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French lead Europe to fourballs victory

French teammates Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret led Continental Europe to a 3-2 fourballs win over Britain and Ireland on Thursday at the Seve Trophy tournament.

Jacquelin and Havret beat Paul Casey and Simon Dyson 4 and 3 at The Heritage.

"It was a great day for golf," tournament namesake Seve Ballesteros said. "It was top-class golf. I was not surprised by the quality because I expected it. They are all great champions."

Swedish players Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson also won, beating Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren 3 and 1, while Markus Brier of Austria and Mikko Ilonen of Finland downed Justin Rose and Oliver Wilson 3 and 2.

Britain and Ireland got its points from Bradley Dredge and Phillip Archer, and Nick Dougherty and Graeme Storm.

Dredge and Archer beat Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano 2 and 1, while Dougherty and Storm defeated Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen on Storm's 6m putt at the 18th.

"It was impressive golf," Britain and Ireland captain Nick Faldo said. "The teams have locked horns already. We're trailing but I'm delighted we're off and running."

Montgomerie said he and Warren played well, but their opponents played better.

"Peter Hanson is very under-rated," the Scotsman said. "He holed nearly everything and Robert backed him up."

The Swede duo had 11 birdies in 17 holes when the match ended. The Scots had nine.

"We were 9-under after 11 and if you are not leading with that score, you are unlucky," Karlsson said. "But we were just two up and had to keep going."

Casey, who withdrew from last week's British Masters to prepare for the Seve Trophy, had little good to say about his game.

"Generally my swing was poor but my putting was good," the Englishman said.

Faldo split two of his pairings for yesterday's fourballs. Casey will now play with Rose, while Dyson and Wilson play together.

Ilonen and Brier lost the 14th hole to reduce their lead, but they won the next two holes to complete the victory.

"I'd never seen him miss a fairway and I've only seen him miss one now," Ilonen said of Brier.

Britain and Ireland have won three of the four Seve Trophy tournaments, with the Europeans claiming the first one.
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