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.