Britain and Ireland make it six-in-a-row
Europe began the day at a frenetic pace, recovering from 11½ points to 6½ down overnight to pull level at 11½ each by mid-day. But Great Britain & Ireland, captained by Paul McGinley, had enough in the tank in the later matches to pull away to a 15½ to 12½ win, their sixth in succession.
David Horsey finished all square against Nicolas Colsaerts to halt Europe’s run of five straight wins at the start of the day, while the European fightback further derailed when Scott Jamieson finished one up against Pablo Larrazabal to swing the momentum back in GB&I’s favour.
Ian Poulter sank a crucial birdie on the 18th to seal a one up victory over Matteo Manassero, and victory was assured when Mark Foster sneaked home by the same scoreline against Raphael Jacquelin to take GB&I past the winning 14 1/2 point threshold.
The final pairing of the day, Ross Fisher and Peter Hanson, ended all square.
Victorious skipper McGinley was delighted that his cocktail of experienced hands and rookies had come good when the pressure was on — and in particular reserved special praise for Vivendi Trophy newcomer Jamieson.
“Lucky I had the team well balanced out, and had not just experience but guys in form balanced throughout the team, so they came through in the end,” McGinley said.
“Scott Jamieson’s match was huge, that kind of turned the tide in our favour.
“I actually focused mostly on Scott’s game, I walked every shot with him from the 14th. I knew how pivotal that match was going to be and he was brilliant.
“I wanted Scott to keep playing pretty conservatively coming in there because it was difficult conditions, and he did exactly as I said.
“I’m so proud of the way he’s come through this week, and he’s just one guy. David Horsey as well, a huge half point there.
“I get a huge sense of satisfaction seeing someone like Scott or David Horsey coming though the way they did. Mark Foster as well, it was pivotal that his game stayed one up, that it stayed in the red or it stayed in the green and it never got into the blue, and he did that. And of course Ross Fisher was a rock at the end.”
McGinley always had faith in his players to produce a strong finish despite their nightmare start to the final day.
“It worked out well in the end,” he said. “As much as things went against me, winning only half a point out of the first six matches and losing the first five, I still was confident that, with only three points to win, we had enough guys in form coming at the end.”
Before GB&I regrouped, Europe skipper Jean van de Velde’s tactics were paying off handsomely after opting to field his in-form players in the top order.
Thomas Bjorn led the way as he came from three down to beat Lee Westwood 2&1.
There were also wins for Anders Hansen, by one hole against Simon Dyson, Francesco Molinari, 4&3 against Jamie Donaldson, Alexander Noren, 4&3 against Robert Rock and Miguel Angel Jimenez, 4&2 against his old friend Darren Clarke.
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