Great Britain & Ireland wasted no time setting the tone at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort, snatching an early 3½ – 1½ advantage over Continental Europe in the opening round of the fourballs at 2025 Team Cup.
Despite losing the first match, GB&I Captain Justin Rose proved he had a keen eye for talent, as his other pairings racked up three-and-a-half points out of four remaining opportunities.
Rose himself partnered with Matt Wallace in the opening clash, but the French duo of Romain Langasque and Matthieu Pavon halted that effort 3&1.
The setback was short-lived, though, as Laurie Canter and Jordan Smith knuckled down to claim a tense 1Up win over Rasmus Højgaard and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, evening the overall score.
GB&I then found a higher gear when Tyrrell Hatton and Tom McKibbin dispatched Julien Guerrier (subbing in for Nicolai Højgaard) and Antoine Rozner.
Over on the adjacent fairway, Matthew Jordan and Paul Waring halved with Niklas Nørgaard and Thorbjørn Olesen, while in the final match, Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai put on a masterclass.
They rattled off three straight-hole wins from the 14th to topple Matteo Manassero and Continental Europe Captain Francesco Molinari 4&2, sealing the day’s momentum in style.
Justin Rose: I’m really, really pleased with that because some of the key messaging is to get off to fast starts and I did notice there was a little bit too much blue on the board for my liking which I was contributing, as well.
But the team rallied well. I thought Laurie and Jordan closed it out beautifully on 17 and 18. And Matty Jordan, nice tricky up-and-down on 18 to halve that match after Thorbjørn’s shots. To play 18th hole well, to make most of today, I would have snapped that up at the beginning of the day.
Obviously foursomes tomorrow, different format, different style of golf, probably one of my favourite styles of golf. It’s tricky. So hopefully we can kind of keep the momentum up tomorrow but yeah for my decision-making point of view, I’m very happy.
For Saturday morning’s foursomes, both captains have shaken up their lineups. Rose will roll out three fresh pairings, whereas Molinari is keeping most of his duos intact.
In the opener, Olesen and Nørgaard stay together to take on Hatton and Wallace. Meanwhile, Molinari and Guerrier lock horns with Rose and Fleetwood in a captivating Captain-versus-Captain faceoff.
Højgaard and Neergaard-Petersen will tackle Rai and McKibbin, followed by Manassero and Rozner taking on Waring and Jordan.
Finally, Friday’s victorious tandem of Pavon and Langasque will meet Smith and Canter—both teams aiming to keep their winning streaks alive.
It’s only day one, but the stage is already buzzing with tension and top-tier golf. Stay tuned as the action unfolds—this battle for Team Cup bragging rights is just heating up.
