The Continental Europe Team, captained by Francesco Molinari, leads Team Great Britain & Ireland, captained by Tommy Fleetwood, by 3 points to 2 after the Day One 18 hole fourballs in the Hero Cup over the National Course at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Four of the five matches of this ‘Team Europe rehearsal’ for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome made the 18th hole with Continental Europe winning the top match by 1 hole and the second match by two holes.
The third match ended in a tie and the fifth match of the session saw Seamus Power and Robert MacIntyre win GB & I’s only point of the day. Power and MacIntyre were 10 under par betterball for their first 13 holes for a 4 & 3 victory shaking hands with Sepp Straka and Adrian Meronk on the 15th green.
With just the final match still on the golf course, and being watched by players from both teams as well as 2023 Team Europe Captain Luke Donald and a group of former Captains and vice-Captains, witnessed another tied match with Richard Mansell sinking the crucial last birdie putt of the day to see GB & I keeping it close right until the end.
Day 2 tomorrow (Saturday) sees two sessions of foursomes, the alternate shot format, with all 10 players participating in two matches each, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
On Sunday, Day 3, there are 10 singles matches with the winning team the first to get to 13 points.
Day One Fourball Results
Continental Europe 3 Points v Great Britain & Ireland 2 Points (CE names first):
- Thomas Pieters & Alex Noren beat Tommy Fleetwood (Captain) & Shane Lowry 1 hole
- Thomas Detry & Antoine Rozner beat Tyrrell Hatton & Jordan Smith 2 holes
- Victor Perez & Guido Migliozzi halved with Callum Shinkwin & Matt Wallace
- Francesco Molinari (Captain) & Nicolai Hojgaard halved with Ewen Ferguson & Richard Mansell
- Sepp Straka & Adrian Meronk lost to Seamus Power & Robert MacIntyre 4 & 3
