Great Britain & Ireland doubled their advantage at the 2025 Team Cup as a strong morning session in Saturday’s foursomes took them 7-3 up.
Justin Rose’s team led 3½ -1½ from Friday’s four-balls, with 13 the target over the weekend to win the trophy, and they repeated that winning margin in the first of two foursomes sessions on the middle day.
Tyrrell Hatton brilliantly salvaged a half in the opening game which was followed by dominant wins for Aaron Rai and Tom McKibbin and then Paul Waring and Matthew Jordan.
Rose and Tommy Fleetwood won their game on the final hole before Matthieu Pavon and Romain Langasque picked up a much-needed point for Continental Europe.
As on Friday, the Continental side struck first in the earlier matches out on course as Thorbjørn Olesen and Niklas Nørgaard birdied the first against Hatton and Matt Wallace before Captain Francesco Molinari and Julien Guerrier won the second and third against Rose and Fleetwood.
But Rai and McKibbin flew out of the blocks in match three, winning the first three holes against Rasmus Højgaard and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen to ensure a competitive start.
Hatton and Wallace hit back but Olesen and Nørgaard birdied the sixth, seventh and tenth to go two up. The English pair cut the deficit back to one at the next.
GB&I were leading in three other matches by that point, though Rose and Fleetwood’s one-up advantage lasted for only the ninth and tenth holes and they fell behind once more after 13.
Waring and Jordan, victorious on Friday against Olesen and Nørgaard, halved the first six holes against Matteo Manassero and Antoine Rozner but won three of the next four to join Rai and McKibbin, by then four up through 11, in a dominant position.
The anchor match was going Continental Europe’s way as Pavon and Langasque eyed a second win in as many sessions.
The French pair won the first and fourth holes against Jordan Smith and Laurie Canter and, after being pegged back before the turn, restored their two-hole lead by the 11th.
Hatton secured a half in spectacular style at the top of the order with a 60-foot putt for eagle after Wallace had found the 18th green. In a high-quality match, GB&I shot a seven-under-par 65 to the Danish pair’s eight under 64.
Olesen said: “I thought all in all it’s a pretty fair result today. They played some great golf, we holed some good putts down the front nine to keep us in it.”
Wallace responded: “We wanted more (but) these boys played nice and I feel it’s a fair reflection on the game today.
"Tyrrell and I hit the ball well, I haven’t got my putting boots on right now but it's something I'm working on.”
Rai and McKibbin wrapped up a 4&3 win as Højgaard’s long putt at the 15th just came to rest beside the hole. The rookie pair each moved to 2-0 after winning their respective four-balls on Friday.
The next match was quickly wrapped up at the same hole, Waring and Jordan reaching that point with a dormie-four lead and winning the hole to produce an even more impressive 5&3 margin.
Fleetwood’s birdie putt sent him and Rose down the last with a half-point guaranteed and they won the hole to finish two up.
Almost immediately, Pavon holed a good birdie putt at the 16th as he and Langasque gained their second successive win, 3&2 over Smith and Canter.
