
Harris English took on the windy conditions at the Torrey Pines North Course and won by a single stroke despite submitting an over-par final round.
Tour News
First established in January 2023, the Team Cup (then the Hero Cup) put British and Irish players in a Matchplay tournament against a host of Continental Europeans. The result being a 14.5 to 10.5 victory by Francesco Molinari’s side. Returning to the Abu Dhabi Golf Club two years later however, it was a very different story this time around.
This year’s event saw Justin Rose take the reins from Tommy Fleetwood while Molinari retained his captaincy. Rose, Fleetwood, and Tyrrell Hatton had notably been part of the European Team that helped secure the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone in 2023.
The event naturally takes a great inspiration from the Ryder Cup, and features a similar format of the first few days consisting of foursomes and fourball matches before a final day of singles matches.
From the get-go, the tournament was heading in GB&I’s favour with them securing a 3.0 – 1.5 lead by the end of the Friday. This pattern continued and heading into the Sunday Rose’s troupe were sitting pretty on a 10.0 – 4.0 lead.
The Sunday Singles matches allow each player to demonstrate their own mettle, and here again the GB&I players proved to be the dominant side. Rose, Hatton, and Fleetwood all won their matches alongside Laurie Canter and Paul Waring.
Europe only needed 2 points from the final day to hold a points majority and secure victory, and when Canter won his match, the outcome was decided while the remining matches were still in play.
The French duo of Mattieu Pavon and Romain Langasque were the shining light of the continental side having won all three of their matches on the Friday and Saturday. However, they were both beaten individually on the final day by Fleetwood and Canter respectively.
A 17-8 win meant GB&I scored more than double the points of their opponents. While the events of the weekend seemed rather one-sided, Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald was adamant that this tournament was invaluable preparation for the next big international clash.
“I think every single person will come out of this week feeling better about what Ryder Cups mean, the history behind it and what they need to do to be a part of it.”
Since 1993, the US Ryder Cup Team has only won the tournament four times, and Europe has never lost on home turf. While the US Team has more dominant players on paper, Donald claims European success has largely been down to considering Europe as a single unit, or family.
“It gives me, some of my vice-captains and the tour staff the opportunity to spend time with these players and embed them into the ‘One Family’ culture even if they do not ultimately go on to represent Team Europe next September.”
We can’t wait for the majors this year and all the hype that’s going towards the next Ryder Cup showdown at Bethpage Black. Will Luke Donald’s team win back-to-back, or will the spirit of New York help Keegan Bradley’s Americans to thwart to competition?