After six consecutive defeats, Jose Maria Olazabal’s Continental Europe reaffirmed their position as pre-tournament favourites, as they triumphed in the Thursday fourballs of the Seve Trophy in Paris to lead by 3 ½-1 ½ after the opening day.
It’s the eighth edition of this biennial team competition introduced in 2000. The late Seve Ballesteros was one of the key players behind the establishment of this tournament, and served as the Continental captain on four occasions. Since his untimely death at the age of 54 in 2011, this tournament has continued to serve as a small reminder of the five-time major champion’s legacy, in addition to serving as grounding for potential Ryder Cup captains and players.
Sam Torrance’s Great Britain and Ireland side were the first to post a point on the board, however, after the Scottish duo of Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher defeated veterans Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn 3 and 2 in the opening match.
However, the board would begin to reflect the dominance of the Continental side in this opening day, with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Nicolas Colsaerts comfortable defeating Marc Warren and Scott Jamieson 5 and 3. Mikko Ilonen and Thorbjorn Olesen then held off a spirited fight back from the English pair of Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Wood, to put the Continental side ahead.
In a thrilling contest that shifted back and forth, Francesco Molinari birdied the 18th to ensure of a half point for he and his partner Matteo Manassero against Paul Casey and Simon Khan.
The Continental’s two-point advantage was then confirmed, with the in-form Joost Luiten and Gregory Bourdy uniting to claim a 2 and 1 victory over Jamie Donaldson and David Lynn in a contest of the highest standard.
With the lead to sleep on ahead of tomorrow’s fourball session, Captain Olazabal, who oversaw Europe’s remarkable Ryder Cup triumph at Medinah, reflected on the positives of the day. “The way the youngsters played; Joost played extraordinarily well today and made a bunch of birdies, Thorbjorn also played very well.”
“It was a great experience for them but the main thing is to win points and I think the team is really happy today.”
In the format often refereed to as “better ball” in the United States, Luiten, who has two wins this season, completed the front-nine in an approximate 29. He united with Wales Open champion Gregory Bourdy to defeat Donaldson and Lynn.
“It was a good match,” said Luiten, who won KLM Open in his native Netherlands three weeks ago. “We made three birdies in the first six holes and were only 1 up.
”You win two and you're 3 up after nine, and the back nine - we didn't play great, but it was good enough.”
Great Britain and Ireland’s captain Sam Torrance, who led Europe to victory in the Ryder Cup 11 years ago, reflected on the opening day’s play. “They played very well. Our boys played very well too but they made a few more birdies than us. Our turn tomorrow.
”You put your best match out first and they stood up to be counted with a great win, Fleetwood and Wood had a great comeback and that could have gone either way. It looked like 4-1 down and it almost could have turned to 3-2 ahead but that's golf.”
Olazabal had elected to send out his most experienced duo of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn first. The two veterans have been involved in each of the previous seven Seve Trophy’s, with Bjorn serving as the Continental captain in 2009. However, Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher would defeat them to leave GB&I with some positive thoughts ahead of Friday.
“It's always nice to win,” Lawrie said. “Obviously there is a little bit more pressure when you are going out there first, you want to get a point on the board which we managed to do and we both combined very well today.”
Looking ahead to Friday’s fourballs, Jose Maria Olazabal has unsurprisingly stuck with the pairings that performed so well in the opening session, although in a different order. Torrance has made one minor adjustment with Scott Jamieson partnering David Lynn, with Marc Warren consequently playing alongside Jamie Donaldson.
Friday Fourball Matches.
Paul Casey & Simon Khan v Mikko Ilonen & Thorbjorn Olesen
David Lynn & Scott Jamieson v Francesco Molinari & Matteo Manassero
Jamie Donaldson & Marc Warren v Thomas Bjorn & Miguel Angel Jimenez
Tommy Fleetwood & Chris Wood v Joost Luiten & Gregory Bourdy
Paul Lawrie & Stephen Gallacher v Nicolas Colsaerts & Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano