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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Great Britain and Ireland completed a 17-8 victory over continental Europe in the Team Cup, an event that provided European players with valuable match play experience ahead of the Ryder Cup in New York this year.
Tommy Fleetwood secured a point to secure a much-anticipated victory for Great Britain and Ireland, who led 11-4 in the singles on Sunday after a dominant first two days at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort.
GB&I needed just two more singles points and after Laurie Canter beat Romain Langasque, 5&4, Fleetwood beat Matthieu Pavon, 3&1. Fleetwood also won the winning point for Europe when they beat the United States outside Rome as would regain the Ryder Cup in 2023.
“A bit different circumstances this time, but it’s a great feeling,” Fleetwood said. “What an amazing group of lads we had again this week and an amazing captain so it was good to be a part of that.”
Justin Rose captained GB&I and said his message before the game was to “go out on the front foot, try to be relentless, play wave after wave”.
His team won five of their first six matches, with Tyrrell Hatton beating Thorbjorn Olesen 3-1; Rose defeated Julien Guerrier, 3 and 2; and Paul Waring defeating Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, 4 and 3.
“I love the challenge and the experience,” Rose said, “and the boys made me look incredibly good at it.”
Continental Europe, which won two years ago when the event was called the Hero Cup, finished strongly with wins from Niklas Norgaard, Antoine Rozner and Matteo Manasser. The last two matches — between Francesco Molinari and Jordan Smith, and Rasmus Hojgaard and Aaron Rai — ended in draws.
The event was previously called The Seve Trophy and was played eight times between 2000 and 2013, with Britain and Ireland winning six times and continental Europe winning twice.
Six of the 20 players and captains from the 2023 edition played in the Ryder Cup that year.
This year’s Ryder Cup is at Bethpage Black in September.
“The match game is unique, we don’t do enough of it,” Rose said. “You can’t just put that touch on right away when you need it, so it’s important to have these opportunities to play. There are some lessons from the match that you must continue to remember.
“You can’t simulate the intensity of the Ryder Cup, with the crowd and the energy, but at the end of the day, as soon as you put the crest in here,” he said, pounding his chest, “and you’ve got 10 friends right behind you, you want to win.”
