Play is officially underway at The K Club as Great Britain and Ireland and the United States battle it out for the PGA Cup and the famous Llandudno International Trophy.
Following from the inspirational role Stuart Grehan played in leading out GB&I in each of the four sessions at the Walker Cup at Lahinch, GB&I team captain David Scott opted to send Ireland’s sole representative out first in the morning foursomes as Simon Thornton and Matthew Ford team u to take on Ben Kern and Michael Kartrude.
Thornton, recently crowned Elavon Order of Merit champion on the Irish Region for the second year running, and Ford are both former European Tour (DP World Tour) players, with the former a winner on the circuit.
Their opponents boast equally strong credentials as both Kern qualified for this year’s PGA Championship at Aronimink, with Kern making the cut, and finishing as the leading club pro in the event.
Match number two features an all-Scottish duo for GB&I with Gavin Hay and Graeme Robertson facing off against Austin Hurt and Ryan Lenahan, while it’s an all-English duo on deck for match number three with Gareth Davies and James Freeman squaring off against Zach Haynes and Garrett Sapp.
The anchor match sees Toby Hunt, the only Welshman on the GB&I team, pair with England’s Ben Amor to take on Tyler Collett and Jesse Droemer.
Four fourball matches will be staged this afternoon, and Scott and U.S. team captain Ben Polland will select which eight players and pairings will contest those matches before the end of the morning foursomes matches.
The United States are the defending champions and seeking a fourth successive victory, but the 10-man GB&I panel and captain Scott are determined to put a stop to their dominance, just like the 2005 GB&I side did when the event was last staged at The K Club.
You can follow live scoring for all matches by clicking here.
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