PGA Cup: U.S. Team Takes 7-1 Lead Over Great Britain & Ireland After Day 1

Early morning fog and brisk temperatures did not slow down a red-hot United States Team on the first day of the 31st PGA Cup.

The Americans came out firing on Friday at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon, capturing three points in morning Four-Ball before sweeping the afternoon Foursomes to establish a 7-1 lead over Great Britain & Ireland.

Six U.S. players went 2-0-0 on Friday including John Somers (Trinity, Fla.) who helped secure a pair of commanding wins alongside Jesse Mueller (Phoenix, Ariz.) in Four-Ball and later Matt Cahill (West Palm Beach, Fla.) in Foursomes.

Ben Polland (Jackson Hole, Wyo.) and Andy Svoboda (Oak Brook, Ill.) won both of their matches as a pair as did Jared Jones (Houston, Texas) and Tyler Collet (Vero Beach, Fla.). Mueller collected his second point when he and Brad Marek (Berkeley, Calif.) clinched the U.S. squad’s final point of the day in Foursomes.

“The guys played just incredible golf today,” said U.S. Captain and PGA of America Honorary President Jim Richerson. “I think the biggest thing I’ve seen all week long is how well they’re gelling as a team. Everybody gets along with everybody. We’ve had some great pairings, some guys really feeding off each other.”

Morning Four-Ball saw the U.S. Team go 3-1-0, highlighted by a stellar 6&5 victory for Mueller and Somers over GB & I’s Colm Moriarty and Toby Hunt.

Somers sent the duo 1-up by birdieing the par-5 second hole after putting his third shot from 10 yards off the green to three feet and putting out. That ignited the start of a dazzling putting performance for the PGA Cup rookie. He added a 30 footer for par on the par-4 third hole and a 25 footer for birdie at the par-3 fourth.

“John got off to such a hot start,” said Mueller. “He made a couple long putts for birdie and then I was able to add one more on the front. There was just no way they could come back with the lead we had and how he was putting it.”

The pair made the turn at 4-up before Somers eagled the par-5 10th to move to five. His sixth and final birdie of the match at the par-4 12th increased the U.S. advantage to 6-up. Both Mueller and Somers parred the par-3 13th to finish the hole all square and clinch the first point of the PGA Cup.

“Me and Jesse really make a great team because he is super accurate,” said Somers. “He is very dependable. He is not going to make a lot of mistakes. Jesse never really got into any trouble. I took advantage of it and stayed aggressive all day.”

Jones and Collet added more red to the scoreboard with their 5&4 win over James Ruth and Daniel Brown.

“First match, I just kind of rode my partner, Tyler,” said Jones. “He was clutch all day. He kept making birdie after birdie. We make a great team. It was a great day.”

Polland and Svoboda defeated Adam Keogh and James Walker 4&3 for the U.S. Team’s third victory of the morning.

Great Britain & Ireland tallied its lone point when Craig Lee and Paul McKechnie won 1-up in a hard-fought battle against Michael Block (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Jeremy Wells (Estero, Fla.).

The U.S. Team picked up where it left off in the morning during afternoon Foursomes. The Somers-Cahill duo went 4-up through 11 holes against GB & I’s Lee and McKechnie. Cahill dunked the American’s second shot for eagle from 117 yards out at the par-4 11th.

“He hit it just absolutely perfectly,” said Somers. “It never left the flag. The sound of it going in, I keep replaying it in my head. It hit the bottom of the flag and went straight in.”

Somers and Cahill parred the par-3 13th and birdied the par-4 14th to clinch the 6&4 win.

“We had a good strategy, implemented it, stuck to it and we had some putts fall,” said Somers. “It was really good back and forth.”

Polland and Svoboda birdied the par-3 16th to secure a 3&2 win over GB&I’s Gareth Davies and Matt Cort. Jones and Collet went par-birdie on holes 16-17 to defeat Adam Keogh and James Walker for their second point of the day. Mueller and Marek’s Foursomes match against Ruth and Brown came down to the end with the American team grinding out a 1-up win.

With a six point cushion following day one and needing 13 total points to retain the Llandudno International Trophy, the U.S. Team hopes for a similar performance over the weekend.

“They’re all great players,” said Richerson. “They’ve all won all kinds of tournaments and all kinds of championships so it’s just continuing to be themselves and continuing to play great.”

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