Europe win opening foursomes 3½-½ at Royal Trophy in Brunei

Edoardo and Francesco Molinari put the first European point on the board.

Europe stormed into an early lead at the Royal Trophy after winning the opening foursomes against Asia 3.5 - 0.5.

Edoardo and Francesco Molinari, who won the 2009 World Cup of golf together, got Jose Maria Olazabal's men off to the ideal start.

The Italian brothers were sent out first and won the top match against China's Ashun Wu and Japan's Yoshinori Fujimoto 2&1.

Marcel Siem and Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts defeated Indian Jeev Milkha Singh and Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat on the final green to put another European point on the board in match two.

And some sparkling golf from Henrik Stenson and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano made it victories for Europe in the first three matches.

The Swede and Spaniard were eight-under par in beating Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa and South Korean Bae Sang-moon 5&4.

A whitewash was on the cards until playing-captain Jose Maria Olazabal and fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez lost the final hole to Koreans YE Yang and KT Kim and had to settle for a half.

The match continues with four fourballs on Saturday and then eight singles on Sunday.