The winning GB&I team (R & A photo)
HYVINKAA, Finland (Sept. 1, 2018) – Great Britain and Ireland won the 2018 Jacques Leglise Trophy on Saturday after defeating the Continent of Europe, 15½-9½. GB&I took a three-point lead into the final round of the event at Kytaja Golf in Finland and doubled it.
This marks the first victory for GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy since 2014. It’s victory No. 29 since 1977.
The Europeans managed to tie GB&I in morning foursomes on the final day, and still trailed by three entering Saturday afternoon’s singles matches. GB&I sealed the deal when it won six of the nine available singles points.
“It’s an unbelievable result given that we knew the Continent of Europe would be strong and we were probably the underdogs going into the match,” said GB&I captain Stuart Wilson. “We brought together the best team of golfers that we could assemble for this match and everyone performed brilliantly over the two days.
“We’re delighted with the performance and the players were really focused on getting a result. It’s great to sign off the international season with a win like this. I think we were strong in and around the greens and we knew we had a team of very good putters. The players definitely brought their A game this week.”
Jeroen Stevens, captain for the Continent of Europe, praised GB&I’s play over the weekend.
“From the start, I could tell that they had come to win and had put together a good team,” Stevens said. “They holed the important putts and the result speaks for itself.”
The visitors really began to pull away when Max Hopkins delivered an emphatic 6-and-4 victory over Saku Tuusa that included four birdies. Conor Gough, the 2018 Boys Amateur champion, followed suit by defeating Loic Ettlin, 2 and 1, to move GB&I that much closer to a victory.
Mark Power fought back from two holes down with three to play against Adam Wallin of Sweden to secure an important halve. The overall victory was confirmed in the fourth singles match when Robin Williams sunk the winning putt on the 17th to claim a 2-and-1 win over Kiet van der Weele and put GB&I into an unassailable 13-7 lead.
The last match out on the course between Tom McKibbin and Jerry Ji was halved, which sealed GB&I’s 15½-9½ winning score.
The R&A contributed to this report
ABOUT THE Jacques Leglise Trophy
An annual boys' team competition between
Great
Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe.
The
nine player teams compete over two days in
foursomes and single matches
View Complete Tournament Information