Matthew Cort is predicting another close encounter when he represents Great Britain & Ireland for a third time in the upcoming PGA Cup matches against America at Foxhills Club & Resort next week.
Cort was part of the victorious Great Britain & Ireland team who beat the Americans in the competition five years ago and he was a top performer in Texas in 2019 when the visiting team suffered a narrow 14-12 defeat.
The matches return to Foxhills in Surrey from 16-18th September, 2022 and although Great Britain & Ireland will have seven rookies in their ranks, Cort is confident they can make home advantage count at a venue he is all too familiar with.
Cort said: “I have good memories of playing at Foxhills. We won 16-10 there in 2017 so it’ll be nice to come back.
“Myself, David (Higgins) and Greig (Hutcheon) are the only guys who have experienced the event. We’ve got seven rookies this year but they’re all good players, they’ve all achieved great stuff on their own, it’s the pairings where they’re lacking in experience but the Captain will have a think about how we can team up best. Looking at their team, they’ve got a load of guys that I don’t recognise, so on both sides it’s a mixture of new and old.
“I do feel more experienced this time having played in 2017 and 2019. I’ll just play my own game, but we’ll see what DJ (David Russell) does with the parings. He might split myself, David (Higgins) and Greg (Hutcheon) up for the fourballs and foursomes, so we’ll be paired with a rookie so anything that I can help with like course knowledge from five years ago then I’ll do that.
“I think it does help having played at this venue before. The greens out there were pretty slow when we met for our team get together in July, but the game plan is to keep below the holes. That’s a big thing, drive it in play and leave yourself the uphill putts.”
Cort was part of the GB&I team who came agonisingly close to securing an unprecedented hat-trick of wins over the Americans for the first time in the competition’s history.
In a match full of twists and turns, Cameron Clark’s team fought back from 5-3 down on day one, winning seven out of eight matches on the Saturday, to lead 10-6 heading into the Sunday singles.
However, the US recorded one of the competition’s greatest comebacks, winning eight of the ten singles matches to secure a 14-12 victory and one that still hurts for Cort.
“We’d had a great Saturday, winning seven out of eight points, so we jumped ahead. We had a four-point lead and got turned over a little bit on that Sunday.
“As long as it’s a close run event then it will be great for everyone, which it has been for the last five matches it’s always come down to a couple of points either way. Hopefully we get that kind of event again.
“In Texas in 2019 I struggled a little bit. I played four matches going into the Sunday singles. I had scored well and that was great, but it definitely takes a lot out of you playing 36 holes in day in the heat. I guess In September at Foxhills it’s going to be a little bit cooler.”
First played in 1973, the PGA Cup is a biennial contest between the PGA of Great Britain & Ireland and America. Widely regarded as the pinnacle of a PGA Professional’s career, the winner of the Ryder Cup style format at week’s end at Foxhills will win the famous Llandudno International Trophy. The USA are this year’s defending champions after defeating GB&I 14-12 at Barton Creek Resort, Texas in 2019.
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