The United States Team collected 5.5 points in Singles matches on Sunday to win the 31st PGA Cup 17.5 – 8.5 over Great Britain & Ireland at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon. The win marks the U.S. Team’s third-consecutive Llandudno International Trophy and 20th all-time victory in the biennial event. This is also the first time the U.S. has won three straight PGA Cups since 2007-11.
Glasson professional Colm Moriarty picked up a 1UP singles win over Andy Svoboda to take his tally to two points from four matches in what was a fine performance from the PGA in Ireland representative.
The Americans entered Sunday’s finale with a 12-0 – 4.0 lead, needing just a single point to retain and 1.5 points to win outright.
Michael Block (Mission Viejo, Calif.), John Somers (Trinity, Fla.), Ben Polland (Jackson Hole, Wyo.), Tyler Collet (Vero Beach, Fla.) and Brad Marek (Berkeley, Calif.) won their Singles matches while Jesse Mueller (Phoenix, Ariz.) earned a half point to conclude a dominant three-day stretch for the U.S. Team.
“It’s been the highlight of my professional career,” said U.S. Captain and PGA of America Honorary President Jim Richerson. “It’s a really neat experience for someone who hasn’t had the experience of being in a PGA Cup. I think the team atmosphere is just different.
“With this team atmosphere you have 10 PGA Professionals who are working everyday at their clubs back home, and they get to come together as a team. They get to spend time getting to know one another. Their spouses get to know one another. That’s one of the great things about the game of golf. It’s such a great connector bringing people together.”
Richerson, who is now 2-0 as a U.S. Captain (2022 Women’s PGA Cup), tabbed the veteran Block to leadoff against GB & I’s Craig Lee. Block birdied the par-4 15th and parred the par-3 16th to go 2-up. Block then birdied the par-5 17th to halve the hole and close out the 2&1 win. Block’s win pushed the Americans to 13 points, guaranteeing at least a retention of the Llandudno International Trophy. Block, who has teed off first in Sunday Singles at all three of his PGA Cup appearances, extended his perfect singles record to 3-0-0.
“I have such a passion for this event and the guys I’m playing with,” said Block. “For me to go out and do well, it’s a dream for me. It’s a lot of pressure, which I want. To go out and produce what I wanted to do is really really cool.”
Somers was the next to strike, going head to head with England’s Matt Cort. After Cort’s par at the par-3 13th tied the match, Somers took control with a birdie at the par-4 14th and a par on the par-3 16th to go 2-up. Both players made par on the par-5 17th, halving the hole and securing a 2&1 win for Somers. That point sealed the overall victory for the Americans and was the third for Somers in his first PGA Cup.
“It’s incredible,” said Somers. “I knew we had a stud team. Today we had a chip on our shoulders even though we had a lead. We wanted to go back out there and make sure we won. I didn’t have a lot of putts fall today, but I hit it great.”
Polland, the 2024 PGA Professional Champion, continued his stellar week with a nail-biting 1-up win over GB & I’s Paul McKechnie, who won the 16th and 17th holes to bring the match all square heading to the 18th tee. Polland ended the match with authority when he drained a 28-foot putt for birdie to win 1-up.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Polland. “I was happy with how I played. The final match was great. Paul was playing awesome. Making a putt was fitting on the last hole because that was the club that was automatic and working this week.”
Polland led the way for the U.S. Team all week with a perfect 5-0 record.
“Being able to even play five matches in one of these is fun, let alone winning all of them,” said Polland. “The experience of playing in the matches, the team format and all that was so fun. This is the best event that we play in.”
Mueller erased a 3-hole deficit against Toby Hunt with three straight birdies on holes 16-18 to halve the match. Collet defeated Daniel Brown 1-up and Marek won 2&1 over James Ruth for two additional U.S. points.
Great Britain & Ireland collected four points in Sunday’s finale with Moriarty’s 1-up win over Andy Svoboda, James Walker’s 1-up win against Jared Jones, Adam Keogh’s 3&2 victory versus Jeremy Wells and Gareth Davies’ 3&2 decision over Matt Cahill.
Sunday marked the completion of a memorable PGA Cup for the Americans, who led 7.0 – 1.0 and 12.0 – 4.0 after the first two days, respectively. Both Collet and Marek finished their PGA Cup debuts with spotless 4-0 records. Mueller turned in another solid PGA Cup performance at 3-0-1 while Jones went 3-1-0.
For Richerson and his 10-member U.S. team, the 2024 PGA Cup provided a wealth of great memories both on and off the golf course.
“One of the neatest comments you hear players saying on the last day to other players is ‘Hey it was great spending this week with you and getting to know you on this type of level.’ Those are the bonds that are made through the PGA Cup,” said Richerson.
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