Having been runner-up in the event in both 2015 and 2016, Wrigley followed up his course record round of 63 (-7) in Round 03 with a three-under par round of 67 to close the tournament in style on 14-under par (266).

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“It was a totally different day to what we’ve been used to out here with no sun,” said Wrigley.  “A lot more wind than we’ve normally had, so it was a little bit of a grind.  Chris was on for a really good round and fortunately he fell a little bit shy of me.

“I love this place, I can read the greens really well and the holes just seem to suit me…even the new nine holes…the win fills me with confidence for the rest of the year.

“I’m also really happy for my team too, to finish second is fantastic and I’m really pleased for them.  I had my dad and granddad out here along with Neil.”

In windy conditions, only four players were able to shoot under par for the day, in the event supported by Mercedes-Benz, Eastern Motors LLC, and Abu Dhabi Sports Council.

One of the four was another PGA of GB&I Professional, Chris Gane, who emerged from the pack to put down the only challenge to the eventual winner.

Gane started seven shots back, but made great strides for an excellent six-under round of 64, to leave him ten-under (270) for the tournament and holding the clubhouse lead.

However, seemingly unphased by the mounting pressure from Gane, Wrigley continued where he left off in the third round and birdied the par-four 4th and the par-five 7th to complete a blemish-free front nine of 33 (-2). 

A bogey followed on the 12th – only his second bogey in 54-holes – but he soon recovered the shot, making birdie on the par-four 14th. Another birdie on the 18th capped off a fantastic week for Wrigley, who came agonisingly close to winning twelve months ago where he had lost out in a two-man playoff.

The two Brits were well clear of the rest of the field, which was headed by Ondrej Lieser of the PGA of Czech Republic.

Lieser shot a three-under round of 67, consisting of four birdies, to end with a four-round total of 275 (-5). After struggling in the first round, Lieser produced some great golf to complete a top-three finish.

The Team Pro-Am Competition concluded in Round 03 and was won by the team consisting of PGA of Greece Professional Christos Nikopoulas and amateurs Nikos Valsamidis, Sungjin Hwang and Moonwon Jo, who managed to maintain their Round 02 lead and win by nine points with a total of 268 points (-42).

“I had a great team…we nearly didn’t show up as I only had one amateur, but the guys here found me two excellent amateurs who played great,” said Nikopoulos.  “The course was very good and we enjoyed it a lot…the hotel and venue are very good.  I will come back and, as I said to the team, this is a winning team so we won’t change it for next year!”

Finishing in second place with 259 points was the team made up of Individual Professional winner, Alex Wrigley, and amateurs Jonathan Wrigley, Neil Ashby and John Fawcett, after they scored the best team total of the day with 94 points. Michael Nesbit’s (PGA of GB&I) team of Stephen Dixon, David Lawson and Tony Brown completed the top three with 258 points.

For Full Final Scores Visit: http://eur.pe/2017MercInt

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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf visit the Tournament Hub Page, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#MercIntProAm’, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

To find out more about Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club visit www.aesgc.ae.

Germany and Scotland go into it locked on 18-under (414), just one stroke clear of Teams England and Ireland after the third negotiation of the New Course at Gloria Golf Club in the Turkish resort of Belek.

Such a bunched leaderboard is at odds with the scenario at the start of play when the gap between Germany in pole position and Scotland in fourth was five strokes 

But Scotland, runners up in 2015 and winners 12 months earlier, showed all their experience in reducing the deficit. 

Greig Hutcheon and Greg McBain proved their men for the occasion with rounds of six (66) and four-under (68) respectively while the third member of the team, Graham Fox, had a rare off day. 

“I was exceptionally poor today,” he admitted. “I decided to get rid of the bad stuff and save the best for tomorrow!”

Fox was a member of Team Scotland that lost to France in a play-off last year and was victorious in 2014. Despite those experiences, however, the Scots will go into the final round without a specific game plan.

“There are three very good golfers in our team,” he added. “So there’s no need to change anything. We’ll just go out and try our best – what will be will be.”

Team Germany are adopting a similar line as Dennis Küpper [pictured below, left] explained: “There’s been no plan so far so we’ll keep it like that.

“It’s a great golf course in great condition. You need to be a good player to score here – so if you win here you deserve it.”

Thus far Küpper has scored well here – his 13-under-par return makes him the tournament’s leading individual.

However, as its title suggests, the International Team Championship is a team event.  So, with Küpper’s return of one-under representing his least influential score in the tournament, it fell to Christopher Godson [picture below, middle, alongside Florian Jahn, right] to step up to the plate.

And he did so in fine style, weighing in with a round of four-under, the highlight of which was an eagle at the par five 18^th.

Teams England and Ireland also made up ground on Germany after beginning the tournament’s penultimate round four and three strokes adrift respectively.

Paul Hendriksen proved England’s ace in the pack with a round of six-under and Michael McDermott (four-under) followed suit for the Irish.

At first sight, the battle to be crowned champions looks a four-cornered one but, with the best two scores from three counting, Team Wales is very much in the shake up.

After a round in which Liam Bond posted a score of five-under and Garry Houston weighed in with a two-under-par return, they are on 13-under for the tournament.

That leaves them just five shots shy of the lead and Team Scotland’s achievement in reducing Germany’s overnight advantage will not have gone unnoticed by Bond, Houston and Stuart Runcie.

In addition to the quartet of challengers for the trophy, The PGA of Holland (six-under), Turkey (two-under) and Finland (one-under) are all under par for the tournament. 

In Turkey’s case that means they are well on course to retain the International Shield in the tournament within a tournament. 

The competition is for teams representing a PGA with 100 members or fewer and Turkey go into the final round cushioned by a 14-shot advantage over the PGA of Russia. 

The in-form player, Ulas Karatas, is five-under after three rounds and just one of 13 players under-par for the event.

LEADING SCORES

PGA of Germany, PGA in Scotland (-18); PGA in Ireland, PGA in England (-17); PGA in Wales (-13); PGA of Holland (-6); PGA of Turkey (-2); PGA of Finland (-1)

For Full Round 03 Scores visit http://eur.pe/ITC-2016

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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf visit the Tournament Hub Page (http://eur.pe/ITC-2016), follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#ITC’, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

Having begun the second round at Gloria Golf Club in the Turkish resort of Belek four shots off the pace, the German trio had turned the leaderboard on its head by the end of the day, largely due to a tour de force display by Dennis Küpper.

While his team-mates Florian Jahn and Christopher Godson posted scores of level par (72) and one-over respectively, Küpper took Gloria’s New Course to task.

Küpper had served notice on day one that he was in good form with a three-under-par round of 69.

What followed, however, suggested he was only warming up. The 31-year-old from Krefeld arrived at the par-five 18^th hole on seven-under and then signed off with an eagle for a bogey-free round of 63 (-9).

Reflecting on his round, Küpper said: “I haven’t shot that low in a very long time. I don’t know how that happened – I holed a lot of putts and the greens are perfect. Scores like this happen somehow!”

All of which meant Team Germany ended the day on 13-under (275) with overnight leaders Ireland on 10-under and charged with playing catch-up.

Not that a three-stroke deficit is impossible, especially at the halfway point of a tournament in which the best two scores from the three count.

“I’m dead pleased,” said Team Ireland’s Damian Mooney, who followed up his opening round of five-under with one of two-under.

“As a team we’re having fun and are in the top five, so we’ve done a job so far and are happy.”

Michael McDermott also contributed to Team Ireland’s score with a round of one-under while Eamonn Brady, the third member of the trio, joked: “The plan this week was the other two lads to play really well.  It’s working out so far so good. I’m happy with the plan so far.”

Ireland lie a shot clear of England after Paul Hendriksen and former European Tour player, Andrew Raitt, posted scores of four and three-under respectively to account for the trio’s second round return of seven-under.

Whilst Germany have secured top spot on the leaderboard, the four Great Britain & Ireland teams represented at the Championship have made their cases for the title chase.

Scotland are on eight-under (280) and Wales, for whom Stuart Runcie posted the day’s second best round of five-under (67), are a shot behind.

The PGA of Holland and PGA of Finland, meanwhile, are the only other trios under par, while defending champions Turkey are on track to retain the International Shield in the tournament within a tournament.

The Shield event is for teams representing a PGA with 100 members or fewer and Turkey, having begun the day two shots shy of the PGA of Russia, have established a seven stroke advantage. Poland, nine shots further back, lie third.

LEADING SCORES

PGA of Germany (-13); PGA in Ireland (-10); PGA in England (-9); PGA in Scotland (-8); PGA in Wales (-6); PGA of Holland (-2); PGA of Finland (-1)

For full Round 02 scores visit http://eur.pe/ITC-2016

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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf visit the Tournament Hub Page (http://eur.pe/ITC-2016), follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#ITC’, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

For more information on Gloria Hotels & Resorts visit Gloria.com.tr.

The Annual Congress is the Association’s yearly opportunity to bring together representatives from its 36 Member Country PGAs all under one roof to meet with each other to discuss and share ideas, progress and various ways to advance their organisations and golf in general.

The ITC tournament then runs alongside the Congress in which teams from across the Confederation of Professional Golf’s Member Countries battle it out over 72 holes on Gloria Golf Club’s New Course, with the best two individual scores each day from the team of three counting towards the overall team score.

The tournament is split into the main Championship field and a secondary event in which small and emerging Member PGAs compete for the ITC Shield.

“Gloria has been an excellent host for our Annual Congress and ITC,” said Confederation of Professional Golf Chief Executive, Ian Randell.  “This is the third year that they have hosted our flagship event and it will no doubt be another successful year.

“The facilities on offer at Gloria are second-to-none and our delegates and ITC competitors always have a great experience and enjoy visiting the resort.  We are also looking forward to making use of the remarkable Gloria Sports Arena facility that we know has hosted medal-winning Olympians and various different successful sporting teams since it opened.”

With Gloria’s fantastic Serenity Resort acting as the base for both events, along with Gloria Golf Club and Gloria Sports Arena, the week will conclude with the Gala Awards Dinner supported by Rolex, bringing Congress delegates and ITC competitors together in celebration of the annual award winners and the ITC Champions.

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For updates, information and news visit the Annual Congress Hub Page (http://eur.pe/2016AnnualCongress), follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter (http://bit.ly/Pojrwy) and search the hashtag ‘#AnnualCongress’ (http://eur.pe/VeVIGc) or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page (http://on.fb.me/RnDfEc).

For more information on the 2016 International Team Championship, visit the ITC Tournament Hub Page (http://eur.pe/ITC-2016).