Seve Trophy 2013: Honest Predictions for Weekend Action

The 2013 Seve Trophy has already brought about some incredible drama and the draw for Saturday's action indicated that will continue.

Making predictions for those foursome matches and the rest of the weekend isn't an easy task. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be attempted, however.

Europe's lead hangs by a thread as Great Britain and Ireland staged a dramatic comeback in Friday's fourballs. In order to end their 13-year wait for another victory, Europe need to stay calm and finish strong.

 Saturday Predictions

Nicolas Colsaerts and Gonzalo Fdez-Costano take on Stephen Gallacher and Paul Lawrie in a repeat of Friday's one-sided affair. The Europe pair demolished Gallacher and Lawrie to finish with a 6&5 win, equalling the largest margin of victory in Seve Trophy history.

No two days are the same, obviously, but it's difficult to imagine the tables being turned in this rematch. It's likely to be a closer round, but expect Europe to triumph once more as Colsaerts and Gonzalo Fdez-Costano take the first foursome of the day by a margin of 3&2.

Joost Luiten and Gregory Bourdy match up with Jamie Donaldson and Marc Warren in another round that's likely to go with the pair with the hot blades.

Although both those pairs won their fourballs on Friday, Donaldson and Warren convincingly dispatched Thomas Bjorn and Miguel Angel Jiminez and left the course with a 4&2 victory.

Luiten and Bourdy, meanwhile, almost blew a three-hole lead before finally getting the point for Europe on the 18th.

Donaldson and Warren should win this, claiming Britain and Ireland's first point of the day with a 2&1 victory.

The third foursome of the day sees Thorbjorn Olesen and Francesco Molinari pitted against Chris Wood and Scott Jamieson.

Jamieson in particular was superb on Friday, chasing down Molinari and Matteo Manassero to clinch victory with birdies on the final two holes.

Manassero had a chance to win it on the 18th but cracked and missed an eight-footer to let Jamieson in. Jamieson sunk the necessary six-foot putt and claimed the point for his team.

However, it's likely to be too much to ask of Jamieson to repeat his heroics and Europe should come through a close battle to add to their overall lead. This one should go down to the final hole, but Europe will prevail.

The final foursome of Saturday's draw features Miguel Angel Jiminez and Matteo Manassero against Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood. The Europe pair are the most experienced in the side and Manassero has the best world ranking of any player across the two teams. 

Despite Manassero failing to take his chances on Friday, having such a solid teammate in Jiminez will steady any nerves he may be feeling and enable his team to continue their advantage going into Sunday's singles round.

Outlook

Europe looked like the stronger side before the tournament began, but Great Britain and Ireland fans will point to the last time the Seve Trophy was played. A European victory looked to be on the cards then, too, but the results went against them.

Nevertheless, Jose Maria Olazabal's side will be desperate to regain a trophy that hasn't gone to Europe since the inaugural tournament in 2000.

If they can emerge from the foursomes with a lead of two points or more, it's going to be very difficult for the British and Irish side to erase that deficit in the singles round.

On Sunday, expect Europe finally to take their opportunity and win the Seve Trophy for only the second time in its history.