Europe battled back to lead the Ryder Cup entering Saturday's second day of competition thanks to an unprecedented foursomes sweep of defending champions the United States, yet European captain Thomas Bjorn warns the trophy fight is far from over.
Europe seized a 5-3 lead after Friday's opening fourball and foursomes sessions at Le Golf National thanks to four romps in the afternoon foursomes, the Americans unable to last past the 16th hole.
"It was great but we need to put our heads back on quickly," Bjorn said. "There's no time to celebrate. There's still a job to be done."
Reigning British Open champion Francesco Molinari of Italy, winless in five prior Ryder Cup matches, paired with English rookie Tommy Fleetwood to beat Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed 3 and 1 in fourballs and the duo then ripped Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 5 and 4 to complete the historic foursomes sweep.
"We didn't come here to win the foursomes," Molinari said. "We came here to win something else."
Molinari will join Fleetwood for a Saturday fourballs rematch against Woods and Reed, who sat out Saturday afternoon.
US captain Jim Furyk dismissed fears of back problems for Woods, saying: "I'd have to say that's not true. He was actually out practising after the matches. I'm not aware of anything like that."
Woods, the star attraction after ending a five-year win drought last weekend, liked his shotmaking.
"My game is fine," he said. "My putting feels solid. I'll be ready come tomorrow."
Other Saturday morning match-ups, all featuring US duos trying to repeat Friday wins, send four-time major winner Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia against three-time major winner Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau, Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm against Spieth and Thomas and Englishmen Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton against world No 1 Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler.
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Read more on Ryder Cup:
Justin Thomas expecting nerves at some point during the Ryder Cup
Rory McIlroy vows to maintain calmer approach at 2018 competition
Poulter aims to rekindle past glories and fire Europe to title success
Likely pairings: From Rose and Stenson to Woods and DeChambeau
How to watch the Ryder Cup in UAE: Complete guide to Europe v US
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'Event still pretty young'
"We refocus and look forward to tomorrow," Bjorn said. "I've also been around long enough to know it could swing around again."
Europe need 14 1/2 points from Saturday and Sunday's 12 concluding singles matches to win for the ninth time in 12 attempts and reclaim the Cup while the Americans need 14 to retain the trophy.
Europe's charge came after the US squad seized a 3-1 lead after morning fourballs, the best American result in an opening session in Europe since 1989.
"They wanted to go out and prove something," Bjorn said. "That says something about the group."
The Americans are trying to end a 25-year European win drought and see plenty of time to reverse their situation.
"The event is still pretty young," Furyk said. "Eight out of 28 points, a pretty small percentage of this thing being played.
"Our guys, I think they will respond. I really do. We'll come back tomorrow and I think we'll be firing."
The sweep added fire to Europe's hopes with one of their greatest Ryder Cup sessions ever.
"It's hard to say it's not right at the top," Bjorn said. "It is right at the top when you clean sweep. It's something pretty special to all the guys on that golf course."
It was important to Furyk as well.
"The afternoon going 4-0 is significant," he said. "We will figure out the afternoon for tomorrow and try and do better.
"We're two down with 20 points left. There's time. We'll see how it goes and try to put ourselves in position."
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
