By Bernie McGuire in Abu Dhabi
GB&I captain Tommy Fleetwood has paired the unbeaten opening day pair of Seamus Power and Scot Robert MacIntyre for the afternoon Foursomes session on day two of the inaugural Hero Cup.
Power and MacIntyre had not met each other before this week but dove-tailed superbly to deliver GB & I a 4 & 3 victory in Friday’s opening fourballs.
Their win was the only victory for Fleetwood’s team on Friday and with two of the four matches halves to hand the European Continental side a 3 & 2 lead on the National course here in Abu Dhabi.
Day two had just dawned in the UAE capital when play got underway in the Foursomes and at play’s end just after 11am local time the Europeans were still in command winning two matches and halving one other for the players to head to a short luncheon break leading 5 ½ to 4 ½.
The all-Ireland of Shane Lowry and Seamus Power were out last before being handed a 3 & 2 loss at the hands of Frenchman Victor Perez and Italian-born partner, Guido Migliozzi.
It was a second defeat for Lowry and a first for Power.
The Irish were back-pedalling early to be 2 down after four holes, losing the second to a birdie and conceding the fourth while finding themselves really losing sight of their rivals when Europe won both the seventh and eighth holes. It was now GB & I 4 down after just eight holes.
The Irish pair won the ninth with a birdie but Europe seized the 10th with a birdie only to concede 11 but Europe won the 12th with a par to go back to 4 but only to lose the 13th in taking a double to Lowry and Power’s par.
GB & I won the 15th with a birdie to be two down with six play and very much still in the match before Europe won the 16th with a birdie to grab the 3 & 2 victory.
In other matches …. Continental Europe’s Thomas Pieters and Alex Noren birdied the last to secure a half with GB & Is Ewen Ferguson. The England duo of Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton, and winners of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship here at Abu Dhabi grabbed a 1up win over their rivals Sepp Straka and Thomas Detry.
“Yeah, great. I made it as hard as possible for Tyrrell down the last. We played really well. It was a solid match and there was never really that much in it. We played a very chilled round of golf, and that was pleasing. And the points are what matter, so it’s always good to get that point,” said Fleetwood,
Continental Europe captain Francesco Molinari and partner Nicolas Hojgaard remain unbeaten winning 3 & 1 over a second England pairing in Callum Shinkwin and Matt Wallace
And GB & Is Robert MacIntyre and Jordan Smith secured a last hole 1up win thanks to a birdie over Antoine Rozner and Adrian Meronk.
HERO CUP – SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOURSOMES (Time Irish)
(Continental Europe first)
8.30am Molinari/Hojgaard -v- Ferguson/Mansell
8.40am Rozner/Meronk -v- Shinkwin/Wallace
8. 50am Pieters/Noren -v- Ferguson/Mansell
9am Straka/Detry -v- Lowry/Hatton
9.10am Perez/Migliozzi -v- Power/MacIntyre
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