Lee is captain’s pick for PGA Cup

Scotsman Craig Lee has been handed the captain’s pick to make the Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup line-up to face the United States at Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas in September.

The former European Tour player completes Cameron Clark’s 10-man team that will look to make history and claim a hat-trick of wins over America in the competition from September 27-29.

“One of my goals this year was to make the PGA Cup team and I fell just shy with my own score at Hunstanton during the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship,” said Lee. “But I’m delighted that I’ve been given the opportunity to play for Great Britain & Ireland in America and I’m really looking forward to it.

“To be given the wild card is a privilege and an honour. I’ve been the America once when I played in Arizona so I’ve got a good track record and I’m looking forward to going back out to the States.”

Lee narrowly missed out on automatic qualification at last week’s Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship at Hunstanton Golf Club where six places were up for grabs.

Two-time European Tour winner Alastair Forsyth blew away the field at Hunstanton, winning The PGA’s premier tournament by 11 shots.

Forsyth will be joined on the plane to Texas by fellow scot Paul O’Hara, who finished tied fourth alongside Jason Levermore and Alex Wrigley who also qualified for the Clark’s team.

Richard Wallis played an integral role when Great Britain & Ireland won for the first time in America four years ago and he makes a welcome return to the team, with Jordan Godwin claiming the final spot at Hunstanton.

Robert Coles, Matthew Cort and David Dixon qualified after finishing in the top three at last year’s PGA Play-Offs.

“We couldn’t be happier with how the team stands now,” said Clark, who will be assisted in Texas by vice-captains David Higgins and Michael Watson.

“We’ve added six incredible players from the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship. After last year’s championship, we always knew it was going to be a very strong team.

“I don’t want to take anything away from the guys who played in 2015 and 2017 but this is one of the strongest teams we’ve ever produced. The performance by Alistair Forsyth at Hunstanton was phenomenal and the last rounds by Richard Wallis in particular just shows the strength and depth that we’ve got. We couldn’t be in a better place heading to America.

“We’ve now got a team get-together towards the back end of July which will be a team bonding exercise, so we’ll try and make a really sociable couple of days and take a look at a few pairings.”

2019 Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team:

Robert Coles (2017 W4, L1, T0)
Maylands Golf & Country Club

David Dixon (2015, W2, L1, T2)
Enmore Park Golf Club

Matthew Cort (2017 W2, L2, T0)
Beedles Lake Golf Club

Jordan Godwin (debutant)
Barnehurst Golf Club

Jason Levermore (2015, W3, LO, T2)
Little Channels Golf Centre

Alexander Wrigley (2015, W2, L2, T0)
Hartlepool Golf Club

Richard Wallis (2013, W2, L1, T1)
Canterbury Golf Club

Alastair Forsyth (debutant)
Mearns Castle Golf Academy

Paul O’Hara (debutant)
North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd

Craig Lee (debutant)
Craig Lee Golf Studio

The 29th staging of the biennial PGA Cup will be played over three days from September 27-29 at Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas

The Americans lost the Llandudno International Trophy on home soil for the first time in 2015 at CordeValle in San Martin, California, and the Great Britain & Ireland team held onto the trophy two years later in 2017 with a victory at Foxhills Club & Resort.

For more information about the 2019 PGA Cup click here.

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