Britain and Ireland are on the verge of winning the Team Cup against Europe

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Britain and Ireland held two four-pointers and led 11-4 over Continental Europe in the Team Cup on day two on Saturday.

The event at the Abu Dhabi Golf Resort provides European players with an important match to play ahead of the Ryder Cup in New York this year.

Britain and Ireland led 3½-1½ overnight after Friday’s four balls and won 7½ out of 10 points during the foursomes session. Britain and Ireland need just two points from Sunday’s games to win the trophy.

Captain Justin Rose was pleased with the team’s performance.

“The leaderboard is very much in our favor as the rounds continue,” said Rose. “Every game that was tough, we got them back in the half or threw them to win games. Today was a big day, we were 10 points behind. They did an unbelievable job.”

England man Tommy Fleetwood stood out with victories on both occasions, teaming up with countryman Rose in 2 victories over Continental Europe captain Francesco Molinari and France’s Julien Guerrier. Fleetwood then collected three points alongside Jordan Smith in a 3-2 win against the same pair this afternoon.

“We were raw today,” Fleetwood said. “We played very well in what I thought was a very difficult afternoon.”

Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin matched Fleetwood’s effort. He joined Aaron Rai in a 4 and 3 victory over Rasmus Højgaard and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and joined Matthew Jordan in winning 2-up against two other Danes, Thorbjørn Olesen and Niklas Nørgaard.

French boys Romain Langasque and Matthieu Pavon fought back to win both of their Continental Europe matches after winning their four-ball match on Friday.

“We were good today,” Langasque said. “Tomorrow will be a difficult day for us as a team because we are far behind.

This event used to be called the Seve Trophy and was played eight times from 2000 to 2013, Britain and Ireland won six times and Continental Europe won twice.

Six of the 20 players and captains of the 2023 squad played in the Ryder Cup that year, with Europe winning to reclaim the trophy.

This year’s Ryder Cup is at Bethpage Black in September.