Great Britain & Ireland took the spoils in three of the opening matches of the 2025 Team Cup as they moved into an early 3½ – 1½ lead over Continental Europe after the Friday fourballs session at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort.
Despite losing the opening match of the session, GB&I Captain Justin Rose’s selections for the other four matches proved inspired as they claimed three and a half of the four remaining available points.
Rose and Matt Wallace lost 3&1 to the French pair of Romain Langasque and Matthieu Pavon, but the scores were quickly levelled by Laurie Canter and Jordan Smith who beat Rasmus Højgaard and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen 1Up.
GB&I then moved ahead after Tyrrell Hatton and Tom McKibbin beat Julien Guerrier, who was drafted in as a late replacement for Nicolai Højgaard, and Antoine Rozner.
Matthew Jordan and Paul Waring halved their match against Niklas Nørgaard and Thorbjørn Olesen, while in the anchor match Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai defeated Matteo Manassero and Continental Europe Captain Francesco Molinari 4&2 after winning three consecutive holes from the 14th to close out the match.
Both Captains have made changes to their pairings for the first session of foursomes on Saturday morning, with Rose sending out three new pairs with Molinari conversely keeping three of his groups together.
In the opening match, Olesen and Nørgaard remain paired together and will face Hatton and Wallace. The two captains will go head-to-head in match two, with Molinari and Guerrier taking on Rose and Fleetwood.
Højgaard and Neergaard-Petersen will take on Rai and McKibbin in the third match, followed by Manassero and Rozner against Waring and Jordan. In the final match Pavon and Langasque, Continental Europe’s only victorious pair from Friday will play Smith and Canter, who also won their match on the opening day.
Team Cup AM Foursomes Schedule
| Match 1 07:35 | Thorbjørn Olesen, Niklas Nørgaard | vs | Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Wallace |
| Match 2 07:45 | Francesco Molinari, Julien Guerrier | vs | Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood |
| Match 3 07:55 | Rasmus Højgaard, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | vs | Aaron Rai, Tom McKibbin |
| Match 4 08:05 | Matteo Manassero, Antoine Rozner | vs | Paul Waring, Matthew Jordan |
| Match 5 08:15 | Matthieu Pavon, Romain Langasque | vs | Jordan Smith, Laurie Canter |
Off the golf course, there was plenty to do for spectators including trick shot shows, daily ‘Get into Golf’ sessions and Spectator Village with live entertainment fromthe hugely popular Irish singer Rory McGettigan.
Friday also saw 336 students from 9 different schools across the Emirate visit Abu Dhabi Golf Resort to experience the 2025 Team Cup. Students took part in a number of activities, from ‘get in to golf’ lessons, trick shot performances, long putt challenges and fun activations in the spectator village, along with soaking up the atmosphere on the first tee
