The United States defeated Great Britain and Ireland 17.5-8.5 at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon, to win their third consecutive PGA Cup.
The U.S. went into Sunday’s final with a nearly unbreakable 12-4 lead, needing just one point to defend and 1.5 points to win.
Michael Brock, John Summers, Ben Polland, Tyler Collett and Brad Marek all won singles matches for the local team, while Jesse Mueller won a half-point to cap off a dominant three-day campaign for the U.S. team, which beat club professionals from Great Britain and Ireland in the biennial tournament.
“It’s the highlight of my professional career,” said Jim Richerson, U.S. captain and honorary president of the PGA of America. “For someone who’s never played in the PGA Cup, it’s just a really cool experience. I think it’s a totally different team atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere is that you have 10 PGA Professionals who work every day at their clubs in their home countries coming together as a team. They get to spend time getting to know each other. Spouses get to know each other. That’s one of the great things about the sport of golf. Golf is a great way to bring people together.”
Richerson picked veteran Brock to start the first round against GB&I’s Craig Lee in Sunday’s opening match. Brock birdied the par-4 15th and parred the par-3 16th to move up 2-up. Brock then birdied the par-5 17th to halve the hole and win 2&1. Brock’s win put the American at 13 points and ensured that he would at least defend the Llandudno International Trophy.
Brock has started in Sunday singles in all three of his PGA Cup appearances and extended his unbeaten singles record to 3-0-0.
Summers was up next, going head-to-head with Matt Court of Great Britain. After Court tied the score with a par on the par-3 13th hole, Summers birdied the par-4 14th and parred the par-3 16th to move 2-up. Both players parred the par-5 17th hole to halve the holes and give Summers the victory 2&1. The point sealed the overall victory for the American and Summers’ third point in his first PGA Cup.
Poland, the 2024 PGA Professional Champion, continued his outstanding week by winning the 16th and 17th holes to win a close match, 1-up, over GB&I’s Paul McKechnie, who was tied heading into the 18th tee. Poland finished in style, sinking a 28-foot birdie putt for the 1-up victory.
“It was a lot of fun,” Polland said. “I’m happy with how I played. The final round was great. Paul played great. It was spot on to make that putt on the last hole because that was the club that was just working naturally this week.”
Poland led the U.S. team all week with a perfect 5-0 record. “Just being able to play five matches in a tournament like this is fun, but winning every single one is even better,” Poland said. “The experience of competing, the team format, everything was so much fun. This is the best tournament we’ve been able to participate in.”
Muller halved the match after trailing three holes to Toby Hunt with three consecutive birdies from the 16th to the 18th. Collett beat Daniel Brown 1 up and Marek added two points for the United States by beating James Roos 2&1.
Led by team captain Tim Rouse, Great Britain and Ireland won four points in Sunday’s final with Colm Moriarty beating Andy Svoboda 1-up, James Walker beating Jared Jones 1-up, Adam Keogh beating Jeremy Wells 3&2 and Gareth Davies beating Matt Cahill 3&2.
Sunday marked a memorable PGA Cup finale for the Americans, who led 7-1 and 12-4 after the first two days, respectively. Collett and Marek both finished their PGA Cup debuts with perfect 4-0 records.
