The Europeans added another three points to the three-and-a-half they won around the Amata Spring Country Club yesterday, giving the winners of last year's inaugural competition a 6.5 to 1.5 advantage and leaving them just one-and-a-half points away from retaining the title. But, while satisfied with another fine showing that saw wins from Swedish pairing Henrik Stenson and Johan Edfors, as well as for Paul McGinley and Anthony Wall, the former Masters and Open champion chose to remain quietly confident rather than claim the job all but done.

"All we need tomorrow is two points to win, " said Ballesteros. "It looks pretty good. All the players are great champions. On paper sometimes you think the first match is on the European side but maybe tomorrow it will go to Asia. Matchplay is very unpredictable and golf in general is very unpredictable. I have been in golf for a long time and you know never to get over-confident, but I have a lot of confidence in my team."