Great Britain & Ireland Win Jacques Léglise Trophy

Great Britain & Ireland have won the Jacques Léglise Trophy over the Continent of Europe.

The visitors went ahead early in the morning foursomes on day one. A 4&3 win by captain, Barclay Brown, & Joe Pagdin over Loic Ettlin & Adam Wallin was the first point on the board at Kytäjä Golf in Finland.

Dutch duo, Jerry Ji and Kiet Van der Weele, responded by making eagle on the 18th hole for a two-hole victory.

Spanish pair, Eduard Rousaud & David Puig battled back from two-down to claim a half, while Saku Tuusa & Eemil Alajärvi suffered a heavy 5&3 defeat to Tom McKibbin & Archie Davies leaving the morning session score at 2.5 - 1.5 to GB&I.

The Continent of Europe team had a strong start to the second session, and were up in the majority of matches, although GB&I recovered brilliantly to claim wins in all of the first five singles matches of the afternoon.

Things were not looking good at this point for the 2016 and 2017 winners, who were facing a six-point deficit on the scoreboard. Wins from Kiet Van der Weele, Eduard Rousaud, and Loic Ettlin in the final three matches of the day however, reduced the defecit to three points to leave the day one score at 7.5 - 4.5 in favour of the visitors.

Kiet Van der Weele (pictured below) was the top performer for the Continent of Europe on day one, winning both of his matches, while captain, Barclay Brown, was the only GB&I player to achieve the same.

Saku Tuusa and Daniel Da Costa Rodrigues lead the hosting team out in the day two foursomes with a dominant 6&4 win over Barclay Brown and Joe Pagdin. Mark Power & Max Hopkins responded by defeating the Dutch pair on the 15th green, while the two other matches of the session were halved, meaning GB&I required just 3.5 points from the final session to secure victory.

The visitors wasted no time in putting points on the board in the afternoon. Early wins from Max Hopkins and Connor Gough, coupled with Mark Power's half-point versus Adam Wallin, which was helped by a 30-metre chip-in for birdie on the 16th hole while two-down, meant GB&I required just one more point.

England's Robin Williams claimed the deciding point (pictured below), holing a three-metre par putt on the 17th green to defeat Kiet Van Der Weele. The victory marks GB&I's first win since 2015 and putts the score for the decade (since 2010) at four matches each with one match halved.

Wins from Barclay Brown, Joe Pagdin, and a half-point from Tom McKibbin while Eemil Alajärvi and David Puig won their matches for the Continent of Europe meant the final score would be 15.5 - 9.5.

The 2019 Jacques Léglise Trophy will be played at Aldeburgh Golf Club, England.