GB&I thump USA in singles to win PGA Cup

A trio of Scots played influential roles as Great Britain & Ireland made it back-to-back PGA Cup victories for the first time since 1984 after a 16-10 win over USA at Foxhills Resort.

Aberdonian Greig Hutcheon (below) holed the match-winning putt after Glasgow’s Chris Currie had staged a stirring recovery to halve the match that retained the trophy.

Masterminding the triumph, meanwhile, and pulling the strings behind the scenes was Albert MacKenzie, another son of Aberdeen, who made it clear the success was not solely down to his compatriots.

“It was all about being a team effort, there was no individual glory here,” he insisted. And he was right.

Every member of his ten-strong team, vice-captains Cameron Clark and Martyn Thompson and numerous backstage staff, played their parts in what turned out to be a comprehensive victory, which had looked unlikely after USA won the Saturday foursomes 3&1 to bring it to within one.

But GB&I won the singles comprehensively 7.5–2.5, with Robert Coles, Matthew Cort, Andrew Raitt, Phillip Archer, Hutcheon and David Higgins all winning their matches, as did Damien McGrane after trailing Brown by two holes.

The comeback kid, however, proved to be Currie. Three down at the turn, Currie went up the 18th a hole to the good after halving the 17th, only for opponent Rod Perry to birdie the last for a half.

Reflecting on his match, Currie said: “He made a great birdie on the last to halve the match, which I thought was the right result. It was certainly a game of two halves and I’ll take that. It was another half point to where we had to be.”

It meant it fell to Hutcheon on the 17th to claim the half point needed for victory and, while the Ryder, Solheim and Walker Cups remain in American hands, the Llandudno Trophy stays firmly at home.