GB&I close in on victory in Team Cup

At the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Justin Rose’s Great Britain and Ireland team will win the Team Cup with a convincing victory over Continental Europe.

GB&amp, I require only two points from Sunday’s 10 singles matches to avenge a four-point defeat in this competition two years ago. Over the course of two sessions of five foursomes competitions, they won seven and a half points out of ten.

Rose and partner Aaron Rai suffered GB&amp, I’s only setback in the Saturday afternoon set of matches, convincingly beaten 4&amp, 2 by the French duo of Matthieu Pavon and Romain Langasque.

Otherwise, the former world number one’s team’s record is unbroken, with LIV prospect Tom McKibbin maintaining it to a perfect score.

Thorbjorn Olesen and Niklas Norgaard defeated the Northern Irishman and Englishman Matthew Jordan in a close one-up victory.

The UK pair carded five back-nine birdies, including the last three holes, to clinch their point.

McKibbin’s prospective team-mate on the breakaway LIV circuit, Tyrrell Hatton, partnered fellow Englishman Matt Wallace to a 3&amp, 2 win over Danes Rasmus Hojgaard and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.

Hatton and Paul Waring, both of whom are DP World Tour veterans, have so far collected two and half points. But the 39-year-old, who won his biggest title here in Abu Dhabi last November, claims the overall match is far from over.

“It is still not done until that trophy is lifted”, Waring, the Dubai-based pro who partnered Matt Jordan and then Laurie Canter to Saturday victories, told BBC Sport.

Everyone is aware that this isn’t finished, and there will be 10 individual performances.

It all boils down to how we present ourselves tomorrow and give the best performance possible to accomplish this task.

Nevertheless, his team’s overall position could hardly be stronger after what have proved to be two very one-sided days.

In the opening session of Saturday’s foursomes matches, Great Britain and Ireland doubled their first-day lead by 312 points to 112, and they maintained that lead 7-3 going into the second set of foursomes matches.

Before Hatton rolled in a 65-foot eagle putt at the end of a stunning opening game, no shots were dropped. He and Wallace faced Olesen and Norgaard in a dramatic second half, which was meant.

The Danes finished the matchup 15-under-par with the other pairings at two up after ten.

Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, both captains of the continent, were defeated by Rose’s deft play in the final two-up victory. It edged Rose’s team 7-2 ahead.

But moments later Pavon and Langasque closed out the continent’s only morning success, 3&amp, 2 against Jordan Smith and Canter, which cut the arrears to four points.

Earlier, Rai and McKibbin maintained 100% records with a 4&amp, 3 trouncing of Hojgaard and Neergaard-Petersen.

When Matteo Manassero and Antoine Rozner faced off, Waring and Jordan were even more convincing.