The history of The PGA Cup

Foxhills Club & Resort will make PGA Cup history this week when it becomes only the second venue in the tournament’s 49-year history to host the matches twice, following the lead of 2006 Ryder Cup host venue The K Club in Ireland (1992 and 2005).

It will be happy return for the likes of Matthew Cort, David Higgins and Greig Hutcheon who all played their part in an historic GB&I victory over the US the last time the PGA Cup was held at Foxhills in 2017.

The celebrations at the Surrey venue five years ago will live long in the memory as Albert MacKenzie led GB&I to a convincing 16-10 win, and it was Scotsman Hutcheon who sunk the winning putt on the 17th hole of the Longcross Course.

But GB&I have not always had it their own way. The early PGA Cup matches, contested annually between 1973 and 1984, made grim reading from a British and Irish standpoint as the US seized a stranglehold on the Llandudno International Trophy.

It was the US who triumphed at the first match back in 1973, played at the iconic Pinehurst No. 2 Course, and that set the tone for the next three encounters, each of which they won comfortably.

GB&I’s first significant impact on the matches came in 1977 during one of the best duels in PGA Cup history at Mission Hills in California. Led by Jack Hargreaves, GB&I were trailing by three points heading into the final day, but they won the singles 6-3 to force a draw. It was the first time since 1927 that a visiting Ryder Cup or PGA Cup team didn’t go home a loser.

The following year on the back of their heroics on US soil, GB&I notched their first win – a fine 10½ - 6½ victory at St Mellion, with Scotland’s Alistair Thomson excelling, with two wins and a halved match.

Twelve months later at a windswept Castletown, Isle of Man, GB&I recorded back-to-back wins over the US thanks to an emphatic 12½ -4½ victory. David Huish (pictured below) and Peter Butler were undefeated in their three outings. Huish made eight PGA Cup appearances and was to become captain of the PGA Cup team in 1988 but not before he set a record of 18 victories that still stands today.

GB&I suffered one of their heaviest PGA Cup defeats in 1980, going down 15-6 at Oak Tree club in Edmond, Oklahoma in the new format that still exists today - foursomes and fourballs on the first two days with singles matches being played on the final day.

The following year, GB&I produced one of their best performances on American soil, as they came from behind to draw 10½ points each at Turnberry Isle in Florida.

The US returned to winning ways in 1982 in Tennessee and in this topsy-turvy series of contests, the next two matches (1983 and 1984), both in Scotland, at Muirfield and Turnberry, were comfortable wins for the home team.

But if those two strong performances had garnered expectations of further success, the US quickly dispelled that notion and it was to be 21 years before a GB&I team managed to regain the trophy.

Strangely, 1988 at The Belfry was the first away victory for the US in 12 years, totalling 15½ points to the home side’s 10½, and two years later it proved to be a one-sided affair. Bruce Fleisher wrote his name all over the contest at Turtle Point, South Carolina, notching a 4-0 personal tally in a series record victory of 19-7.

The Americans won the next two matches 15-11 both at The K Club, Ireland (1992) and PGA National, Florida (1994) before they met for a thrilling contest at Gleneagles, Scotland in 1996.

Amazingly every session was halved and with GB&I a point ahead, it all depended on the final singles match between Anglo-Scot Bill Longmuir and Jeff Roth. Longmuir was two up with four to play but he bogeyed all four final holes and The International Llandudno Trophy was torn from GB&I’s grasp.

In 1998, the Americans retained the trophy with a comfortable 17-9 victory at Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs.

Millennium year at Celtic Manor inspired the hosts to a stronger performance as they dominated the singles (6-4) for the first time since 1984. But America’s three-point lead after the opening two days proved decisive and the visitors wrapped up a narrow victory by just one point.

At The PGA Golf Club, Port St Lucie, Florida in 2003, the hosts (pictured below) overwhelmed the visitors, storming to a 15-1 lead after two days before wrapping up a 19-7 victory.

Two years later however, more than two decades of frustration were brought to a close at The K Club by a GB&I team captained by Jim Farmer. After some brilliant golf on the first two days to establish a 12½-3½ advantage, the hosts wrapped up a 15-11 win despite a valiant fightback in the singles by the US, with Darren Parris winning all five of his matches. Georgia’s magnificent Reynold Plantation and the Oconee Course was the setting for the 23rd matches in 2007 where the US regained the trophy by 13½-12½ margin.

The next two encounters, at The Carrick on Loch Lomond in 2009 and CordeValle two years later, were not so closely contested with the US chalking up successive 17½ - 8½ victories to reassert their grip on the Llandudno International Trophy.

Two years later at Slaley Hall, the US retained the Llandudno Trophy but only just as Russell Weir returned to lead his side to a stunning Sunday singles fightback. The visiting team seemed destined for a comfortable win heading into the singles with a five-point lead, needing two-and-half points to retain the trophy. But GB&I swept the singles 7½ - 2½ to tie 13-13 and leave  Northumberland with heads held high.

In 2015, Jon Bevan led GB&I (pictured above) to their first ever PGA Cup win on US soil at CordeValle. Ireland’s Niall Kearney held his nerve to sink a seven foot putt on the last to clinch a memorable victory and insure Bevan’s team went down in the PGA Cup annals as history makers.

Great Britain & Ireland recorded back-to-back wins over the US at Foxhills two years later, but the Llandudno Trophy was back in the hands of the US team again following a pulsating clash at Barton Creek Resort, Austin, Texas in 2019.

In a match full of twists and turns, the Americans led 5-3 heading into day two, but Cameron Clark’s side fought back, winning seven out of eight matches as they looked to achieve an unprecedented three PGA Cup wins on the bounce. However, the US recorded one of the competition’s greatest comebacks.

Trailing 10-6, the hosts produced some scintillating golf to win the match 14-12. It was a match that had everything, but sadly for GB&I, there had to be a loser.

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