Tom McKibbin has three wins from as many matches as he shone in the Saturday foursomes to help Great Britain and Ireland to within two points of victory at the Team Cup in Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
McKibbin won both of his foursomes ties alongside Aaron Rai and Matthew Jordan as GB&I soared clear of an underperforming Continental Europe to lead 11-4 going into the Sunday singles with 13 points needed to clinch the trophy.
McKibbin and Rai were 4&3 winners over a very out of sorts Rasmus Hojgaard and Rasmus Neergard-Petersen in the morning.
The pair were three up after three holes and maintained their advantage until they went four holes clear after eleven and they saw out the match at their ease as GB&I took the session 3.5-1.5.
GB&I skipper Justin Rose had been putting his pairs out in six holes spurts in practice in order to practice low scoring quickly and it paid dividends for McKibbin and Rai.
“Yeah, very valuable,” said McKibbin. “Going out there with that mindset of trying to get up early, and we did that. We had had a couple of solid holes and the course can be very tricky, so I think we kept the ball in play the first couple of holes ask sort of let them make a few mistakes.”
There were further wins for Rose and Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Waring and Matthew Jordan while the top match involving Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Wallace was halved and Matthieu Pavon and Romain Langasque claimed the only point for Francesco Molinari’s Europeans.
McKibbin claimed more Danish blood in the afternoon alongside Jordan as they saw off Thornjorn Olesen and Niklas Norgaard.
The pair were 1DN with three to play but birdies at 16, 17 and 18 secured a vital turnaround victory for Rose’s side.
It took until the 17th hole for McKibbin and Jordan to take the lead but it was a hammer blow for the Europeans to lose such a tight match.
McKibbin has certainly rubber-stamped his Ryder Cup potential as did the pairing of Hatton and Wallace who produced plenty of fireworks in a 3&2 victory over an astonishingly poor Hojgaard and Neergaard-Petersen.
Paul Waring and Laurie Canter were sensational in dispatching of Antoine Rozner and Matteo Manassero 6&4 while Jordan Smith and Fleetwood were 3&2 winners over Julien Guerrier and Molinari.
Pavon and Langasque continue to impress, particularly Pavon who should be a serious contender for a Ryder Cup place in September and the French duo eased to a 4&2 win over Rai and Rose.
While Rose has underperformed he hailed his side’s unbelievably performance.
Asked what pleased him most, Rose said: “Just the way that the leaderboard got more and more and more in our favour as the rounds went on and on and on.
“The lads kind of finished every match off, every match that got tight we either got back to a half or turned them around to win matches. All the tight matches I think we have really maximised over today. That was my message to the guys last night.
“We had a full day of golf on Friday, but it was only 20 percent of the point total. Today was the big day, ten points up for grabs. They have done an unbelievable job just keeping the momentum going.”
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