Europe take early lead in Hero Cup on Day 1

Day 1 of the 2023 Hero Cup ended with Continental Europe securing an early lead. The Francesco Molinari-led side took a 3-2 lead on the opening day as Great Britain and Ireland fell short.

GB&I skipper Tommy Fleetwood tasted victory on Day 1. The skipper, along with Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton, won matches but failed to convert them into points at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The English side failed to impress despite being the pre-event favorites.

While Fleetwood and Lowry lost to Europe’s Alex Noren and Thomas Pieters, Hatton and Jordan Smith fell to Thomas Detry and Antoine Rozner. The only major win for the side came from Robert MacIntyre and Seamus Power, who overpowered Sepp Straka and Adrian Meronk 4&3.

The other two fourball matches of the day were both halved. Matt Wallace and Callum Shinkwin shared points with Victor Perez and Guido Migliozzi, while Richard Mansell and Ewen Ferguson halved points with European captain Francesco Molinari and Nicolai Hojgaard. However, both captains were happy with their respective sides’ showing on Day 1.

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Skippers happy with teams' Hero Cup Day 1 performance

Despite losing the early lead, GB&I captain Tommy Fleetwood sounded optimistic. The English golfer, whose side trailed in four of their five matches on Hero Cup Day 1, dubbed it a “good team performance.”

"I think it was a good team performance on the first day," he said. "I think in the end, to get out of that session 3-2, we'll definitely go back to our team rooms feeling better. I just said to the guys I trust them to get something out of it at the last and be very tough coming down that last hole

Fleetwood also claimed that the match-ups were “very close.” He added:

“I think it was very close, and there's a long way to go but happy that we all got our first competitive round of the year out of the way. I think we've established what this team competition is really about, and I think to get the adrenaline flowing down those last holes was great."

Meanwhile, Continental Europe skipper Molinari was more than happy with his team’s performance. The Italian golfer said:

"I'm really, really happy and proud of how we started today. My guys did amazing. Obviously, it's a long way to go but it's always nice winning a day, winning a session. The challenge tomorrow is two sessions so you need to be mentally ready for that."

Following Hero Cup Day 1, all 20 golfers will compete on two sets of five foursomes matches scheduled for Saturday. This will be followed by 10 singles matches on Sunday, which will ultimately decide the champions.

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Pairings for Hero Cup Day 2

Based on a strong showing on Friday, European captain Francesco Molinari has retained Alex Noren and Thomas Pieters as his opening pair for Saturday. The duo will go up against Ewen Ferguson and Richard Mansell for the first of two foursomes sessions on Hero Cup Day 2.

Here are the full pairings for Saturday:

• 7.35 am Thomas Pieters/Alex Noren v Ewen Ferguson/Richard Mansell
• 7:45 am Sepp Straka/Thomas Detry v Tommy Fleetwood/Tyrrell Hatton
• 7:55 am Francesco Molinari/Nicolai Hojgaard v Callum Shinkwin/Matt Wallace
• 8:05 am Antoine Rozner/Adrian Meronk v Jordan Smith/Bob MacIntyre
• 8:15 am Victor Perez/Guido Migliozzi v Shane Lowry/Seamus Power