Victor Perez-Guido Migliozzi linked with Callum Shinkwin – Matt Wallace, while Continental Europe leader Francesco Molinari and Nicolai Hojgaard tied with Ewen Ferguson and Richard Mansell.
The Perez- Migliozzi crash with Wallace and Shinkwin went all the way to the 18th, with the GB&I pair beating the final hole to snatch a vital half.
They were ensuring half a point right at the end of Mansell, who holed a pressure putt on the last as he and Ferguson secured their match with Højgaard, a late replacement for his brother, Rasmus, skipper Molinari to stop Continental Europe from stretching their lead.
MacIntyre and Power pleased their head, Fleetwood, with a dominant show. Fleetwood said, “It’s been a perfect first day. It was very competitive, and a lot of good golf play, and it was impressive that four of the five matches went down the last hole. That shows you how tight it is and the high level of competition.
“They (MacIntyre and Power) both said they valued it and recreated great golf (and won 4&3 against Meronk and Straka). It’s different when you play in teams; chemistry is the most important thing. You can look at all the stats you want, but guys that gel well together and have that chemistry are critical.
“We’ll see what transpires the rest of the week, but I am so happy for those guys for setting in a dominant performance like that and, overall, we were the only team that put in a chief version like that, so I guess we’ll take that one as a positive.”
In the top match, Continental Europe examined like running away as Belgian Pieters and Swede Noren went 3-up on the front nine, with Pieters playing some great golf. Fleetwood and Lowry battled back well to win the tenth. Then Noren holed two straight clutch putts to keep his team’s two-hole advantage.
Fleetwood led from the show and won the 14th and 15th for GB&I to tie the match. They tied as they went to the 18th. On the 18th hole, Noren rolled in his putt at last to secure a 1UP victory.
Swede Noren said: “It was a war on my behalf. I played decent golf in the middle but was happy to get the up-and-down on the last. And Thomas hit some great shots in the end to get it, and the whole front nine, he played great. He allowed out the most; it was great.”
Detry and Rozner tapped out an early two-hole deficit in their match against Hatton-Smith. They won the fifth and seventh before taking the lead just before the turn of a great approach from Frenchman Rozner.
Smith hauled the GB&I level at the tenth, but the Continental Europe pair won the 12th to advance. There was delinquent drama as Smith holed a monster putt at the 17th, which looked like evening things before Rozner matched his birdie in style to keep Continental Europe ahead. They counted on that by beating the final hole to clinch another point for Continental Europe.
GB&I earned their first point on the board, with Power and MacIntyre not losing a single hole in the bottom match. They looked comfy throughout as they won the fourth, sixth, 11th, and 12th holes to reduce GB&I’s arrears.
Wallace and Shinkwin won their match’s final hole for the day’s first tie against Perez and Migliozzi.
Then Mansell, teaming with Ferguson, ensured the lead did not become bigger by holding a pressure putt to tie the match with Molinari and Hojgaard.
Fleetwood and Shane Lowry battled back from three down with nine spots to play against Swede Alex Noren, and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters Noren’s birdie on the par-five 18th completed a small win. At the same time, English duo Tyrrell Hatton and Jordan Smith failed on the 18th to Belgium’s Thomas Detry and France’s Antoine Rozner.
A birdie on the 18th from England’s Matt Wallace confirmed he and compatriot Callum Shinkwin split with France’s Victor Perez and Italy’s Guido Migliozzi’s gratitude to Wallace’s birdie on the 18th. At the same time, Richard Mansell even birdied the last to confirm he and Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson halved with Europe chief Francesco Molinari and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard.
“I’m happy and proud of how we started today. My men did amazing,” said Italian Molinari.
“It’s a long path to go, but it’s always lovely winning a day, winning a session. The challenging future is two sessions, so you must be mentally ready.”
All 20 players will be in motion on Saturday with two sets of five foursomes checks before ten singles match take place on Sunday.
The Hero Cup introduce to give more players more experience in a matchplay team game concerning the Ryder Cup, which is produced biennially between Europe and the United States.
