Forsyth relishing PGA Cup debut
23/09/2019
Alastair Forsyth is ‘relishing’ the prospect of playing team golf again and representing Great Britain & Ireland in the 2019 PGA Cup.
The two-time European Tour winner booked his place in Cameron Clark’s team after cruising to an 11-shot victory in the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship at Hunstanton Golf Club in June.
Great Britain & Ireland travel to Austin, Texas in search of a record third consecutive victory against the United States in the 29th PGA Cup matches at Barton Creek from September 27-29.
It is the first year Forsyth could make the team having only become a fully-fledged PGA Member 12 months ago and the Scotsman admits qualification was high on his agenda.
“I didn’t have any points or anything from last year,” he explained. “So I knew to qualify outright I needed a big week at Hunstanton as I didn’t know what the situation might be with the captain’s pick.
“I absolutely cannot wait. We’ve got a really great bunch. Cameron’s (Clark) been asking us who we’d like to play with but we’re all saying we’re happy to play with everyone because there’s a really good environment within this team.
“I think we’ll have a great time but the most important thing is we go and win the trophy. You can tell the guys are absolutely desperate to do that. The atmosphere will be really positive among us.”
Forsyth is one of four debutants in the Great Britain & Ireland team but, with two European Tour wins under his belt and eight appearances in golf’s majors, including a tied-ninth finish in the USPGA Championship at Oakland Hill Country Club, Michigan, he is not lacking any experience.
He added: “There are guys in the team who have played in the PGA Cup before so in that respect they’ve got more experience than me, but I’ve been around the game for a long time.
“I’ve been a professional for more than 20 years now. I’ve got a few grey hairs and I’m going a bit thin on top so you can tell I’m no rookie! I’ll be happy to play any kind of role in the team and if there’s anything I can help with just through experience through the game then I will.
“Golf is an individual sport but it’s nice to be playing as part of a team. I think it’s something I’ll relish. I’ve played a fair bit of team golf over the years, playing in the World Cup for Scotland. It’s a slightly different environment. Even the rookies don’t quite feel like rookies and that was one of the things we spoke about at the team get together in July, there’s a real wealth of experience in the team.”
“We’ve all had a lot of chats with Cameron (Clark) and his Vice-Captains Michael (Watson) and David (Higgins) and some of the other guys who’ve played in a PGA Cup about what to expect when we go over there.
“We had a really good meeting in July going over a lot of things and it was a good opportunity for us to ask a few questions that we might have. Everything has been answered. We know exactly what we’re doing and what to expect when we get there.”
