As the GB&I WhatsApp group lit up watching the Walker Cup drama at Lahinch, Ireland’s lone representative Simon Thornton and captain David Scott believe home advantage and experience could finally end America’s recent dominance when the PGA Cup returns to The K Club this weekend.
On Sunday of the Walker Cup, the Great Britain and Ireland PGA Cup team’s WhatsApp group was buzzing in more ways than one.
Less than a month out from the biennial contest which pitches 10 of the top PGA Professionals from the Home Nations against their US counterparts in Ryder Cup-style format for the Llandudno International Trophy, the scenes that unfolded at Lahinch only served to heighten the players’ anticipations that they too could stage an upset and put an end to recent American dominance.
“Yeah, the WhatsApp group was on fire when all that was happening,” said Simon Thornton, who is the lone Irish representative on the 10-man panel that will tee it up at The K Club from 2-4 October. “We know we’ve got to our jobs, and there are always going to be really good players coming from America, but there’s no reason why we can’t make it a quadruple and have the Ryder Cup, Walker Cup, Solheim Cup and PGA Cup this side of the pond.
“It’s a great event to be part of, but as I said to the boys on the WhatsApp group, it’s an even better event to win. So that’s the goal.”
Thornton, who is also serving as Captain of the PGA in Ireland in 2026, doesn’t tend to set goals, but for the PGA Cup, he made a rare exception.
The Newcastle man is a former winner on the European Tour, and is targeting Legends Tour qualification when he turns 50 next year, but having played on the GB&I side that fell to the US at Foxhills in Surrey in 2022, then qualified for the 2024 staging but was forced to choose between playing in the Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down – in his hometown, and on the golf course he grew up playing and where he started professional life.
So, when it was announced that The K Club would be the host venue for the 2026 event, the number one player on the Elavon Order of Merit on the PGA in Ireland region was fully intent on qualifying and playing in his second PGA Cup.
“When I got the phone call from David [Scott], the captain, I was delighted to get in the team,” he said. “At my age, experience is one thing I can bring to the team. I’ve played golf at the top level in Europe, and now I’m competing with the guys playing on the PGA Region in Ireland and in the UK, and they’re all really good golfers as well, but it’s about getting everybody on top form in October and I think I can be a big part of that.
“Plus, I know the golf course really well. We’ve played here a lot over the years, Michael Fetherston has been a great supporter of the PGA, so to come back here is an honour for myself as well. So, I think I can be an important part of the team, not just as somebody with experience for the other guys to lean on, but in getting the weapons out myself and trying to make as many birdies as I can.”
The 10 players representing GB&I, along with PGA officials and team captain David Scott, assembled at The K Club for a team bonding session and to get to know the golf course a little better a few weeks ahead of the event, and Thornton believes that it could prove crucial when the gun goes and the action starts in October.
“It’s massive,” he declared. “It’s massive for team morale and for everyone getting to know each other. You don’t want to turn up and be a team of strangers, so that was really important. And it’s really important for David to get a better idea of what pairings may work together in foursomes and fourball. It’s not like the Ryder Cup where the players are playing with each other week-in, week-out, and you know the strengths and weaknesses of everybody, so there’s a bit more research that needs to be done and these two days are really important for all of that.
“I’d never played any team golf growing up, I went into professional golf almost straight away and carried on playing, so to have that experience four years ago was incredible. And if I can have the same experience this time, with a different result, it will be up there with the best moments of my career.”
With most of the qualifying tournaments held on mainland UK, and Thornton’s duties as PGA in Ireland captain making it difficult to travel abroad, he had to rely on a captain’s pick from Scott, but the Scotsman, a former PGA Cup player himself, was always keen to have an Irishman on the panel and required no arm-twisting to include Thornton.
“He’s rock solid,” Scott explained. “He played in the Cup matches before, won matches in the Cup before, and he’s a brilliant player. He loves pressure, and it was an easy choice. With his experience, and his knowledge of the golf course at The K Club, he’ll be an important member of the team.”
The full panel features representation from all four of the home nations – Scotland’s Graeme Robertson and Gavin Hay, Englishmen Ashley Mansell, Harry Casey, Ben Amor, Gareth Davies, James Freeman, and Matthew Ford, Welshman Toby Hunt and Ireland’s Thornton – and Scott was bullish on their chances of ending the United States’ quest for four-in-a-row which is a feat last achieved at The K Club in 1992 before the US made it a record five straight wins at PGA National in Florida two years later.
“I’ve not considered defeat,” Scott declared. “Any captain would say that, but I genuinely haven’t. I know the US team has eight rookies, so that’s good news because you’d like to play against rookies if you can, but we don’t care who they are. We’re up against the golf course, we’ll figure out our strategy of how to play each hole, and we’ll be ready to bring it on in October.
“I can’t wait. And I think the team we’ve got is really rock solid. If I can get them gelling, get them motivated, and get them on form, then I don’t see why we can’t win the cup back.”
Though the first staging at The K Club in ’92 was one to forget from a GB&I perspective, the 2005 return to the County Kildare venue was very much the opposite.
Led by the late Jim Farmer, GB&I stormed to a 15-11 victory, claiming a first overall victory since 1984 – the 1996 contest at Gleneagles ended in a 13-13 tie with the US retaining the cup – and though there were no Irish players among the 10, Headfort’s Brendan McGovern served as an assistant captain and the importance of that victory and the two-decades plus of hurt it ended wasn’t lost on the current GB&I team.
“That 2005 win was also on the Palmer South Course,” said Harry Casey, who won the PGA Professional Championship to secure a debut appearance for the hosts. “21 years on, hopefully history can repeat itself and we’re the ones to end the streak.”
Though GB&I have home advantage and that win 21 years ago on their side, they’ll be very much the underdogs when the action kicks off.
All 10 of the United States team members played in either the 2025 or 2026 US PGA Championship, and Ben Kern, one of the two to have past PGA Cup experience having played on both the 2019 and 2024 winning sides, made the cut at Aronimink this year and finished ahead of the likes of Adam Scott, Bryson DeChambeau and Tommy Fleetwood.
US team captain Ben Polland is a three-time PGA Cup player himself, having made his debut in a losing effort in 2015.
At Sunriver in Oregon two years ago, Polland was the undisputed MVP of the US side, playing in each session and recording a perfect 5-0-0 record.
“The PGA Cup remains one of the greatest highlights of my career, and I am beyond excited to lead our team this October,” said Polland, who is PGA Director of Golf at Shooting Star Jackson Hole in Wyoming.
“I am incredibly proud of these 10 PGA of America Golf Professionals who earned the honour of representing our country and Association as members of the 2026 U.S. PGA Cup Team. Each of these individuals possess a commitment and passion for the game that is second to none. I look forward to Ireland as we seek a fourth consecutive Llandudno International Trophy.”
The PGA Cup takes place on The K Club’s Palmer South Course from 2-4 October, and entry is free for all spectators.
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