The Continent of Europe maintained their dominance in the Jacques Léglise Trophy by gaining their fourth consecutive victory over Great Britain & Ireland in emphatic circumstances in France.
FORMAT: Team matchplay – 4 foursomes both days & 8/9 singles
The home side won all four sessions and took the final round of singles yesterday 7-2 to record their biggest victory for 17 years at the Golf de Chantilly club in Paris.
Their 17-8 success, also a record-breaking fourth in a row under the stewardship of Joachim Fourquet, was also their sixth in the last seven meetings.
And Germany’s Tim Wiedemeyer has become the first ever Continent of Europe player to win the Jacques Léglise Trophy three times, scoring an impressive nine points out of 12 in his three appearances for the side. Lev Grinberg celebrated becoming the first Ukranian to compete in the match by finishing with a perfect record (3/3).
Fourquet said: “I am so proud, it is historical, so I am very proud of my team, very proud of the last four years.
“They did it perfectly, I mean it is very natural for them, they talk to each other, they do contest around the green, they joke around. It is just a great team, with great players and great spirit.
“Winning here is something very special, as a member of Chantilly, I like this course, I like the people here, so it’s very emotional and I am very proud of winning here in Chantilly.”
Heading into the final day with a three-point deficit, the visitors needed a fast start at Golf de Chantilly and they got one. The GB&I team went up in all of the first three foursomes matches after two holes and looked like they might close the gap to their opponents ahead of the final singles session.
However, the Spanish duo of Marcel Fonseca Aguilar and Jorge Siyuan Hao were one-down after five against England’s Hugh Adams and Monty Holcombe, but three birdies in fives holes quickly turned the match, and the session, around. A final birdie on the 14th secured a 5&4 win and the first point of the day for the Europeans.
A second point closely followed. Despite being down in the match until the 15th, Hugo Le Goff (Fra) and Lev Grinberg (Ukr) won three holes in a row against Ireland’s Sean Keeling and Jack Murphy to claim a second point for Europe on the 17th green.
England’s Dylan Shaw-Radford and recent British Boys champion Kris Kim took the upper-hand in match number three, defeating Swedish duo, Simon Hovdal and Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson to secure the first point of the day for the visitors.
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The session looked set for a 2-2 tie with Niall Sheils Donegan of Scotland and Donnacha Cleary of Ireland two-up in the final contest with two to play. But a missed opportunity on the 17th and a costly mistake on the 18th enabled Germans Tim Wiedemeyer and Peer Wernicke to halve the match, a result that widened the gap between the two teams to four points going into the nine afternoon singles.
And The Continent of Europe entered the last session needing only three points to secure the Jacques Léglise Trophy.
Hovdal set the tone early in match number two beating Adams 5&4 with a birdie on the 14th. It looked like the decisive winning point would come from one of the top contests with many Europeans leading their matches.
Fahlberg-Johnsson’s win against GB&I captain, Shaw-Radford on the 17th came simultaneously with Fonseca Aguilar’s success on the 15th green against Cleary guaranteeing the Jacques Léglise trophy stayed in the Continent of Europe’s possession for one more year. Halved matches from Louis Anceaux (Fra) and Wernicke, as well as further wins from Hao, Wiedemeyer, Le Goff and Grinberg meant they rounded things off in style.
Shaw-Radford, playing captain of Great Britain & Ireland, added: “I think quiet a few matches came close and then coming down the stretch we have just let a few slip away which could have gone the other way. We were just a few shots shy.
“Every year we come pretty close, especially last year. I think when we get ahead we need to keep the momentum going.
“The golf course has been brilliant. Everything has been really nice. Thank you to Golf de Chantilly for hosting us and congratulations to the Continent of Europe on a great win.”