Europe fightback pleases Van De Velde

CONTINENTAL Europe captain Jean van de Velde praised his team as they fought back to trail Great Britain and Ireland by a single point after the second day of the Vivendi Seve Trophy at St-Nom-La-Breteche.

The Europeans turned the tables after a strong day on the course, winning three of the five fourballs pairings and halving another to slash their overnight deficit from 4-1 to 5½ to 4½.

The change in fortunes justified Van de Velde’s changes to the pairings, while his opposite number, Paul McGinley, stuck with the combinations that did so well on the opening day.

Van de Velde said: “I’m very proud of what they’ve done and what I’ve seen today. They were really focused from the first hole. Yesterday was a shaky start and some of them couldn’t find their rhythm. Today they knew what they had to do to play well. I’m very happy.”

The Continental Europe coach was especially pleased with the efforts of number one pairing Thomas Bjorn and Raphael Jacquelin, who fought back from three down to take a crucial half against Dyson and Donaldson.

Miguel Angel Jimenez and fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal beat Open champion Darren Clarke and partner David Horsey 3&2, and rookie pairing Nicolas Colsaerts and Matteo Manassero claimed a two-up win over Scott Jamieson and Ross Fisher.

Van de Velde’s trust in inexperienced duo Colsaerts and Manassero paid off as they found their rhythm, having gone one down against Darren Clarke and David Horsey yesterday.

Van de Velde added: “Matteo is 30th in the world so of course he’s a rookie but he’s a pretty good rookie.

“They could have closed it on 17 but fine, he didn’t, they were here on the 18th on the green and I am very pleased with that.”

Great Britain and Ireland captain Paul McGinley was disappointed after the change in fortunes for his team but saved special praise for world number two Lee Westwood. The GB&I pairing of Westwood and Mark Foster was the only real positive for McGinley, as they beat Anders Hansen and Francesco Molinari 5&3.

“We didn’t play with the same intensity and they were fired up,” McGinley said.

Speaking of Westwood, McGinley added: “I think he won that match on his own. He carried the team today.”