• Vivendi Seve Trophy, Day Three

GB&I on the verge of victory after dominant day

David Horsey and Darren Clarke were the only GB&I pair not to win in the morning action © Getty Images

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Great Britain & Ireland enjoyed a dominant day to put themselves on the verge of yet another victory in the Vivendi Seve Trophy.

Having had the better of both the morning greensomes and afternoon foursomes, Paul McGinley's team won six of the eight available points to open up a 11½-6½ advantage going into the final day - leaving them just 2½ points short of the mark they require to retain the trophy they have won on each of the last five occasions.

Coming into the day with a slender one-point advantage, Paul McGinley's side claimed 3½ points from the available four in the morning greensomes to restore a healthy advantage - with David Horsey and Darren Clarke's half against Peter Hanson and Alex Noren the only respite for Jean van der Velde's Continental Europe.

The opening pairing of Simon Dyson and Jamie Donaldson got the ball rolling (literally and figuratively) at St-Nom-la-Breteche, as they took an early two-hole lead against Matteo Manassero and Nicolas Colsaerts. The Italian and his Belgian partner fought back around the turn to restore parity, before Dyson and Donaldson won both the 14th and 15th as their opponents eventually ran out of holes in a 2&1 finish.

The all-English pairing of Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter won by an identical margin against Thomas Bjorn and Raphael Jacquelin, claiming the same pair of holes to set up their triumph on the 17th.

The most emphatic win of the morning went to Lee Westwood and Scott Jamieson, however - as their Anglo-Scottish partnership combined to defeat the Spanish duo of Pablo Larrazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez with no little ease, shaking hands on the 15th with a 4&3 triumph.

In the afternoon's play, Continental Europe looked to be on course for a similar battering, as they were down in three of the four games heading into the back nine. But Francesco Molinari and Manassero combined to make a safe par at the last to rescue a half against Rock and Donaldson, who could only manage a bogey with the match seemingly within their grasp.

A birdie at the 16th then ensured Bjorn and Hansen picked up an important point against Fisher and Mark Foster, enabling them to close out a relatively comfortable 3&2 victory, before the final game of the day - Westwood and Horsey against Jacquelin and Colsaerts - went GB&I's way in a 4&3 victory that say the Continental pair lose five holes in a span of seven due to a combination of poor shot-making and prolific precision from their opponents.

That left McGinley's men with a four-point advantage with just one match remaining before the closing round of singles. A win for the Continental side in that clash would have really made things interesting going into Sunday, but Dyson and Poulter proved to have too much for the partnership of Larrazabal and Noren as they sealed a 3&1 success.

GB&I will therefore go into the final day with a five-point lead - meaning that they need to win just three of the 10 singles matches to ensure they will win the Seve Trophy once again, or will retain the trophy as holders with just 2½ more points.

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