Great Britain and Ireland retain PGA Cup with 16-10 win over USA
Sunday 17 September 2017 22:55, UK
Great Britain and Ireland retained the PGA Cup after dominating the final-day singles to cruise to a 16-10 victory over the USA at Foxhills.
The six-point triumph was a record margin for GB&I as they won six of the 10 matches on day three, with three halved and just one victory for the visitors courtesy of Rich Berbarian.
GB&I began the day with a slender one-point advantage, but they soon had blue on the board with wins for former European Tour stars Damien McGrane and Robert Coles in the top two matches.
Scotland's Christopher Currie fought back from three down at the turn to snatch a half against Rod Perry, and the home side increased their advantage with further wins from Matthew Cort and Andrew Raitt.
Berbarian's 4&3 win over Christopher McDonnell briefly extended the contest, but victory was assured shortly afterwards when Greig Hutcheon holed a clutch putt to halve his clash with Paul Claxton.
Phillip Archer and David Higgins won the final two matches to complete the rout, and GB&I captain Albert MacKenzie could barely contain his delight after accepting the Llandudno Trophy.
"To see Greig knock that putt in, it was a very emotional few minutes after it," said MacKenzie. "That was the best sporting afternoon of my life and I'm absolutely thrilled.
"The way the guys stuck to the task, they are 10 warriors. I am just so happy that we have retained the PGA Cup, and it's just a wonderful end to a wonderful journey."
British Par 3 Championship 2017
