Team Great Britain & Ireland set sights on recovery after a challenging first day at the 31st PGA Cup

14/09/2024

Scottish duo Craig Lee and Paul McKechnie were the first Team Great Britain & Ireland pair to tee off in the Friday morning fourballs and emerged as the sole victors, securing the only point of the day for the team.

Lee and McKechnie took on Team USA’s Michael Block and Jeremy Wells and their camaraderie really shone through. Lee said: “This morning was great. It's obviously great fun playing with Paul. Our spirits were high and they never got any lower. We had great banter all the way around the course and the golf was really good this morning - we were forced to play some really good shots. The Americans came back at us after we got to three up and they grinded us down, but we kept them out with equally good shots and we managed to cross the line one up.”

Adam Keogh and James Walker lost 4&3 in the morning fourballs against Team USA’s Ben Polland & Andy Svoboda, whilst their fellow countrymen James Ruth and Dan Brown lost 5&4 against Texan Jared Jones and Florida-based Tyler Collet. The final group to play was Irishman, Colm Moriarty and Welshman, Toby Hunt, who were defeated 6&5 by Jesse Mueller and John Somers.

Moriarty and Hunt were rested in the afternoon foursomes as PGA Cup Captain Tim Rouse brought in the pairing of Matt Cort and Gareth Davies. However, it was not to be for Team Great Britain & Ireland during the Friday foursomes as Team USA took all four points up for grabs.

Rouse said after the day’s play: “We had a very cold start with a two-hour fog delay, but once we got going our boys played really well. I'm really proud of them - they played their hearts out for me. It was one of those days where the Americans just had the magic, they even holed two shots from the fairway on the same hole, so it just gave them the momentum and the edge that they had.

“But tomorrow we're looking for a big swing - our guys are up for the fight, they fought back to level on a number of occasions today and then it was snatched away from them. I trust what they can do. I'm looking to put some more points on the board obviously but I'm convinced they can fight back in the singles so if we can close that gap tomorrow and give us a fighting chance for the singles I'll be delighted.”

To follow live scoring from the PGA Cup, click HERE.

To see photos from Friday, click HERE.