Team Europe have taken a slender 4.5-3.5 lead after the opening two sessions at the eighth staging of the Fightmaster Cup at Roganstown Golf Club.
North America are the defending champions after a comprehensive 18.5-9.5 in Louisville, Kentucky back in 2023 in the competition which pits one-armed golfers from the opposing continents in Ryder Cup-style format.
Roganstown’s own Cian Arthurs is playing captain of team Europe, and he played alongside Brendan Swan of Trim in both the opening foursomes and afternoon fourball matches on day one.
The duo secured a 2&1 victory over Steve Shipeluski and Vince Biser in the foursomes, but fell 3&2 to Jesse Florkowski and Ryan Lukkari in the afternoon.
Alex Fourie and Ryder Barr got North America off to the ideal start with a 3&2 win over English duo Robert Paul and Steve Hutchinson, before Arthurs and Swan levelled the score in match number two.
Reinhard Schuhknecht and Matthew Gamble then put Europe in front with a 3&2 win over Ryan Matthews and Jesse Florkowski, before Jim Darragh and Darren Masters of Team Europe and Bart Oliva and Mark Manion of North America each earned a half-point in a closely-fought affair that saw neither side lead by more than one hole.
The afternoon session saw Lee Valley’s Martin O’Mahony make his debut appearance alongside England’s Rob Jenkins in the opening match, with the Europeans winning 4&2 over Rob Walden and Sophia Howard.
Ryder Barr and Alex Fourie easily dispatched Stuart Griffin and Simon Jackson to get North America’s first point of the afternoon in match number two. Reinhard Schuhknecht and Matthew Gamble then restored Europe’s two-point lead before Florkowski and Ryan Lukkari pulled it back to the minimum deficit in the final match.
Day two again sees four foursomes matches in the morning and four fourball matches in the afternoon, before the final day singles matches.
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