PGA Cup: US produce brilliant comeback to deny Britain & Ireland three in a row

A dramatic final day of the 2019 PGA Cup saw the United States produce the greatest comeback in the competition’s history as they came from four points down overnight to beat Great Britain & Ireland at Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas.

US captain Derek Sprague and his team pose with the Llandudno trophy following victory at the PGA Cup. Picture: Jan Kruger/Getty Images

A sensational Saturday session put Great Britain & Ireland on course to claim a record third consecutive victory in the competition. But the hosts produced a stunning fightback of their own and became the first team to overturn a deficit heading into day three and win the match.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Cameron Clark’s GB&I side in the biennial match for club pros.

“We were struggling early on and we went down quite heavily in the back matches which puts pressure on the front matches,” said Clark, pictured, “It was tough to take.”

Richard Wallis had added to GB&I’s points tally early in the afternoon, putting the visitors 11-6 in front but there was trouble brewing with the singles leaderboard displaying more red than blue.

A pivotal moment in the match came when American Bob Sowards produced a moment of brilliance when he dunked the ball home on 18 to beat Scot Alastair Forsyth. Soon after Alex Beach produced an incredible up and down to claim a narrow win over Alex Wrigley as the American points kept coming.

Robert Coles recorded his third consecutive win of the weekend late on but the writing was on the wall after Wrigley’s loss and it was down to Marty Jertson to sink the winning putt among jubilant scenes as America celebrated an 18th PGA Cup victory.