looked like a PGA Tour player when he got out there. So it might have been someone who couldn’t miss it. “

Although Morikawa has yet to land the job that Scheffler has, he remains one of the most successful young professionals in history. At 27, Morikawa already has two majors on his resume and six PGA Tour wins. For the record, Scheffler also has two majors, but trails Morikawa in the PGA Tour count with 13.

You can watch Thornberry talk about the Walker Cup above, or you can watch Thornberry’s hour-long Subpar interview on YouTube here.